How to pronounce 'luxury' | American English

Hey, it's Hadar.

And this is the Accent's Way, your way to finding clarity,

confidence, and freedom in English.

Slawomir asked me to explain how to pronounce the word 'luxury', 'luxury'.

Now here's a perfect example where spelling and

pronunciation do not correspond.

Because you're used to probably associating the letter X with

'ks' as in the word "extra".

Right?

You hear a 'k' and a 's' sound.

And here the X in the word 'luxury' stands for 'gj', all right?

What's the connection?

I have no idea, but that's just how it is.

So let's break down the different sounds in this word.

So we begin with an L sound.

The tongue goes up to pronounce the L, right?

It's a bit of a longer sound - /L/.

And then it's the 'uh' as in 'cup' - 'luh', just like the word 'love', right?

The beginning is the same - 'luh'.

But then you shift to a 'g' in the back - 'luhg', and bring the tongue

back up to 'j' as in 'vision', 'j'.

The 'j' sound, by the way, is the voiced pair of 'sh'.

Listen - 'sh' - 'j'.

Do you hear the difference?

So if you find yourself saying 'luKSury', 'luKSury' - I know that Spanish speakers

may do that, and some Hindi speakers may do that - just devoice the 'j' sound.

And then it sounds like 'sh' in the word 'shame', all right?

It's not the same sound.

So you want to activate your vocal cords: 'j' - 'luhg-juh-ree'.

Now, how do you activate your vocal chords?

Put your hands here for a sec.

And do an 'f' sound, and now a 'v'.

Do it again.

All right, so you probably felt the vibrations here in your throat.

That's vocal chords vibrating.

So, for the 'f' sound, you just release air.

And for the 'v' sound, you release air with sound.

And you haven't changed anything here.

Same thing with a 'sh' and 'j'.

For the 'sh' sound the tongue is up and the air comes out, and it's just air.

And if you put your hands here and activate your vocal chords, like

you do for the 'v': 'sh' - 'j', you feel the vibrations, and then what

comes out is this 'j' sound, as in the word 'luxury' or 'vision'.

All right, so let's try it again.

'luhg-juh' - after the 'j' sound there's a schwa - 'juh', and you

bring the tongue up for the R.

Round your lips - 'ur', and then it's the 'ee' as in 'see' - 'ree'.

'luhg-juh-ree'.

All right.

So it shouldn't sound like 'luhk-shuh-ree' with a 'k' and a 'sh'.

It's voiced - 'luhg-juh-ree'.

All right, that's it.

So that was a quick lesson on how to pronounce the word 'luxury' and

the difference between 'sh' and 'j'.

That's it.

Have a wonderful week.

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All right?

Bye.