About the pronunciation of '-re' prefix and '-est' suffix

Question

Hi everybody,1; Could you tell me about the pronunciation of '-re' prefix? Is there any grammatical rules for it? Or should I learn the pronunciations one by one?For example:1. recommend -&gt; [e ]2. rebuild -&gt; 3. recompile -&gt; [e ]4. reactivate -&gt; 2; Could you tell me about the pronunciation of '-est' suffix? Mainly in superlatives like largest, biggest (as I see there are two different pronunciation in these two words too)Thanks in advance

Canderson · Accepted Answer

Hole One a New SeeHi everybody,

1; Could you tell me about the pronunciation of '-re' prefix? Is there any grammatical rules for it? Or should I learn the pronunciations one by one?

For example:

1. recommend -> [e ]

2. rebuild ->

3. recompile -> [e ] this one is actually an pronounced reecompile

4. reactivate ->

2; Could you tell me about the pronunciation of '-est' suffix? Mainly in superlatives like largest, biggest (as I see there are two different pronunciation in these two words too) Thanks in advance - there is no difference in these two endings. Est is always est as in the est in the name Esther.

There is no grammatical rule to the pronounciation of the -re prefix, you will have to learn each of them separately, unfortunately. But feel free to ask here for help. You may also look up the word on www.dictionary.com where you can hear the word pronounced by hitting the speaker button.

-Chris

Cjhq101087 · Answer

Hi Everyone,

With regards to your question, there isn't grammatical rules in pronouncing the prefix re-, actually if you want to add this prefix to a root word, the pronunciation of the prefix is just the same or just one, which is the sound of a strong e /e/. The only difference is the stressing of each syllable. But the pronunciation is just one.

Another thing is that, the word RECOMMEND has a different pronunciation since the syllable RE is not used as a prefix in that word.

Please take a look at the sounds of each:

1. recommend -> [e ]

2. rebuild -> [e]

3. recompile -> [e]

4. reactivate -> [e]

In pronouncing the suffix -est, there's no difference at all. It is just pronounced as -est. It doesn't have any rule as well to follow. So do not confuse yourself in pronouncing words ending in -est differently.

I hope that this would be very helpful in order for you to understand more in pronouncing words. Should you have any other questions, just feel free to post.

Thanks!

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Hole One a New See · Answer

Thanks canderson.

I just don't understand some things. For example I can't found this recompile in 'www.dictionary.com' and also I can't found it in Cambridge or Oxford Advanced learners' dictionary. I just used http://text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/ in order to listen to the pronunciation of this word. I heard [e ] in recompile. I think it is the fault of the software. Am I right? I also heard 'biggest' with 'e' (or schwa. I wasn't able to find it out). I think it was a US pronunciation. I just noticed that -re is also in my dictionary... I didn't notice it last time

(I don't know why). That was the reason why I asked it (update: As I can see the pronunciation of '-est' differs in UK and US English. Am I right?... I just didn't notice that last time). By default I would pronounce it with . And I forgot to mention an important thing: I would like to pronounce everything with British English because I would like to try a CPE language exam in half year (maybe later... but I will do my best for the success).

Then my question is the following: Can I use in '-re' every time when I use this prefix to indicate repetition for a verb? (e.g. rebuild, recompile, reactivate). And what is the pronunciation of '-est' in US and UK english (I looked it up in three dictionaries but the pronunciation is missing in all of them)?

Maybe I was confusing a little bit. Sorry for that

Thanks in advance

Hole One a New See · Answer

Thanks cjhq101087

I think it will be good. Maybe I will be pronounce [e] as an (if and only if it join to a root word) because I see it in every dictionary but I got the more important essential part of the grammar

Hole One a New See · Answer

Both comments were useful and important to me so I add a vote+ for you. By the way I wait for a confirmation from canderson.

Thanks again for both of you

Canderson · Answer

Hello Hole one a new see,

It seems that with dictionaries you have to separate the prefix from the word and search re-compile instead. I couldn't find it either without doing this. It brings you to the definition of the root word and doesn't over a pronunciation with the prefix. I think the other poster is right in the re always sounds like REE when it is a prefix. But in order to know that you will have to know that it is indeed a prefix unlike in the words recommend, reformation, and retroactive; where RE is not the prefix. I looked at that text-to-speech and it definitely did not pronounce recompile correctly. I also entered the sentence, "She tried to reformat the program", and it pronounced reformat as ree-formit instead of ree-for-mat. So I wouldn't put too much stock into what text to speech says. You might find that the google translator works much better, although it sounds computerized, and also won't pronounce your sentence in British English. #

I am certainly no expert at British pronunciations but remember hearing a slightly more -est sound for the modifier than you hear in the US. But Britain has many, many accents so it may not be hard and fast rule other than RCP. As far as American English in concerned, I can't think of an instance where we would pronounce anything but -ist when the word ends in -est. While browsing online just now I happened to find a free dictionary that pronounces mostly British pronunciations and in some cases (such as aluminum) pronounces both American and British. http://www.howjsay.com/

But when I typed in Largest, it was pronounced La-gist. So it makes me think there is not enough of a difference between the British and American pronunciations of -est to make a difference. How the rest of the word is pronounced is much more important to my ear.

I hope this helps!

-Chris

Canderson · Answer

Sorry, meant RP not RCP... My mistake.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' alt='Emotion: stick out tongue'/>

Hole One a New See · Answer

Hello,

Yes, it was very very useful.

Thank you very much

About the pronunciation of '-re' prefix and '-est' suffix

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