Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de telefoon" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de telefoon in Dutch?

de telefoon is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də teːləˈfoːn/. It means “phone.” duh tay-luh-FOHN — three syllables with the stress right at the end.

duh tay-luh-FOHN — three syllables with the stress right at the end.

de telefoon /də teːləˈfoːn/

End-stressed, following the Greek-derived international pattern. English stresses the first syllable of "telephone"; Dutch stresses the last, which makes this one of the most reliably mis-stressed words for anglophone learners.

Listen: de telefoon

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Sound it out

te- A quiet t plus a long "ay," unstressed but keeping its full vowel quality — Dutch does not reduce it to a schwa here.

le- A bright l into a bare schwa, the weakest syllable in the word and barely more than a linking sound.

f A plain voiceless f opening the stressed syllable, lower lip against the upper teeth.

oo Long and pure, carrying the primary stress and holding one tongue position throughout. No glide toward "oo" at the end.

n A firm closing n that cuts the long vowel off cleanly.

Hear it in a sentence

Waar is mijn telefoon?

Where is my phone?

Listen: Waar is mijn telefoon?

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"Waar is mijn telefoon?" is a compact question with the verb second and the possessive unstressed. Because the noun is end-stressed, the sentence's melodic peak arrives on its very last syllable — an unusual shape that is worth practising.

Where English speakers slip

"TEL-e-phone" is what every English speaker says, and shifting the accent to the end is most of the work. The middle syllable should also be a schwa rather than the full "eh" English gives it, and the final vowel is a flat "oh" rather than the English gliding one.