Learn how to pronounce proper nouns not found in the dictionary

Just when you thought you’d heard it all, you realize that a good number of English words can’t actually be found in the dictionary. Dictionaries specifically do not include proper nouns. Proper nouns (also called proper names) are names of people and places. They are not found in the dictionary because they do not have a definition. They are simply a name for a specific entity. One good thing about proper nouns is that they are always capitalized so they’re easy to spot.

So if you can’t look it up in the dictionary, how do you know how to pronounce it? I’ve put together the following three types of sources for getting help with pronunciation of proper nouns.

Ask an English speaker how to pronounce a proper name or place

Because I like learning from other people, I will often pick up the phone as an excuse to chat with a friend when I need information. My excuse for calling is to simply ask for the correct pronunciation of a proper noun, but I usually learn a lot more during the conversation.

If you don’t know any native English speakers, that’s okay. There is often one at the end of every phone call. If you need to know how to pronounce a business name, simply Google the phone number and call. They will usually answer the phone with the correctly pronounced name of their business. If you are shy about talking with a person, you can call after hours to hear their outgoing voice message, which usually includes the business name.

Other sources are libraries, chambers of commerce, and city halls. You will be surprised how much more you will learn from these sources than just the correct pronunciation of a name. You might even make a new English speaking friend!

Online verbal pronunciation guides for proper nouns

If you’re too shy to use the phone with a foreigner or you prefer to do your research online, you can use one of the following tools:

I think the most simple is inogolo. This web site allows you to type in any person or place name and provides an audio example of the pronunciation. Additionally, it gives examples of famous people with that name. Where I really like to get lost on this site is under the Explore tab which allows you to browse all kinds of proper nouns based on category. There’s even a category for commonly mispronounced or difficult to pronounce proper nouns.

Forvo, which promotes itself as “All the words in the World pronounced”, is similar to ingolo but offers help in multiple languages, travel phrase guides for different countries, and even highlights special topics, like the US election.

Not as user friendly, but extremely thorough is OneLook, which is basically the Google of dictionary searches. This site searches through over 1000 dictionaries with one search.

howjsay is similar to OneLook and can be downloaded as an app for iPhone or Android.

Proper name pronunciation for US places

An excellent source for all kinds of pronunciation, the AudioEloquence site has a section specifically dedicated to correct pronunciation of many US places.

Of course, let’s not forget Google. I often start my research with the simple Google search “pronounce [word]”. Many times, that instruction gives me search results with my word, especially if I view the videos.

If you’re trying to find a city in the United States, do a Google site search like this:

site:city-data.com pronounce [placename]
or
site:city-data.com [placename] pronunciation

Online video pronunciation guides for proper nouns

Just as important as hearing how something is pronounces is seeing how it is pronounced. After all, it’s the movement of the mouth and tongue that creates the pronunciation. I find it helpful to watch people speak in order to learn pronunciation.

Proper noun pronunciation examples on Youtube.

Channels like FoodBeast offer pronunciation videos that demonstrate the correct and incorrect way of pronouncing some words. In this way, you can watch how their mouths move differently.

Do do a search for a specific word, you can use YouGlish. Just enter a search phrase, and this site will search the transcripts on YouTube with videos containing that term at the point where it is said. Be sure to choose American English so you get the correct pronunciation for the United States.

You can also type your word directly into the YouTube search bar, and it will find videos that contain that word. Doing a YouTube search searches the transcript of the video, however, a word could have been incorrectly spelled in the transcript or is not an English word.

Before watching the video, be sure to verify that the word is used by doing a search of the transcript. To check the transcript, click on the 3 dots to the right of Save when watching the video. If it has a transcript, choose “Open Transcript”.

Once the transcript is open, search the transcript with a CMD-F (Mac) or CTRL-F (Windows) to find your word, then play the video at that point. You’ll see the lines are cued with timecodes.

Classes for pronunciation of English words and proper names

Pronunciation is what we specialize in at Packard Communications. For help with your communication and pronunciation skills, check out Packard Communications’ services page for an initial assessment, small classes, individual training, or online training! Either way, we can help you with your English pronunciation so that you are confident speaking personally and professionally.