Dengue

Dengue is pronounced DEN-gay (US/UK variations exist). In IPA US: /ˈdɛnɡi/ but many speakers say /ˈdeŋɡi/ in some regions. The stress is on the first syllable. Think: DEN- (short e as in “bed”) followed by /ɡi/ as in “gee.” In careful speech, you can hear the hard g, but in rapid speech it may be devoiced to /k/. Audio reference: the pronunciation samples in major dictionaries and Forvo entries reflect both /ˈdɛŋɡi/ and /ˈdenɡu̯/ variants depending on accent.

Common errors: mispronouncing the initial vowel (saying /i/ as in “deny”), or turning /ɡi/ into /dʒi/ or /gju/; devoicing the final consonant in fast speech; and misplacing stress on the second syllable. Correction tips: keep a clear /e/ or /ɛ/ in the first syllable (DEN- or DEH-ng); finish with a crisp /ɡi/ or /ɡiː/ depending on your accent; and practice the word in isolation and in phrases to maintain first-syllable stress.

In US, the first vowel often realized as /ˈdɛnɡi/ with a short e; in UK, you may hear /ˈdeŋɡi/ with a slightly longer e-like vowel; in some Australian speech, /ˈdeŋɡi/ or /ˈdɛnɡi/ can occur, with fast clipped final syllable. The rhoticity doesn’t greatly affect dengue, but vowel quality and vowel length can shift. Regardless, the /d/ + /e/ + /ŋ/ sequence remains stable; the final /ɡi/ may be more or less tense depending on register.

Two main challenges: the alveolar nasal plus velar stop cluster /nɡ/ can be tricky if you’re not producing the sequence smoothly; and the vowel quality in the first syllable can vary (/ɛ/ vs /e/), leading to mispronunciation as /dɪn/ or /dɛŋɪ/. Tongue position needs to be high-front for /e/ or mid-close for /eɪ/ in some varieties, and the final /i/ requires a high front unrounded vowel, like in “see.” Practicing the /d/ plus /ɛn/ and the /ɡi/ should normalize it.

Does dengue ever get pronounced with the final vowel lengthened in some contexts? In careful speech, speakers may enunciate /ˈdɛnɡi/ with a shorter final vowel than in “dengue fever” where a longer ɪ or iː can appear in some dialects due to pacing. Most standard pronunciations settle on a short, crisp /i/ at the end, but rapid speech can reduce it toward a schwa in typical conversational speech. Watch for tone and pace when labeling clinical terms.