The English Oracle

How do "you" pronounce eczema?

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Music by Eric Matyas
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Track title: Romantic Lands Beckon

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Chapters
00:00 How Do &Quot;You&Quot; Pronounce Eczema?
00:46 Answer 1 Score 11
01:06 Accepted Answer Score 9
02:20 Answer 3 Score 5
02:38 Answer 4 Score 3
03:19 Answer 5 Score 2
03:58 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#pronunciation #britishenglish #silentletters

#avk47



ANSWER 1

Score 11


Merriam-Webster and my own personal experience with American English suggest pronouncing it ˈeg-zə-mə

Cambridge Dictionary Online lists the pronunciation as ˈek.sɪ.mə and provides audio of English and American pronunciation.




ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 9


I just took an unscientific poll of North American professional actors (read: searched the web for eczema commercial), and "egzema" /ˈɛɡzɪmə/ was the most common, followed by the similar "eksema" /ˈɛksɪmə/. I hadn't heard "egzeema" /ɪɡˈzi:mə/ until today.

  • A TV ad for Elidel (pimecrolimus) cream 1% calls it a prescription drug to treat "egzema".
  • Another Elidel ad with an animated character also says "egzema".
  • A commercial for Gold Bond opens with a woman talking about "an eksema flareup" but it's kind of close. The voiceover says "egzema relief cream".
  • "There are better ways to soothe egzeema" than spreading ice cream all over your skin. "Try Polysporin egzeema essentials".
  • "Cortizone-10 intensive healing egzema lotion"
  • Neosporin because "Americans suffer from eksema"

The "egzema" and "eksema" pronunciations represent a common phonological process called voicing assimilation: "egzema" and "egzeema" are anticipatory while "eksema" is lag.




ANSWER 3

Score 5


You may want to check here: http://youglish.com/search/eczema

The cons: it doesn’t indicate the location of the speakers.
The pros: they are professional speakers.

They added accent support.




ANSWER 4

Score 2


I'm a lifelong US resident and the daughter of a dermatologist. I grew up hearing my father pronounce it ig-zee-muh. He grew up in Chicago and did his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. However, he moved us to North Carolina when I was a baby. So though I always said "ig-zee-muh" (accent on second syllable, long e) I recall most locals saying "egg-ze-muh" (accent on first syllable, pronounced like the word "egg", second e more of a schwa). I've never, ever heard the word spoken as only two syllables.