yur-SELF
/jɚˈsɛlf/
yourself is pronounced yur-SELF (/jɚˈsɛlf/). Yourself is a reflexive pronoun used for emphasis or to refer to the person being addressed. In most contexts it is a single unstressed syllable followed by a weakly stressed “self.” It often substitutes for “you” plus “own self” and frequently appears in imperative or emphasis constructions, e.g., “Take care of yourself.”.
Yourself is a reflexive pronoun used for emphasis or to refer to the person being addressed. In most contexts it is a single unstressed syllable followed by a weakly stressed “self.” It often substitutes for “you” plus “own self” and frequently appears in imperative or emphasis constructions, e.g., “Take care of yourself.”
- Common phonetic challenges: 1) Vowel quality in the first syllable: /jɔr/ vs /jʊr/; correction: practice with focused mouth positions and listening to actual recordings of your dialect to choose the closest variant. 2) Final /f/ mispronounced or devoiced: ensure lip-to-teeth contact and voice a small amount if needed. 3) Stress placement: normally the second syllable is stressed; practice phrases where ‘yourself’ follows a verb to fix the rhythm. - Tips: you can carve out a slow, precise version first, then speed up without losing clarity.
"Take care of yourself after the surgery."
"You’ll have to do it yourself this time, not with help."
"Explain it to yourself in simple terms before you begin."
Yourself is pronounced as /jɔːrˈself/ in non-rhotic British contexts and /jʊrˈsɛlf/ or /jərˈsɛlf/ in many American contexts. The first syllable carries primary stress in the second syllable; the sequence shell is /self/ with an articulatory alveolar closure followed by an l-velar closure approximation. Start with a light /j/ glide, then the vowel in your as a rhotic vowel, followed by the stressed /sɛlf/.”
Common errors include: 1) Reducing the /jɔːr/ to a weak /jə/ or /ju/ in fast speech, which makes it sound like 'yore-self' instead of 'your-self.' 2) Slurring the /r/ or losing the final /f/ so it sounds like /-sel/ or /-self/ without the final consonant. 3) Misplacing primary stress, saying /ˈjɔrˌself/ with wrong emphasis. Correct by ensuring the first syllable has clear rhotic vowel quality and the /f/ at the end is audible.
In US English, rhotic /r/ is pronounced in the first syllable: /jɜr/ or /jɔr/ depending on dialect, with /ˈsɛlf/ in the second syllable. In UK English, you may encounter non-rhotic realizations of the first vowel as /jɔː/ with a longer, rounded vowel and a still clear /self/. Australian English often mirrors UK patterns but with slightly more centralized or centralized vowel qualities; final /f/ remains labiodental and clear. Overall, the key differences are rhoticity on the first syllable and vowel quality in the first vowel.
Difficulties stem from the adjacent stress pattern and the cluster /jɔr/ or /jʊr/ followed by /self/. The glide /j/ blends into a rounded vowel, and the /r/ can be variable across dialects. Additionally, the final /f/ requires precise lip-to-teeth contact. Learners often misplace the primary stress or shrink the first syllable in fast speech, making it sound like ‘yer-self’ or ‘your-self’ without the vowel quality.
A distinctive feature is the way the first syllable often carries a rhotic vowel with the /r/ acting as a vowel contributor, not a strong consonant onset in many rapid speech contexts. Stress typically sits on the second syllable in many phrases like ‘you yourself,’ but in isolated usage, the first syllable bears greater prominence. This contrast can mislead learners who try to stress both syllables equally. IPA cues and minimal pair practice help solidify the natural pattern.
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- US: Rhotic /r/ in the first syllable; ensure a clear /ɔr/ or /ɜr/ vowel with the tongue slightly back and the tip curling slightly. - UK: Often non-rhotic in the first syllable; maintain /ɔː/ around mid-back of tongue, with a smoother onset. - AU: Similar to UK but with slightly more centralized vowels; maintain clear /f/ at the end and a relaxed jaw. - IPA references: US /jɔrˈsɛlf/, UK /jɔːˈself/, AU /jɔːˈself/.
Yourself derives from the combination of the possessive pronoun your with the reflexive pronoun self. The reflexive pronoun self originates in Old English as sylf, evolving into self in Middle English under the influence of the possessive and object pronouns in the same period. The form yourself emerged in the early modern English era as a compound pronoun used for emphasis or to reference the person being addressed, mirroring the broader ambivalence in English between simple pronouns and compound, emphatic forms. The word’s evolution tracks the general trend of intensifying personal reference in instructive and emphatic language, moving from literal “your own self” to a single pronoun unit that can function as an object, subject, or intensifier in various syntactic positions. First known usages appear in late medieval to early modern English texts, becoming a standard lexical item in everyday speech by the 17th–18th centuries and solidifying its current reflexive, emphatic, and emphatic-possessive roles in contemporary English.
💡 Etymology tip: Understanding word origins can help you remember pronunciation patterns and recognize related words in the same language family.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "yourself" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "yourself" and show contrast in usage.
📚 Vocabulary tip: Learning synonyms and antonyms helps you understand nuanced differences in meaning and improves your word choice in speaking and writing.
Words that rhyme with "yourself"
-elf sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
