veye-BRAY-shuhnz
/vaɪˈbɹeɪʃənz/
vibrations is pronounced veye-BRAY-shuhnz (/vaɪˈbɹeɪʃənz/). Vibrations refers to the rapid back-and-forth movements or oscillations of an object or medium, producing a perceptible sound or sensation. In science and everyday language, the term captures the phenomenon of periodic motion that can transfer energy through air, structures, or materials. It often implies measurement, frequency, and the resulting effects, like sound or mechanical resonance.
Vibrations refers to the rapid back-and-forth movements or oscillations of an object or medium, producing a perceptible sound or sensation. In science and everyday language, the term captures the phenomenon of periodic motion that can transfer energy through air, structures, or materials. It often implies measurement, frequency, and the resulting effects, like sound or mechanical resonance.
- You’ll often see the middle /ɪ/ reduced in rapid speech; keep the /ɪ/ as in 'vibr' in 'vibe' but roll into /breɪ/ clearly. - The final /z/ can devoice to /s/ in fast speech; keep the voice on the final sound by gently vibrating your vocal cords during the /z/ sound. - Stress misplacement: ensure your primary stress is on the second syllable, /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/, not on the first. Practicing with slow, then faster, speeds helps cement correct rhythm.
"The guitar strings set off vibrations in the air, creating sound waves."
"Microseisms are tiny vibrations of the Earth's crust caused by distant ocean waves."
"Engine imbalance can cause vibrations that you feel in the steering wheel."
You pronounce it as /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/. Stress falls on the second syllable: vi-BRAY-tions, with a light, unstressed final -z. Begin with the /v/ sound, then the /aɪ/ diphthong, followed by /b/ and the /reɪ/ vowel cluster,—note the -a- in the middle shifts to /eɪ/ in the stressed syllable. Finish with /ʃənz/ as in “shuns” but with a z ending. IPA helps: /ˌvaɪˈbreɪʃənz/.
Common errors: misplacing the stress (shifting stress to the first syllable as vi-BRAY-tions), pronouncing /vɪ/ instead of /vaɪ/ in the first syllable, and mispronouncing the final /z/ as /s/ when followed by quantized voiced consonants in rapid speech. Correction: keep the primary stress on the second syllable, articulate /vaɪ/ as a clear diphthong, and voice the final -z fully as /z/ rather than devoicing to /s/ in casual, fast speech. Practice with minimal pairs to lock the pattern.
US: /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/ with rhotic /r/ after /v/ and clear /ɪ/ vs /ə/ in the second syllable. UK: /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/ similar but with non-rhoticity in some varieties and a slightly crisper /t/ in rapid speech; AU: /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/ often with broader vowel realization and softer /ə/ vowels, yet the stress pattern remains the same. In all, the second syllable bears the head stress; vowel quality in /breɪ/ is a defining feature across accents.
The difficulty lies in coordinating a multi-syllable stress pattern, maintaining a clear /ɪ/ vs /ɪ/ nuance in the middle, and properly voicing the final /z/ after a /ən/ sequence. The /ɪ/ in the first syllable is reduced by the /aɪ/ diphthong motion, and the /br/ cluster requires precise tongue positioning. Additionally, the final /z/ must stay voiced despite rapid speech that can devoice final consonants.
No. Vibrations ends with an -ions cluster pronounced as /ɪənz/ where the 'ti' forms /ʃən/ plus a plural /z/, so there is no /t/ sound. The unique aspect is handling the /ʃən/ sequence after /breɪ/. Awareness of the medial /r/ and the reduction of unstressed vowels helps you nail the rhythm.
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- US: rhotic /r/ in /breɪ/ and /ˈbreɪ/; keep /r/ from coloring the following vowel; /ə/ in the final syllable tends to be a schwa-like sound before /n/; - UK: often non-rhotic, but /breɪ/ remains crisp; final /z/ remains voiced; - AU: vowels slightly more open; the /ɪ/ vs /iː/ distinction varies; maintain /ˌvaɪˈbreɪ.ʃənz/ with a clear /ˈbreɪ/; use IPA as reference and practice with native samples.
Vibrations comes from Medieval Latin vibrātiō, from Latin vibrare meaning to shake, brandish, or tremble. The root vib- is linked to vibrāre, to shake or move to and fro. The English form inherited the -ation suffix to denote the act or process. Early references in English focus on physical agitation and mechanical motion. The term gained broader scientific traction in the 17th–18th centuries with advances in acoustics, mechanics, and physics, where precise measurement of oscillatory motion became essential. Over time, vibrations expanded from a purely physical sense to metaphorical uses (emotional vibrations, social vibrations) but core sense remains tied to repeated motion and energy transfer. First known use in English appears in early scientific texts describing vibrating bodies, with the concept of frequency and amplitude formalized in the 19th century as instrumentation and theory matured. The word travels across disciplines—from acoustics and engineering to biology and medicine—retaining its focus on periodic motion and the phenomena it produces, such as sound, resonance, and stress patterns in materials.
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Words that rhyme with "vibrations"
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