/ˈsʌŋkən/
sunken is pronounced /ˈsʌŋkən/. Sunken describes something that has fallen or been pushed below the surrounding surface or level. It can refer to physical objects, like a sunken ship, or metaphorically to feelings or states that are depressed or lowered. The term carries a sense of depth, enclosure, or submergence and is often used in formal descriptions, nautical contexts, or medical/physical assessments.
Say it backSunken describes something that has fallen or been pushed below the surrounding surface or level. It can refer to physical objects, like a sunken ship, or metaphorically to feelings or states that are depressed or lowered. The term carries a sense of depth, enclosure, or submergence and is often used in formal descriptions, nautical contexts, or medical/physical assessments.
"The ship lay sunken at the bottom of the harbor after the storm."
"Her sunken cheeks and hollow eyes suggested fatigue and hardship."
"The sunken chest showed the cub had not eaten enough during the journey."
Pronunciation is SUN-ken with the primary stress on the first syllable. IPA US/UK/AU: /ˈsʌŋ.kən/. The first syllable uses the /ʌ/ vowel as in 'strut', followed by an /ŋ/ nasal before the /k/ stop. The second syllable is a reduced schwa-like /kən/ in rapid speech, but enunciate the /k/ clearly when precision is needed. Mouth position: start with a mid-back lax vowel, tongue high-mid back, then raise the back of the tongue to close the velum for /ŋ/, then release with a light /k/ and a final neutral vowel.
Common errors include misplacing the stress or merging /ŋk/ into /ŋkən/ without a clear /k/ release, and treating /ə/ as an /ɪ/ or /eɪ/ vowel in the second syllable. To correct: secure the primary stress on SUN, clearly articulate the /ŋ/ before the /k/ (pronounce the nvowel as a short /ə/ in fast speech), then release the /k/ before the final /ən/. Avoid reducing the second syllable too much; keep a light schwa to prevent sounding like 'sun-kin'.
US/UK/AU all share the /ˈsʌŋ.kən/ pattern, but subtle differences appear in vowel length and rhoticity. US tends to have a slightly fuller /ʌ/ with flapped or lax quality in rapid speech; UK typically preserves a crisp /ʌ/ and a non-rhotic /r/ absence, giving a flatter tone. Australian speech maintains non-rhoticity with a centralized /ə/ in the second syllable, and a slightly tighter /kən/ ending in many speakers. Overall, the rhythm remains trochaic in all three, but the vowel Quality and the degree of vowel reduction can shift with regional accents.
The difficulty lies in the consonant cluster /ŋk/ where the velar nasal and velar plosive combine, plus keeping the second syllable short without turning it into a full vowel. The /ˌ/ gesture requires a clean /ŋ/ release into /k/ and a fast, subdued /ən/. For non-native speakers, the risk is adding extra vowel length or misplacing the /k/ release. Practice focusing on the exact tongue contact: velar nasal at the soft palate, then a precise stop without extra vowel between /ŋ/ and /k/.
A distinctive feature is the clear /ŋk/ sequence before the final /ən/. A good tip: say SUN with a strong nasal release, then immediately release into a clipped /kən/, not a prolonged /ən/. Visualize the tongue touching the soft palate for /ŋ/ and then the dorsum touching the velum for /k/. Keep the jaw slightly dropped and the lips relaxed to avoid adding extraneous vowel sound.
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Sunken comes from the Old English suncan, combining suncan with the suffix -en to form past participle adjectives indicating a state resulting from action. The root sunc or suncian likely arose from Proto-Germanic sankijan, related to sinking or submerging ideas. In Middle English, forms like sunk or sunken appeared in various constructions, with sunken solidifying as the past participle of sink when describing a now-submerged object or state. The semantic drift emphasizes the consequence of an action (to sink) resulting in a lowered position: something has become sunken, rather than simply sinking at the moment. First known uses surface in nautical and archaeological contexts as sailors and antiquarians described ships and decks that had become submerged. Over time, sunken broadened to metaphorical uses (sunken eyes, sunken cheeks) indicating a recessed or depleted condition, maintaining its core sense of below-surface position or level. The word remains common in both literal and figurative registers, including medical descriptions (sunken fontanelle in infants) and architectural discourse (sunken floors).
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Words that rhyme with "sunken"
-ken sounds
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