5 syllables: Mis, ce, gen, a, tion. Stress on gen.
mis-uh-JEN-ay-shuhn
/mɪsəˈdʒɛn.eɪ.ʃən/
Miscegenation is pronounced mis-uh-JEN-ay-shuhn (/mɪsəˈdʒɛn.eɪ.ʃən/). It has five syllables (Mis-ce-gen-a-tion), with the stress on "gen". Miscegenation is the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial groups, historically used to describe interracial unions and marriages. It is a legal, social, and moral term with a charged history, often discussed in contexts of anti-miscegenation laws and racial policies. The word is primarily used in formal or academic discourse and carries strong cultural and ethical implications.
nounMiscegenation is the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial groups, historically used to describe interracial unions and marriages. It is a legal, social, and moral term with a charged history, often discussed in contexts of anti-miscegenation laws and racial policies. The word is primarily used in formal or academic discourse and carries strong cultural and ethical implications.
- You might over-articulate the final -tion, turning it into a full 'shun' with too much emphasis; keep it light and unstressed as /ʃən/. - The /dʒ/ should be a single affricate; some speakers insert a vowel between /d/ and /ʒ/—avoid breaking it into /d/ + /ʒ/. - The second syllable /ɛn/ can slide toward /eɪ/ in rapid speech, leading to misplacement of stress; aim for a crisp /ɛn/ then /eɪ/ in the penultimate syllable. - Stress misplacement is common; remember the primary stress on the fourth syllable: miscegenes-ATION; practice with a four-beat count to lock the rhythm.
"The court case challenged the constitutionality of laws prohibiting miscegenation."
"Historical records reveal the prevalence of miscegenation in frontier communities despite legal restrictions."
"Some sociologists study miscegenation to understand changing attitudes toward race and marriage."
Pronounce as mis-SEDGE-EN-AY-shən, with primary stress on the third syllable: /mɪsˌdʒɛnˈeɪʃən/. Break it into four syllables: mis-CE-gen-ation, but the actual stress pattern places the strongest emphasis on the fourth syllable. Start with /mɪs/ (like mis), then /dʒɛn/ (like jen with a j sound), then /eɪ/ (like ay), and finish with /ʃən/ (shun). A quick tip: keep the /dʒ/ as a single affricate and avoid inserting extra vowel between /d/ and /ʒ/.
Common errors include uneven syllable stress (pulling stress to the first or second syllable instead of the fourth), mispronouncing the /dʒ/ as /z/ or /tɕ/ in some accents, and truncating the final /ən/ to a schwa without the light nasal ending. Correction: emphasize /dʒ/ as a single sound after /mɪs/ and /dʒɛn/, use a clear /eɪ/ vowel in the penultimate syllable, and finish with a soft, unstressed /ən/ or /ən̩/ to capture the subtle nasalisation.
In US, you’ll hear /mɪsˌdʒɛnˈeɪʃən/ with stress on the fourth syllable and rhotic /ɹ/ not affecting the word itself; the /æ/ quality is often closer to a short ‘e’ in rapid speech. UK pronunciation remains similar but with non-rhoticity; vowels can be crisper and vowels slightly shortened. Australian pronunciation tends to be broader with a slightly longer /eɪ/ diphthong and more palatal /dʒ/ clarity; some speakers may reduce the final syllable more. IPA remains broadly consistent: /mɪsˌdʒɛnˈeɪʃən/.
The difficulty lies in the multisyllabic rhythm, the cluster /dʒ/ after a short /i/ vowel, and the final unstressed /ən/ which can be reduced or nasalised. The sequence mis- with a strong /s/ and a following /dʒ/ can trip speakers who expect a simpler onset. Also, the /eɪ/ diphthong in the second-to-last syllable can vary in height, making it easy to misplace the primary stress. Practice the four-syllable march and the tight /dʒ/ articulation.
There are no silent letters in miscegenation. Every syllable contributes to the word’s rhythm. A tricky detail is the fifth phoneme cluster /ˈdʒɛn/ which requires a robust affricate release from a short preceding /s/; keep the /s/ subdued while allowing the /dʒ/ to pop cleanly. The final /ən/ carries a light nasalization; avoid a full, pronounced 'n'.
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- US: rhotic and sharper /ɪ/; the /eɪ/ in the penultimate syllable is a tight diphthong; keep lips slight rounded for /eɪ/. - UK: non-rhotic, so post-vocalic r is absent; vowels can be a touch shorter and crisper; maintain /dʒ/ clarity. - AU: broader vowel quality; /eɪ/ may be longer and more open; keep the final syllable light and nasalized. Across all, ensure the /m/ and /s/ are cleanly separated before /dʒ/; use IPA as guide and adjust lip rounding slightly with accent.
Miscegenation comes from the 19th-century coined term miscegenation, itself formed from the Latin miscere ‘to mix’ and genus ‘birth, race, kind’ with the agentive suffix ‑ation. The word surfaced in American legal and political rhetoric during debates over interracial marriage, especially around anti-miscegenation statutes of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was popularized by abolitionists and later adopted in both scholarly and journalistic circles, often in the form ‘miscegenation’ rather than as a phrase. Although the root elements are Latin, the word was constructed in English to denote the act or process of mixed-race reproduction, carrying pejorative connotations in many historical contexts. First widely cited usage appeared in legal texts and newspapers circa the 1860s–1870s, aligning with the period’s intense racial policy debates. Over time, the term has become a historical artifact in discussions of race laws, though it remains in use in certain critical, historical, and sociological analyses. In contemporary discourse, the term is often treated with caution due to its loaded history and potential to evoke coercive or prejudicial implications. The word’s place in English reflects a period-specific approach to racial categorization and reproductive mixing, rather than a neutral biological concept.
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Words that rhyme with "Miscegenation"
-ion sounds
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