3 syllables: Mis, sou, la. Stress on sou.
miz-OO-luh
/mɪˈzulə/
Missoula is pronounced miz-OO-luh (/mɪˈzulə/). It has three syllables (Mis-sou-la), with the stress on "sou". Missoula is a proper noun referring to a city in Montana. It denotes a specific place and is commonly used in geography, travel, and local discourse. The name roots in the Salishan language family, and its pronunciation in modern English emphasizes a two-syllable stress pattern that shifts slightly with speakers’ regional habits.
nounMissoula is a proper noun referring to a city in Montana. It denotes a specific place and is commonly used in geography, travel, and local discourse. The name roots in the Salishan language family, and its pronunciation in modern English emphasizes a two-syllable stress pattern that shifts slightly with speakers’ regional habits.
How to Pronounce Missoula
"We drove from Spokane to Missoula for the conference."
"Missoula’s farmers market is lively in the summer."
"The Missoula Art Museum hosts rotating exhibits."
Missoula is pronounced mi-SOO-la, with primary stress on the second syllable. IPA: US/UK/AU mɪˈzuːlə. Start with a light 'mi' /mɪ/; then a long 'zuː' /zuː/ feel like 'zoo,' and finish with a neutral 'la' /lə/ or /la/ depending on the speaker. Visualize: mi- as a quick onset, ZOO as the vowel nucleus, and la as a soft, final syllable. You’ll want a crisp /z/ and a rounded /uː/ before the final schwa.”,
Common errors include misplacing stress (often emphasizing the first syllable), shortening the middle vowel so it sounds like mi-zu-la with /zu/ instead of /zuː/, and trailing off too hard on the final syllable. Correct by emphasizing the long /uː/ in the second syllable and keeping the final /lə/ or /lə/ distinct rather than merging into an /l/ or /la/ without light schwa. Practice with a slow rhythm: mi-SOO-la, then gradually speed up while maintaining the two clear portions: /mɪ/ and /zuː/ followed by /lə/.”,
In US English, stress falls on the second syllable with a clear /zuː/ and rhotic /r/ absence in the vowel. UK English often retains non-rhoticity but keeps the /zuː/; final /lə/ may be a light schwa or a short /lə/. Australian English tends toward a broad vowel in /zuː/ and a slightly clipped final /lə/, with less vowel length distinction than North American varieties. Across all accents, the second syllable remains the nucleus; the main variation is vowel quality and rhotic influence.”,
Missoula is challenging due to the combination of a schwa-like final syllable, the long /uː/ in the second syllable, and the need to maintain two strong syllables with even pacing. The middle /zuː/ can be unfamiliar for speakers whose native language has shorter or reduced long-vowel sounds, and the final /lə/ demands a light, unstressed ending that doesn’t become /lɛ/ or /la/. Focus on the nucleus vowel length and keeping the three-syllable rhythm distinct.”,
There are no silent letters in standard Missoula pronunciation. The letters contribute to three syllables: mi-sou-la, with the middle syllable carrying the long /uː/ vowel and the beginning /mɪ/ as a short vowel. The /z/ is fully voiced in the middle syllable. Ensure you articulate all three components clearly; do not drop the middle vowel or merge it into the adjacent syllables, which can lead to mispronunciations like mi-SOL-a.”]},
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US: rhotic? You’ll keep the /r/ sound nonexistent in Missoula; focus on the r-less, crisp /zuː/ with a clear /l/ at end. UK: non-rhotic, but final syllable tends toward a light /lə/; Australian: tries to sustain /zuː/ with a slightly broader /ə/ in the final. IPA references: /mɪˈzuːlə/ across. Vowel differences: US /uː/ tends to a fuller rounded high back vowel; UK/AU may show a slightly centralized /uː/ or a lighter quality. Consonants: /z/ should be voiced; don’t devo‑rate to /s/.
Missoula’s name originates from the Salishan language group, reflecting the Flathead and Kalispell tribal areas in western Montana. The term is believed to derive from a Salishan word describing the nearby Clark Fork River or a local place name associated with the river bend and the region’s geography. As European settlers moved west, the name was retained and anglicized, preserving the original syllabic structure or near phonetic equivalents. Documented spellings evolved through maps and records in the 19th and 20th centuries, with Missoula becoming the standard Anglicized form. The city’s identification with the Salishan heritage remains a key part of its cultural narrative, and pronunciation patterns in English have settled around /mɪˈzuːlə/ in American usage, while some speakers in the UK and Australia adopt slightly altered vowel qualities due to rhoticity and dialectal shifts. The name’s endurance in local and national discourse highlights a broader pattern of place names in North America that preserve indigenous phonology while integrating into English phonetic systems. First known use as a geographic label appears in early maps and colonial-era documents, with Missoula’s modern status as a consolidated city-County region cemented in the 20th century.
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Words that rhyme with "Missoula"
-ola sounds
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