4 syllables: com, pan, ion, ship. Stress on pan.
kuhm-PAN-yuhn-ship
/kəˈmpænjəˌnʃɪp/
companionship is pronounced kuhm-PAN-yuhn-ship (/kəˈmpænjəˌnʃɪp/). It has four syllables (com-pan-ion-ship), with the stress on "pan". Companionship refers to the state or relationship of being with someone in a friendly, supportive, or protective role, offering fellowship and shared experiences. It denotes presence and companionship that alleviates loneliness and contributes to emotional well-being. The term emphasizes mutual engagement, trust, and sustained social bond within a relationship or community.
Companionship refers to the state or relationship of being with someone in a friendly, supportive, or protective role, offering fellowship and shared experiences. It denotes presence and companionship that alleviates loneliness and contributes to emotional well-being. The term emphasizes mutual engagement, trust, and sustained social bond within a relationship or community.
- You might mispronounce the second syllable as /pən/ instead of /ˈpen/; remember the 'pen' sound is stressed and crisp. - Avoid flattening the /iən/ into a single neutral vowel; articulate the /i/ and the schwa separately and quickly. - The final -ship should be /ʃɪp/, not /sip/ or /ʃip/; keep the 'sh' sound strong and the vowel slightly reduced. - Slurring the consonants together (kəm-PE-ni-ən-ship) can rob the word of its natural cadence; aim for clear syllable boundaries, especially around /pen/ and /iən/. - Some learners reduce the middle /iə/ to /ɪə/ or /iə/ with unclear transition; train a precise /i/ plus a quick /ən/ to maintain clarity.
"Her companionship during the long journey kept him from feeling isolated."
"The elderly resident welcomed the volunteers, cherishing the companionship they offered."
"A strong sense of companionship can form the backbone of a successful team."
Pronounce as /kəmˈpeniənˌʃɪp/ in US and UK, with the primary stress on the second syllable: kom-PE-ne-an-ship. Start with a schwa for /kə/, then /ˈpen/ with a clear 'pen' vowel, followed by /iən/ as a short /i/ plus a schwa and an /ən/ syllable, ending with /ʃɪp/. Lip and tongue positions: relaxed lips for /k/; place the tongue high for /p/ and /n/; maintain a light feathering of the tongue for /iə/ sequence; final /p/ is a voiceless bilabial stop. Listening reference: you’ll hear more precise rhythm in native speech via Forvo or Pronounce.
Common errors include misplacing the stress (treating it as com-PA-nion-ship) and simplifying the /niən/ cluster to /niən/ or /niən/ without a subtle schwa. Another frequent error is mispronouncing the final -ship as -ship with a hard 'sip' instead of a light 'shɪp' with a reduced vowel before /p/. Correction: keep the primary stress on the second syllable (/ˈpen/), pronounce the middle as /iən/ (a short /i/ plus schwa and an /ən/), and finish with a clear /ʃɪp/. Practicing slow, then with rhythm will improve accuracy.
In US, the sequence is /kəmˈpeniənˌʃɪp/ with a rhotic /r/ only if followed by a vowel; the /n/ before /j/ makes a light glide in the /iə/ portion. UK typically features a more centralized /ə/ in the second syllable and a dropped rhoticity in non-rhotic contexts, but in careful speech you still hear /kəmˈpeniənˌʃɪp/. AU follows similar to US but with slight vowel height differences and a more clipped /ˈpen/; the /ɪ/ in /ʃɪp/ may be shorter. Overall, stress pattern remains on the second syllable with a secondary stress towards the end in careful speech.
The difficulty lies in the multi-syllabic structure with a sequence /pɛn/ followed by /iə/ and then /ən/, where the /iə/ forms a delicate diphthong-like transition and the final /ʃɪp/ requires a precise lip-shape and airflow. Speakers often misplace the stress, compress the /iən/ into a single syllable, or mispronounce the final /ʃɪp/ as /sip/. Focus on: maintaining secondary stress, separating /iə/ distinctly, and ending with a crisp /ʃɪp/.
A unique point is the /ˈpeniən/ segment where the /ni/ team up with a light /ən/ before /ʃ/. Many learners fail to articulate the /iə/ clearly, blending it into /i/ or /ən/. Practice by emphasizing the /i/ in /pen/ and articulating the sequence /iən/ as two clear vowels with a soft, quick transition, rather than a fused vowel. This attention gives a natural, fluent rhythm to the word.
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- US: emphasize rhoticity subtly if the following vowel requires it; keep /r/ relaxed only when followed by vowel. Vowel shifts: /ə/ in the first syllable is lax, /pen/ has a tense short vowel, and the /iən/ has a light schwa. IPA guide: /kəmˈpeniənˌʃɪp/. - UK: often non-rhotic; ensure the second syllable stress remains crisp; /kəmˈpeniənˌʃɪp/ with less R coloring and a slightly more centralized /ə/ in unstressed syllables. - AU: similar to US, with slightly more clipped vowels and a marginally longer /i/ in the /iən/ part; keep /pen/ clear and avoid vowel reduction that blunts the rhythm.
The word companionship derives from the combination of late Old French compagnie (company, companionship) and Latin companion- with -ship. The root compa(n)– traces to Latin com- ‘with, together’ and panis ‘bread’ in some theories, but in English, companion comes from Old French compain, compaignon, meaning ‘one who shares bread with another,’ reflecting the medieval social bond of sharing meals. The suffix -ship marks a state, condition, or quality. The modern sense broadened in the 16th–17th centuries to denote companionship, fellowship, or association with someone in a friendly, supportive, or protective role, beyond merely sharing meals. First attested in Middle English as companiounship or compagnionship, the term evolved to denote both voluntary social contact (fellowship) and formal associations (companionship among peers, within social or community settings). By the 18th and 19th centuries, companionship was widely used to describe not just the act of being with another, but the mutual bond and emotional support characteristic of friendships or close relationships. The semantic field expanded to cover companionship with animals, servants, and colleagues, retaining a core sense of presence and mutual regard within a social bond.
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Words that rhyme with "companionship"
-hip sounds
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