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Conscientiously ... pronunciation of English words

A person's mother tongue has a preponderant effect on their pronunciation of English words, especially for non-native speakers. The English language has 26 letters, but each vowel can produce at least five different sounds. Additionally, some letters in words remain silent. Unlike Indian languages, where the unit of sound corresponds to a letter, English phonetics follows a different system. Determining how to break a word into its unit sounds has become a scientific study, but unfortunately, it lacks universality, as it varies from country to country.

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that deals with these variations. However, many find it boring—to be honest, I never focused on it until I had to teach my son. Even today, my English accent remains distinctly Indian, and I often find myself being corrected.

Voice-based search on electronic devices should be optimized for the Indian accent, but currently, it does not function properly. This makes using the feature frustrating.

Regarding the word used in the video, it is a high-register term, meaning it is not commonly heard in everyday conversations.

The root word of "conscientious" is "conscience", which refers to being guided by moral principles or uprightness. The word "conscientious" is formed by adding the suffix "-ous" to "conscience", meaning "full of moral principles." It is an adjective. To form an adverb, we add "-ly", resulting in "conscientiously."

Pronunciation Guide

Breaking the word into syllables:
Con.sci.en.tious.ly  kon-shee-EN-shus-ly

The capitalized syllable (EN) receives emphasis when spoken. Linguists suggest that emphasizing the correct syllable(s) enhances pronunciation and makes words sound more natural.

I am not an expert in this field, but I do find it challenging. Perhaps this is why so many of us admire Shashi Tharoor’s English-speaking skills—even native speakers do!

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