Pronounce Serotonin: Fun Post Help

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The discussion revolves around the pronunciation of the word "serotonin." Participants clarify that the correct pronunciation is typically "ser-uh-TOE-nin," with the accent on the third syllable, although some express confusion about the syllable breakdown. There is mention of online resources, such as audio dictionaries, to aid in pronunciation. A participant reflects on their previous mispronunciation and notes the irregularity in the pronunciation rules for biological terms. The conversation also touches on linguistic terminology, explaining terms like "antepenult," "penult," and "ult," while humorously acknowledging the arbitrary nature of pronunciation rules.
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sort of a funny post, if it not to much trouble could some1 help me pronouce the word serotonin? thnx
 
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DB said:
sort of a funny post, if it not to much trouble could some1 help me pronouce the word serotonin? thnx

Sss-Air-Oh-Tone-In
 
Accent is on the third syllable, but only slightly so. ser-uh-TOE-nin
 
There are online dictionaries that have audio pronunciations. Go here to listen to the word. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=serotonin&x=10&y=13 Just click on the little red speaker icon. This is also a great tool for non-english speakers to learn how to pronounce words.
 
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Moonbear said:
Accent is on the third syllable, but only slightly so. ser-uh-TOE-nin

Is that how you say it? All this time I've been pronouncing it with the classical antipenult: sair-AH-tunin, where the u represents a schwa or neutral vowel (weak "uh" in English).
 
selfAdjoint said:
Is that how you say it? All this time I've been pronouncing it with the classical antipenult: sair-AH-tunin, where the u represents a schwa or neutral vowel (weak "uh" in English).
Click on Evo's link. I don't agree with the way they broke the syllables in the written version (they put the r into the second syllable, and it really is part of the first syllable), but the way the person there pronounces it is pretty much the way I pronounce it (with a slight regional accent variation in vowel sound of the "ser" part), and is the correct pronunciation. But, yeah, this one doesn't follow the "default" pronunciation of biological terms where the accent would be the third syllable from the end (is that what antipenult means?) Don't you love how we have rules for pronunciation and then don't follow them?
 
thanks guys :)
 
Sarah Tone In
 
Moonbear said:
the third syllable from the end (is that what antipenult means?) Don't you love how we have rules for pronunciation and then don't follow them?

Yes. Ult means last, penult means "almost last", i.e. next-to-last, and antepenult means "before the almost last", or third from the end. I doubt that I'll be changing my pronunciation; I can be just as arbitrary as anybody! :)
 
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Ante-antepenultima

selfAdjoint said:
Yes. Ult means last, penult means "almost last", i.e. next-to-last, and antepenult means "before the almost last", or third from the end.
Also, as a noun ult is used only as ultima. Penult and antepenult are nouns in those forms, but can also be used as penultima and antepenultima. And ante-antepenult (which can be in the form ante-antepenultima) is a noun meaning fourth from the last in a series.
google.com/search?q=ante-antepenult
 
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