WIT-nuh-suhz
/ˈwɪtnəsəz/
witnesses is pronounced WIT-nuh-suhz (/ˈwɪtnəsəz/). Witnesses is the plural form of witness, referring to people who see an event or testimony given in a legal or formal setting. It can also denote those who bear testimony or evidence. The word carries a neutral to formal tone and is commonly used in legal, investigative, and news contexts. Plural pronunciation shifts the final /ɪs/ to /ɪz/ in many accents, affecting rhythm and stress.
Witnesses is the plural form of witness, referring to people who see an event or testimony given in a legal or formal setting. It can also denote those who bear testimony or evidence. The word carries a neutral to formal tone and is commonly used in legal, investigative, and news contexts. Plural pronunciation shifts the final /ɪs/ to /ɪz/ in many accents, affecting rhythm and stress.
"Five witnesses testified at the trial yesterday."
"The witnesses described the scene in detail to the police."
"A panel of witnesses will share their experiences with the jury."
Break it into three syllables: WIT-ness-es. Primary stress on the first syllable: /ˈwɪtnɪ.sɪz/. The final -es behaves like a voiced z-inflection, so the ending is /-ɪz/ rather than /-əs/. Keep the tongue at the top of the mouth for the initial /w/ before /ɪ/. Lip rounding is light, with relaxed jaw. For clarity, space the syllables: WIT-ness-es, not WIT-nes-es. Listening to native speakers can help—aim for a smooth but distinct final /ɪz/.
Common errors: 1) Dropping the final /ɪz/ and saying /-ɪz/ or /-əs/ too short. Correction: hold the final /ɪz/ clearly. 2) Merging /t/ and /n/ into a syllabic /t/ or /dn/ blend; say WIT-ness-es with a distinct /t/ at the boundary. 3) Not stressing the first syllable; ensure the primary stress remains on WIT. Emphasize the /w/ onset and keep /ɪ/ short and lax.
US: /ˈwɪtnɪˌzɪz/ about three syllables with clear /t/ and final /z/. UK: /ˈwɪt.nɪ.zɪz/ similar, often with slightly less vowel reduction in unstressed syllables. AU: /ˈwɪt.nɪ.zɪz/ tends to be a crisper /t/ and a slightly raised vowel in some speakers, but usually very close to US. The main differences are rhoticity and vowel quality in the first syllable, plus the softening of the final vowels in rapid speech.
It challenges two points: first, the transition from /t/ to /n/ requires a clean tongue movement so the /t/ doesn’t blend into /n/. Second, the final /ɪz/ is a voiced sibilant; many speakers over- or under-voice it, or treat it as /s/. Practice with slow, deliberate /t/ release, then a separate final /ɪz/. IPA details help: mark the /t/ closure, then the alveolar sibilant /z/ with a quick, lighter release.
The plural endings in English often shift from a syllable boundary like WIT-ness-es to a smooth WITnɪzɪz; the challenge is to keep the three distinct segments while not letting the middle /n/ swallow the /ɪ/ vowel. Familiarize yourself with the tri-syllabic rhythm and the final -es as /-ɪz/ in standard varieties. Using minimal pairs like wit vs wit-ness to train the boundary helps.
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US: rhotic, /ˈwɪtnɪˌzɪz/; UK: /ˈwɪt.nɪ.zɪz/; AU: /ˈwɪt.nɪ.zɪz/. In US, you may hear a slightly stronger /ɪ/ in the first syllable and a reduced mid vowel in the second. UK tends to be crisper on /t/; AU speakers may produce a more even vowel quality with less reduction in the second syllable. Across all, keep the /t/ released and follow with /n/ to prevent blending; the final /z/ should be audible and voiced.
Witnesses derives from the noun witness, which comes from Old English witenesse, related to the verb witan meaning to know or to observe, and from Proto-Germanic witjaną. The core sense was a person who has knowledge of events, either by seeing them or by Testimony. Early uses in Middle English (circa 13th century) landed in legal contexts, where witnesses provided testimony to support or challenge claims in court. The plural suffix -es began to standardize in Early Modern English as a marker of multiple individuals: witnesses. Over time, the pronunciation consolidated to /ˈwɪt.nɪ.sɪz/ in many dialects, with the final -es often realized as /ɪz/ after a voiceless consonant cluster, though some accents show /ɪz/ or /ɪs/ depending on the surrounding phonetics. The term broadened beyond law into everyday speech and journalism, retaining a formal nuance in many contexts while also appearing in idiomatic constructions such as “eye-witnesses” and “witnessing” as a verb form.
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Words that rhyme with "witnesses"
-ses sounds
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