Learn how to pronounce the words AXES & AXES with this American English heteronym pronunciation lesson. Heteronyms are words that are spelled exactly the same. They just have a different pronunciation and a different meaning.
Pronunciation:
/ˈæksɪz/
/ˈæksiz/
Definition:
Plural of ax which is a tool to chop things
Plural of axes which is an imaginary line that bodies rotate around, or a math term
Transcript:
Hello! Jennifer from Tarle speech with your Friday heteronym lesson. Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but they have different meanings and different definitions.
Our words today are axes which is more than one ax and an axe is a tool that you use to chop something like a tree. And axes which is the plural of axis and an axis is an imaginary line that bodies rotate around or we also use that term in math.
So two options here and they both have two syllables or two beats. Let’s start with syllable number one because the sounds are exactly the same. Let’s start with that ah sound. Open mouth in a wide circle – very wide open no rounding. Tip of the tongue is down, back of the tongue is pulled way high up. ah. Your tongue is going to stay in about that same position. Your mouth is going to close a bit and then you’re going to let the air puff out of your mouth for that k. ack ack. Okay we’ve gotten that out of the way.
Next we’re going to move to the s sound for the second syllable. This is the same in both words. And to say this sound, the tip of your tongue is either down or behind the top front teeth. Air moves out of the mouth and your tongue is not touching anything.
Now here’s where we start to say the words differently. For axes, the chopping tool, the plural of the chopping tool, we are going to end with is. And to do that we have that short i sound. The tip of my tongue is just behind my top front teeth. It’s not touching. And the rest of my tongue is flat and slightly relaxed in my mouth. My lips are also relaxed. They are not tense and smiling. They are a little relaxed for the e. Then we’re going to end with that z sound z. You can make this sound with the tip of your tongue at about the same spot or you can point it down to the bottom of the mouth. Voice box is on and moving.
zzz
Let’s put that all together. ack siz ack siz axes axes axes
Now for axes, which is the plural of axis, what we are going to do is we are going to end with ease. And to do this, your mouth is smiling and your tongue is very high, flat, and tense in the mouth – e. And then you’re going to end with that z again.
Let’s put that together ack seez ack seez axes axes axes
Now you might be wondering what about the word axis which is the singular form of axes. And for that I just want you to think about ending in us because that is the schwa vowel at the end there. So let’s try our two words that we’re targeting today.
axes axes axes and axes axes axes
And now for a sentence:
The mathematician made axes out of axes since he was chopping down some trees while he was trying to explain the problem to his friend.
Give it a try I know people are going to notice the difference. If you found this helpful, please share us with your friends. Give us a like, and a subscribe, and you can check out all of our class options, and our products at Tarle speech or in our fancy dancy new link tree below the video.
Thanks everyone have an amazing weekend!