hey everyone jennifer from tarle speech with your pronunciation question today's question is apt for
this christmas day how do i pronounce the words christian which is a follower of christianity
and christianity a religion based on the teachings of jesus christ so i do think people get confused
because the person's name jesus christ is with the long i christ but when we say the
word christian and christianity we are actually going to use a short i so let's take a look at
both of these words how do we say these words so to say christian we're going to think about two
beats chris chen the mistake i hear as people try to pronounce all of these letters um and say
christian and that isn't correct it's just two beats two syllables chris chun for christianity
we're going to have one two three four five beats or five syllables and this gets slightly confusing
because we are going to shift the word stress from syllable one on chris to the an adi when we add
that ity ending so let's break these two words down to say christian we're going to start with
chris and to do this we're going to say the k and the r sound together in a blend or a cluster to do
this tip of your tongue is pointed down for the k back of the tongue is pulled up air puffs out
keep your tongue there you're going to close your mouth a little bit to square tense lip shape and
that is going to give you that r sound you do not want to open your mouth wide between those sounds
that will add an extra sound there keep your mouth in about the same position and then just close it
add the short sound relaxed mouth your mouth is slightly open tongue is just below those top teeth
and then end with an s for that first syllable to do an s the tip of the tongue either behind
the top teeth or pointing down it is not touching the t so that air can move out
chris then we're going to end with chun to do this the ch sound two letters one sound the
ch sound to do that touch the tip of your tongue to the back of your top front teeth
and then pull the tongue back your lips are going to be puckered
and then you're going to add the schwa the uh sound your mouth is just open and relaxed
and then end with the n the n sound you're going to do that by touching the tip of your tongue to
the back of your top front teeth air is going to move out of your nose i did write it as chin if
that's easier for you to remember like your chin um then you can say it that way as well the key is
just a very short and relaxed vowel for syllable two let's put that all together chris chin
christian christian christian and now for christianity
syllable number two instead of the short is going to be along e chi to make that e
you're going to smile and make that vowel nice and long and then we're going to say and to do
this open your mouth wide tongue tip will be low in your mouth back of the tongue will be pulled up
mouth is in a nice wide circle and then move that mouth while you're closing it move the tongue to
the back of the top front teeth again for the n an this syllable is going to be the loudest
the longest and the highest because this is our stressed syllable so again longest vowel
a little bit louder and higher in pitch than the others then we're going to add a schwa uh
and then end with d to do that touch the tip of the tongue to the back of the top front teeth
and then smile for the e e all right so let's put this all together chris chi an a dee chris chi an
adee christian adee christianity christianity Christianity let me try it again christianity
christian christianity and now for a sentence it's a big day for people who follow christianity
these christians from around the world will be celebrating christmas merry christmas
everyone wishing you peace and joy in this holiday season thank you everyone