2 syllables: chick, ens. Stress on chick.
CHIK-uhnz
/ˈtʃɪkənz/
chickens is pronounced CHIK-uhnz (/ˈtʃɪkənz/). It has two syllables (chick-ens), with the stress on "chick". Chickens refers to domesticated birds kept for eggs or meat. The word also appears in plural form to indicate more than one bird. The pronunciation emphasizes the first syllable with a light, final /z/ as the plural marker, yielding a brief, clipped ending in rapid speech.
Chickens refers to domesticated birds kept for eggs or meat. The word also appears in plural form to indicate more than one bird. The pronunciation emphasizes the first syllable with a light, final /z/ as the plural marker, yielding a brief, clipped ending in rapid speech.
"We have two chickens in the backyard coop."
"The farmer sells eggs from his small flock of chickens."
"Chickens can be surprisingly chatty when they’re pecking around."
Say CHIHK-ənz with primary stress on the first syllable. Phonetically: /ˈtʃɪkənz/. Start with the /tʃ/ sound as in chair, then a short /ɪ/ as in kit, followed by /k/ released into a schwa /ə/ before the final /nz/ cluster. In careful speech, ensure the /k/ is released clearly before the /ən/; in fast speech, the /ən/ can reduce toward /ən/ and the final /z/ remains voiced. For reference, listen to native recordings and mimic the rhythm of a short bounced CHI- before the easy -nz ending.
Two frequent errors are: (1) misplacing the /k/ as a soft /tʃ/ blend, producing /ˈtʃɪkənz/ or /ˈtʃɪkən/: correct is /ˈtʃɪkənz/ with a distinct /k/ release before the schwa; (2) over-articulating the final /ənz/ as two separate sounds or pronouncing /tʃɪkənz/ without the /k/ release. Correction: gently release the /k/ into a short /ə/ (schwa) and then the /nz/; keep the /z/ voiced and not devoiced in fluent speech.
In US, UK, and AU accents, the initial /tʃ/ and /ɪ/ are consistent, but vowel quality and rhoticity affect surrounding vowels. US tends to have /ˈtʃɪkənz/ with a rhotacized, lightly pronounced final syllable in American allotment, whereas UK often preserves tighter vowel quality /ˈtʃɪkənz/ and a glottal tendency for /t/ in cluster contexts before /ənz/. Australian accents keep similar /tʃɪkənz/ but may reduce the /ɪ/ to a more centralized vowel and feature less precise /ə/ reduction in fast speech. The final /z/ remains voiced in all three, though vowel length before /z/ can vary.
The combination of a tense initial /tʃ/ followed by a hard /k/ release into a centralized /ə/ and a voiced /nz/ cluster creates a two-phoneme boundary that can trip learners. Maintaining crisp /tʃ/ before the /k/ without blending into /t/ or /dʒ/ is tricky, as is ensuring the final /z/ is fully voiced while the preceding /n/ doesn’t overly lengthen. Practicing the sequence CH-ICK-ENZ with controlled pace helps. IPA cues: /ˈtʃɪkənz/; keep the tongue front for /tʃ/, then brisk back-closure /k/ before /ən/ and /z/.
Yes. Chickens has a strong initial stress on CHI-, then a reduced second syllable /ən/ before the final /z/. The /tʃ/ is a palato-alveolar affricate requiring the tongue blade close to the alveolar ridge with a quick release. The second syllable varies between a schwa and a reduced vowel depending on speech rate. In connected speech, the /ən/ can be reduced more, making it sound like /ˈtʃɪkənz/; ensure the /k/ is audible and cleanly released before the /ənz/ sequence.
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US: /ˈtʃɪkənz/, rhotic influence minimal here; emphasize crisp /tʃ/ and clear /k/ release. UK: /ˈtʃɪkənz/ with tighter vowel; AU: /ˈtʃɪkənz/ with slight vowel centralization; watch vowel height before /k/: avoid over-praxis of /ɪ/ into /iː/; keep the /ə/ in /ən/ balanced and short. Use IPA as reference: /ˈtʃɪkənz/ in all three, but vowel quality and flapping differ slightly.
The word chicken originates from Old English cicen, diminutive of cicen, used in Middle English to refer generically to poultry; by the 14th century, the plural chickens emerged as a regular plural form in English. The root traces to Proto-Germanic *kiukas and Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₂ek-, though the exact pathway to the modern word is diffuse. The plural -s was affixed to distinguish multiple birds as a count noun, paralleling other animals. The semantic evolution centers on domestic fowl raised for eggs or meat and the social grouping of multiple birds; over time, chicken became the broader term for the species Gallus gallus domesticus in common usage, with the plural form indicating a flock rather than a single animal. First known uses in English literature surface in the late medieval period, with regional spellings that eventually stabilized into modern spelling. The modern sense retains both biological and agricultural connotations, extending metaphorically in phrases like “chicken feed” or “chicken out.”
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Words that rhyme with "chickens"
-ken sounds
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