Pronunciation of the word question

вопрос, сомнение, проблема, дело, спрашивать, сомневаться, допрашивать

существительное ↓

глагол ↓

Словосочетания

to divine the answer to a question — предугадать ответ на вопрос  
a flip answer to serious question — легкомысленный ответ на серьёзный вопрос  
a glib response to a complex question — поверхностный ответ на сложный вопрос  
to duck away from a question — увиливать от вопроса  
question! — а) ближе к делу! (обращение председателя собрания к выступающему, если последний отклоняется от обсуждаемого вопроса); б) это ещё вопрос!  
ask no questions and you will be told no lies — посл. не задавай вопросов и не услышишь лжи  

Примеры с переводом

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

Возможные однокоренные слова

quest  — поиск, поиски, дознание, искомый предмет, искать, разыскивать, производить поиски
questionable  — сомнительный, подозрительный, пользующийся плохой репутацией
questioner  — корреспондент, интервьюер, тот, кто спрашивает
questionless  — бесспорный, несомненный, бесспорно, несомненно
questioning  — допрос, вопрошающий
questionary  — анкета

Формы слова

noun
ед. ч.(singular): question
мн. ч.(plural): questions

English


Pronounce


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Quiz


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TRANSCRIPT

Hey everyone, it’s Hadar, and this is The Accent’s Way. And today we’re gonna talk about the question: how to pronounce the word ‘question’? It’s pretty simple as long as we remember that it’s not pronounced the way it’s written because English is not a phonetic language.

So, this word has two syllables. And in every word there is one syllable that sticks out the most. It is longer, louder, and higher in pitch. And in this case it’s the first syllable – “kwes” “kwes”. We begin with a ‘k’ sound. Then it’s a ‘w’, round your lips for a ‘W’. Then the ‘eh’ as in ‘red’ – “kwe”. And then you end it up with an ‘S’ – “kwes” “kwes”. Just like the word ‘quest’ – “kwes”. That’s the first syllable.

The second syllable begins with a ‘ch’ sound as in ‘chicken’. Right? I know it’s spelled with a ‘T’ but we do want to pronounce that as a “ch”. “Ch”, “ch”, “ch”. Then we reduce to a schwa – “chuh” “chuh” – and then close it with an ‘N’ – “ch’n” “ch’n”. “Kwes-ch’n”. Tah-tah. Question. Question. “Hey, I have a question.” “Do you have any questions?” “Can I ask you a question?”

Now, you might be hearing people pronouncing this word more with a ‘sh’ sound, like “kwesh-t’n”. “Kwesh-t’n”. That’s also okay but I would focus on the accurate pronunciation with a ‘s’ sound – “kwes-ch’n”.

All right, that’s it. Thank you so much for watching. Please share this video with your friends if you liked it. And if you have any questions for me, let me know in the comments below. Have a great week and I’ll see you next week in the next video. Bye.

The consonant sequence /st͡ʃ/ in this word, and others, can indeed be replaced in pronunciation by something like [ʃt͡ʃ] as the result of assimilation. (I don’t know if it would be correct to analyze this as representing a distinct phonemic sequence /⁠ʃt͡ʃ/.) This assimilation is not mandatory, and different people may assimilate at different rates. I don’t have any data about that, however.

The people in the comments saying that this prounciation doesn’t seem common in their area are not a particularly good source of evidence about the commonness of this pronunciation because many phonetic assimilations aren’t easy for a native English speaker to notice: the sound [ʃt͡ʃ] in this context might be heard as /st͡ʃ/ by a native English listener, because that’s what the listener expects to hear in the word «question».

Contexts where coda /s/ may become [ʃ] due to anticipatory assimilation

Coda /s/ in English may be assimilated to a sound like [ʃ] before a following fricative /ʃ/ or a following semivowel /j/ (Gimson’s Pronunciation of English, Seventh Edition, by Alan Cruttenden, 9.4.5). These assimilations occur fairly often between words in phrases.

Certain words that originally contained a heterosyllabic sequence /sr/ may be pronounced with [ʃr], e.g. grocery («Into the ears, through the head, out on the lips. How listening errors can trigger new instances of palatalisation» (Olivier Glain, 2013). To me at least, it feels like the pronunciation of grocery with [ʃ] contains the phoneme /ʃ/: it coexists for me with a variant pronunciation with /s/, and only /s/ is possible for me for some of the words where other speakers may have palatalization, such as anniversary.

Contexts where onset /s/ may become [ʃ] due to anticipatory assimilation

Assimilation of /s/ to a [ʃ]-like sound in sequences like /str/ is maybe a somewhat different phenomenon in that /str/ often occurs in English as a tautosyllabic cluster (e.g. in the word street). Tautosyllabic [ʃt͡ʃ] may occur for some British English speakers as an onset cluster in words like student due to assimilation. Likewise, the onset cluster /str/ may undergo assimilation, resulting in a cluster pronounced something like [ʃtɹ]. Glain cites a passage in Wells’s LPD 2008 that mentions these two contexts where onset /s/ may undergo assimilation, as well as a 2011 paper by Rutter:

Rutter (2011) uses acoustic measurements to compare ten English speakers’ realisations of the onsets /ʃ/, /ʃɹ/, /ʃtɹ/, and /s/. He finds out that most of the occurrences of /str/ clusters produced by these speakers fall within their normal range for /ʃ/, as opposed to various intermediate phonetic realisations falling somewhere between a typical /ʃ/ and /s/. The results indicate that the change towards /ʃ/ is complete for those speakers.

So acoustic measurements at least may provide some support for writing /ʃtr/ and not just [ʃtɹ] for speakers who have assimilated onset /s/ in original /str/. I don’t know of a similar acoustic study that covers words like question.

I haven’t read the Rutter paper, but another paper that cites him says that

Rutter points out that in his own experiment, several of the sounds initially perceived as [s] were found under spectrographic scrutiny to more closely resemble [ʃ] (34)

(«On The Perception of /s/ and /ʃ/: Considering the Effects of Phonotactics», by Kristen Scudieri, 2012)

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• quæstion (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English question, questioun, questiun, from Anglo-Norman questiun, from Old French question, from Latin quaestiōnem, accusative of quaestiō (“a seeking, investigation, inquiry, question”), from quaerere (“to seek, ask, inquire”)^[1], of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”).

Displaced native Old English āscung. Compare also Middle Low German quēstie (“questioning; inquiry”), Middle High German questje (“question”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃən/, /ˈkwɛstjən/, /ˈkwɛʃt͡ʃən/
• (US also) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛʃtən/
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃɛn/, /ˈkwɛʃ(t͡ʃ)ɛn/
• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛ.ʃən/, /ˈkwɛʔ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɛstʃən
• Hyphenation: ques‧tion

Noun[edit]

question (plural questions)

1. A sentence, phrase or word which asks for information, reply or response; an interrogative.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients:

     I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn’t think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

   • 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:

     Can I ask you two a question? / Please, Christ, yes. / How can you two live like this? / How can… / Don’t google the question, Moss!

   What is your question?

2. A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.

   The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.

   There was a question of which material to use.

   • 2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg; Marzena Sokolowska-Paryz, editors, The Great War in Post-Memory Literature and Film‎^[1], Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG., →ISBN, page 173:

     The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt’s and Ferguson’s examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).

3. A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.

   His claim to the property has come under question.

   The story is true beyond question.

   He obeyed without question.

   • 1622 (date written)​, Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy VVarre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:

     It is to be to question, whether it be lawful for Christian princes or states to make an invasive war, only and simply for the propagation of the faith.

   • 2021 April 2, Ciara Nugent, “Can Public Transit Survive the Pandemic? London’s New Transport Commissioner Wants You to Believe It Can”, in Time‎^[2]:

     The pandemic has not only caused an immediate fall in ticket revenues for the world’s public transit networks—rail ridership in Barcelona, Moscow, Beijing and New York City at times plummeting 80%—in some cities it also has thrown into question the future of mass urban transportation.

4. A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.

   I move that the question be put to a vote.

5. (now archaic, historical, chiefly with definite article) Interrogation by torture.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter LXXVII, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume II, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, →OCLC:

     I, not at all ambitious of the crown of martyrdom, resolved to temporize: so that, when I was brought to the question the second time, I made a solemn recantation […]
6. (obsolete) Talk; conversation; speech.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Made she no verbal question?

Synonyms[edit]

• (interrogative): inquiry, enquiry, query, interrogation
• (subject): subject, topic, problem, consideration, proposition
• (doubt): issue, doubt
• (proposal): proposal

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

• query
• quest

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

question (third-person singular simple present questions, present participle questioning, simple past and past participle questioned)

1. (transitive) To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.

   • 1836, Frederick W. Thomas, East and West, volume 2:

     Yet he lingered in Perryville with the determination of seeing Ruth, and questioning her about Helen Murray’s letters.

   • 2019, Nic Pizzolatto, “The Hour and the Day”, in True Detective, season 3, episode 4:

     Another former resident noticed the car because it was new and upscale and no one ever came back to question him. This points to serious flaws in the investigation from the beginning.

2. (transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.

   • 1985 April 17, Herbert, Frank, Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985‎^[3], UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 February 2017, 15:46 from the start:

     Question things. I have the most fun when I’m writing questioning things that people do not question— the assumptions that everybody knows are true.

   • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.

3. (intransitive) To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.^[1]
   • 1597, Francis Bacon, Of Discourse

     He that questioneth much shall learn much.

4. (intransitive, obsolete) To argue; to converse; to dispute.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     I pray you, think you question with the Jew.

Synonyms[edit]

• frain, quaeritate (obsolete)

Derived terms[edit]

• questioner

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• answer
• ask
• interrogative

References[edit]

• question in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• question at OneLook Dictionary Search

French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• quæstion (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French and Old French question (12th c.), borrowed from Latin quaestiō, quaestiōnem. At first a learned word, therefore retaining preconsonantal -s- (compare related quête).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /kɛs.tjɔ̃/
• Rhymes: -jɔ̃

Noun[edit]

question f (plural questions)

1. a question

   Je voudrais vous poser une question.

   I would like to ask you a question.

2. issue, matter, topic, problem

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “question”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams[edit]

• quêtions, toniques

Interlingua[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /kwesˈtjon/

Noun[edit]

question (plural questiones)

1. question

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

question

1. Alternative form of questioun

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin quaestiō, quaestiōnem.

Noun[edit]

question f (oblique plural questions, nominative singular question, nominative plural questions)

1. question (verbal statement intended to elicit a response)
2. question (problem in need of resolution)

Descendants[edit]

• → Middle English: questioun, question, questiun, questyon, questyounn, qwestyon, qwestioun
  • English: question
  • Scots: quaisten, quastin
  • → Welsh: cwestiwn
• French: question
  • → Romanian: chestie, chestiune
• Norman: tchestchion (Jersey)

References[edit]

• question on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub