3 syllables: Ci, ne, ma. Stress on Ci.
SIN-uh-muh
/ˈsɪnəmə/
Cinema is pronounced SIN-uh-muh (/ˈsɪnəmə/). It has three syllables (Ci-ne-ma), with the stress on "Ci". Cinema is a noun meaning the art and industry of motion pictures, or a movie theater where films are shown. It also refers to the layman’s conception of film as a form of collective spectatorship and storytelling. The term often carries notions of visual spectacle and narrative culture, and is frequently used in discussions of film history, criticism, and entertainment media.
nounCinema is a noun meaning the art and industry of motion pictures, or a movie theater where films are shown. It also refers to the layman’s conception of film as a form of collective spectatorship and storytelling. The term often carries notions of visual spectacle and narrative culture, and is frequently used in discussions of film history, criticism, and entertainment media.
How to Pronounce Cinema
"We went to the cinema to watch the new documentary."
"Her favorite pastime is analyzing cinema classics from the 1960s."
"The cinema experience includes sound, lighting, and comfortable seating."
You pronounce it as /ˈsɪ.nə.mə/. Put primary stress on the first syllable: SIN-ə-mə. The middle vowel is a neutral schwa /ə/, and the ending is a final /mə/ with relaxed lips. Practice by saying: SIN-uh-muh, then speed up to a natural rhythm. IPA reference helps you confirm the stressed first syllable and the unstressed subsequent vowels.
Common errors include reducing the second syllable too much (pronouncing as /ˈsɪ.nə/), or saying a long /i/ or /iː/ instead of a quick /ɪ/ in the first syllable. Another mistake is tensing the final vowel rather than keeping it a light /ə/. Correction: keep /ˈsɪ.nə.mə/ with clear, brief schwas on the second and third syllables and relax the jaw.
In US, UK, and AU, the pronunciation remains /ˈsɪ.nə.mə/ with primary stress on the first syllable. Differences lie in perceived vowel quality: US may have a slightly closer /ɪ/ and a sharper /ə/ in the final syllable; UK and AU often show a more centralized or rounded /ə/ in the schwa and subtler vowel contrasts due to non-rhoticity and intonation patterns. Overall, the rhythm and syllable count stay the same.
The challenge is balancing quick, neutral schwas in the second and third syllables while maintaining a distinct initial /s/ and middle /n/ cluster flow. The core difficulty is the rapid sequence of a stressed /ˈsɪ/ followed by two unstressed /ə.mə/ syllables, which can lead to vowel reduction or blends if you speak too slowly. Focus on crisp /s/ onset, relaxed jaw, and even tempo.
Cinema uniquely anchors on a strong initial stressed syllable with two fast, weak schwas, creating a characteristic ‘S-uh-nuh-muh’ rhythm. The double unstressed ending syllables require keeping the final /ə/ light and short, so the word doesn’t feel heavy. The sequence /sɪ.nə.mə/ is a classic example of English word-internal stress followed by schwa-rich endings, a pattern common in many loanwords and technical terms.
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Cinema comes from the hybrid form of the word 'cinema' itself, an abbreviation of 'cinematograph'—the device capable of recording and projecting motion. The term traces back to Greek kinema- from kinēn, ‘to move,’ via French cinéma and Italian cinema, with early usage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the technology of motion pictures emerged. The suffix -ma in cine- forms does not reflect a classical root meaning but serves as a productive noun ending in several European languages for devices or industries. As film became a mass cultural phenomenon, cinema evolved from technical jargon to a cultural signifier denoting both the medium and the art form of motion pictures, with early 20th-century usage aligning with national film industries and exhibition venues. First attested English usages appear around the turn of the 20th century as audiences adopted the term to describe the burgeoning motion-picture world beyond mere “moving pictures.” Today, cinema symbolically represents the global film industry and its aesthetic, commercial, and social dimensions, while the term itself remains widely used across languages to denote the medium of film and the place where films are viewed.
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Words that rhyme with "Cinema"
-ima sounds
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