3 syllables: Kohl, ra, bi. Stress on ra.
kawl-RAH-bee
/kɔˈlɹɑbi/
Kohlrabi is pronounced kawl-RAH-bee (/kɔˈlɹɑbi/). It has three syllables (Kohl-ra-bi), with the stress on "ra". Kohlrabi is a bulbous, edible stem vegetable of the cabbage family, with a pale purple-tinged or green exterior and crisp white flesh. It is eaten raw or cooked and has a mild, slightly sweet, peppery flavor. The word denotes the plant’s stout stem enlargement, not the bulb as in some root vegetables. It is commonly used in European and immigrant cuisines.
nounKohlrabi is a bulbous, edible stem vegetable of the cabbage family, with a pale purple-tinged or green exterior and crisp white flesh. It is eaten raw or cooked and has a mild, slightly sweet, peppery flavor. The word denotes the plant’s stout stem enlargement, not the bulb as in some root vegetables. It is commonly used in European and immigrant cuisines.
How to Pronounce Kohlrabi
"I grated raw kohlrabi into a crunchy salad with apples and dill."
"The farmer’s market had fresh kohlrabi, radishes, and herbs this Saturday."
"She roasted kohlrabi alongside potatoes for a colorful, hearty side dish."
US: /ˈkoʊlˌræ.bi/ with primary stress on KOHL and a light secondary beat on RAB. Start with the long O in KOHL, then a crisp /l/; the R is a simple alveolar trill/approximant, followed by a short /æ/ like the 'a' in cat, and end with /bi/ as in bee. UK: /ˈkəʊlˌræ.bi/ with similar rhythm but a shorter first syllable; AU: /ˈkɔːlˌræː.bi/ with a longer vowel in the first and a longer second vowel. Listen to native speech to feel the two-beat rhythm.
Two frequent errors: 1) Misplacing stress by softening KOHL to a schwa-like /kəʊl/; keep /oʊ/ in US. 2) Rendering the second syllable as /ræ/ with a long /iː/ at the end, instead of the short /i/; pronounce /bi/ clearly. Correct by practicing KOHL- with a crisp /ˈkoʊl/ and a short /ræ.bi/ ending, ensuring the /l/ is lightly touched, not swallowed.
US: /ˈkoʊlˌræ.bi/ with rhoticity typical; UK: /ˈkəʊlˌræ.bi/ often with reduced first vowel to /əʊ/ and non-rhotic or lightly rhotic depending on speaker; AU: /ˈkɔːlˌræː.bi/ with a broader, longer first vowel and a longer /æ/ in the middle. The main difference is vowel quality in the first syllable and vowel length in the middle vowel, while the consonants remain consistent.
The difficulty lies in maintaining the two-stress rhythm across three syllables and producing accurate front vowel /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ in the first syllable, plus a crisp /æ/ in the middle syllable. People often flatten the /l/ or reduce the second syllable’s vowel. Practice by isolating KOHL, then pairing it with the /ræ.bi/ tail, focusing on the mouth positions for /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ and a clear /bi/ ending.
Kohlrabi’s key is the compact, three-syllable rhythm with a distinct break after the first syllable (KOHL-). The middle syllable contains a short, sharp /æ/ and the final syllable ends with a bright /bi/. This pattern repeats across dialects, though vowel lengths shift. Listener cues include the crisp onset of /k/ and the clear, unaspirated /l/ following it.
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Kohlrabi comes from the German language, formed from the combination of two words: kohl (“cabbage”) and rabi (a form of rape/oilseed plant in old usage, related to the genus Brassica). The term entered English usage via German and Swiss culinary texts in the 18th century as plant breeders and cooks in Central Europe introduced a new cultivar of Brassica oleracea. The name likely reflects the plant’s growth habit—an enlarged, swollen stem or “bulb”—rather than a true tuber or root. Early references describe the vegetable in herbals and kitchen gardens, with the form and flavor becoming more widely adopted in 19th-century European cookery guides and 20th-century immigrant cuisines, especially in English-speaking countries where German and Swiss recipes popularized it in salads and roasts.
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Words that rhyme with "Kohlrabi"
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