HOW TO PRONOUNCE
literature
/ˈlɪtɚətʃɚ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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Keep the first syllable strongest.
Start with the short vowel in lit. Keep the middle vowels light and ends with a ch sound followed by an unstressed r-colored vowel.
4 syllables · Stress on syllable 1
TRY SAYING
“We discussed the literature after class.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does literature mean?
noun
- The body of all written works.
- The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.
- All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.
More meanings (2)
noun
- Written fiction of a high standard.
- (obsolete) Literacy; ability to read and write.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈlɪtɚətʃɚ/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures, there arises a world literature.
Those of us who know something of life may perhaps wonder whether to console may not be the final aim of literature.
More book examples (3)
The talk now turned upon literature and politics, and Ridley told stories of the distinguished people he had known in his youth.
Nonintellectual literature is as nonexistent as education without mental discipline, or as "character building" in a school that is slovenly in scholarship.
He wrote to us regularly and sent us occasional remittances, as well as a generous supply of improving literature for our minds.