Hadar Shemesh breaks down xenophobia: it starts with a /z/ sound, has a schwa in the second syllable, and stresses the 'fo' in phobia. She walks through the diphthong and gives example sentences like 'He's a xenophobe.'
Welcome to the Influency podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is how to Pronounce Friday, where we take a confusing word or word pair. We learn how to pronounce it and how to use it with confidence. Let's get started.
How to pronounce the word xenophobia. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, xenophobia is fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign. So let's get started. We begin with a Z sound. Z as in zoo. And then the. Oh, my God, it's not an X, it's a Z. Ugh. Why couldn't they just put a Z there? God, this word was probably brought by a bunch of foreigners. Excuse me, but this is my frame in all these how to Pronounce videos anyway. I mean, can't you just speak English? All right, xenophobia. Whatever. Where were we? Xenophobia. We begin with a Z sound, then the E as in red ze. Then it's the N sound and a schwa, a reduced vowel. So the jaw drops just a bit. The lips are relaxed, the tongue is relaxed, everything is relaxed. Very small. Zen. And then it's the word phobia. And that's actually how you pronounce the word phobia. It's an F sound, and then the O, as in go fo. It's a diphthong, so go through the entire vowel. Make sure to round your lips at the end. So it's not phobia, fo, but fo. Relax your jaw. Then it's be, as in be yourself. A Y sound, as in yes. And a schwa. Y, Y, B, Y. Phobia. Phobia. Xenophobia. The fo is the primary stress of the word, so it's a little longer and higher in pitch than the rest of the syllables. Xenophobia. He's a xenophobe. He suffers from xenophobia.
Okay, that was your how to Pronounce Friday episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know and how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.
