History Vocabulary

A Guide to Pronunciation

The sound of schwaschwa

Please note that schwa (shWAH) is the most common vowel sound in English. It occurs in many of the words in this slideshow.For a guide to this sound and some audio examples, please go to this BBC site:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/schwa/

schwa

In this slideshow, the vowel sound schwa is shown by an asterisk (*) and underlined.

Word Stress & Vowels

The stressed (highest and loudest) syllable in each word is CAPITALIZEDCAPITALIZED.

Vowel sounds are colour-coded and matched to a list of the same sounds in other common words.

Austro-Serbian War

OOSSSStro-sEERRbeeyun*•boss•loss•go•sir•see

Balkan Wars

bALLALLkun*•tall•wall•fall

Berlin Blockade

berLINLIN blockADEADE•her•tin•shock•maid

Bosnian Crisis

bOOZZneeyun* kRRIIsiss

•see•cry•miss

Cuban Missile Crisis

kYOOYOObun* mIISSSSile krIIsiss•queue•cue•cry•high•this•hiss

Franco-Prussian War

frAANNko-pRRUUSHSHun*•tank•go•brush•rush

Great Depression

grate du*pRREESHSHu*n

•eight•fresh

Gulf War

gULLULLf•seagull•hull

Iraq War

eerARARk•be•tea•park•shark

Korean War

kerRREEEEun*•her•fur•be•tea

Moroccan Crisis/Crises

marOOCKCKun* krIIsiss/krIIsees•shock•mock•cry•High•miss•please•sneeze

Munich Agreement

mYOOYOOnick•you•two•sick

Paris Peace Conference

pAAriss•pad•pat•kiss

Sarajevo

saraYYAYAYvo•sat•mat•day•hey•know•soNotice that the “j” is pronounced as a “y” and that the “e” is pronounced as an “a”.

Vietnam

veeyu*tnARARm•be•tea•farm

Alliance System

aLLIEIEyunss•my•high•once

Allied Powers

AlAleyed•Allan•pal•shall•pie•my

Appeasement

aPPEEZEEEZEmu*nt•please•freeze

armaments

ARARmu*mu*nts

atomic

u*TTOOMMick

•from•bomb

Axis Powers

AKKAKKsiss

•pack•back•miss•hiss

Baltic states

bAALLLLtick

•all•fall•sick

Capitalism

kAAPPitu*lizu*m

•cap•map

Capitalist Bloc

kAAPPitu*list block

•cap•map •shock•rock

casualties

kAZHAZHyu*lteez

colonial rivalry

ku*lOOWNWNneeu*l rEYEEYEvu*lree•flown•shown•known•be•tea•eye•my

Communism

kOOMMyoonizu*m

•Tom•from•you•is•his

concentration camps

konsu*ntRRAYAYshu*n kamps

•on•day•lamp

conscription

ku*nskRRIIPPshu*n

•ship•flip

decolonization

deekolu*neyezAYAYshu*n•be•tea•doll•high•day

diplomatic

diplu*mATATick

•ship•fat•sick

Domino Effect

dOOMMinno u*fEECKTCKT

•Tom•win•know•insect

Dreadnoughts

dRREEDDnorts

•red•bread•sort•taught

Fascism

fASHASHizu*m

•fashion•bash•is•his

Fascist Party

fASHASHu*st

•passion•fashion

Fuhrer

• fYOOYOOru*h

• you

genocide

jENENu*side

•Ben•when•tide•sighed

Gestapo

gu*stARARpo

•are•far•no•so

Holocaust

hOOLLu*korst

•holiday•cord

ideology

eyedeeOOLLu*jee

•my•be•holiday

independence

indu*pEENNdu*nss

•pin•Ben

Chamberlain

chAAMEMEbu*lu*n

•came•same

Churchill

chEERRRRchill

•search•fill

Clemenceau

klEEMMu*nso

•them•no

Dwight D. Eisenhower

dwhIte dee EYEEYEzu*nhowah

•fight•see•why•cow•up

Gorbachev

gOORRbu*chov

•for•of

Hideki Tojo

hIIDDu*keye tOOjo

•did•my•so

Adolf Hitler

AYAYdolf hIITTlah

•say•golf•sit•up

kamikaze

kamu*kARARzee

•ham•far•see

Kaiser Wilhelm II

kEYEEYEzu* VVIILLhelm the second

•my•will•elder

This is a German name so the “w” is pronounced as a “v”.

Kennedy

kEENNu*dee

•energy•see

Krushchev

• krOOOOschov

• crew• too• of

Lenin

lEENNu*n

•Ben•when

Lloyd George

lOYOYd jOOrj

•boy•for

Douglas MacArthur

dUUglu*ss mu*kAARRthu*

•mug•car

Molotov

mOOlu*tov

•doll•of

Mussolini

moozu*lEEEEnee

•too•see

Richard Nixon

rICHICHu*d nIKIKsu*n

•rich•sick

Ronald Reagan

rOONNu*ld rAYAYgu*n

•on•day

Ernst Rommel

urnst rOOmu*l

•burn•on

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

frAANNklu*n DDEELLu*no rOOOOzu*velt

•tank•tell•go•zoo•belt

Josef Stalin

jOOsu*f stARARlu*n

•no•are

Harry Truman

hAARRRRee trOOOOmu*n

•carry•tea•too

Woodrow Wilson

wOUOUldroh wILILsu*n

•could•good•go•pill

Abyssinia

abissSSIINNeeya

•at•miss•in•see•up

Albania

albAYAYneeya

•pal•day•see•up

Alsace-Lorraine

AAllsass-lu*rAIAIn

•pal•cash•pain

Austria

OOSSSStreeya

•boss•me•up

Austria-Hungary

OOSSSStreeya hUUNGNGu*ree

•boss•me•up•sung

The Balkans

the bAALLLLku*nz

•call•tall

Balkan Peninsula

bAALLLLku*n penIINNsyoola

•call•then•win•too•up

Belgium

bEELLLLju*m

•sell

Bosnia-Herzegovina

bOOZZneeya hurtsgu*vEEEEna

•see•up•shirt

Britain

brITITu*n

Bulgaria

bulgAIAIRReeya

•dull•care•fair•see•up

Carribean

karru*BBEEEEu*n

•carry•see

Cuba

• kYOOYOOba

• you• up

Czechoslovakia

cheku*slovARARkeeya

•check•slow•far•see

Estonia

eSTSTOONENEeeya

•best•lone•see•up

Europe

YOOYOOru*p

European continent

YOOYOOru*peeyu*n KKOONNtinu*nt

•you•see•on•tin

Finland

fININlu*nd

France

frAANNss (USA)•hand

frAARNRNss (UK)•arm

Geneva

ju*nEEEEva

•see•up

Germany

jERERmu*nee

•her•see

Hawaii

hu*WHYWHYee

•cry•see

Hiroshima

hirOOSHSHshu*ma

•here•gosh•up

Latvia

lAATTveeya

•sat•see•up

indemnities

inDDEEMMniteez

•win•them•hit•sneeze

Iron Curtain

eyeu*n KKUURRtu*n

•high•hurt

League of Nations

LLEEEEg ov NNAAshu*nz

•be•of•pay

Manchukuo

manCHCHOOOOkwoh

•tan•too•so

Marshall PLan

MMAARRshu*l plan

•far•fan

militarism

MMIILLLLitu*rizm

•hill

Molotov Plan

MMOOLLu*tov plan

•doll•fan

Nazi Party

NNAARTRTsee PPAARRtee

•far•see

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

NNAARTRTsee SSOOveeu*t non-aggRREESSshu*n pakt

•far•see•go•on•rest•act

NATO

NNAAYYtoh

•day•go

propaganda

propu*GGAANNda

•top•hand•up

reparations

reparRRAAYYshu*nz

•guess•up•day

sanctions

sAANKNKshu*nz

•tank

satellite states

sAATTu*lite stayts

•cat•light•mates

swastika

sWWAASSSStikka

•boss•sick•up

tension

tEENNshu*n

totalitarianism

toetalu*TTAIAIRReeyu*nizm

•go•shall•hair•see•is

trenches

tRREENCHNCHu*z

•French•bench

Treaty of Versailles

tRREEEEtee ov vairSSIGHIGH

•tree•of•hair•myThis is a French word so the final “-lles” is silent!

Triple Alliance

tRRIIPPu*l aLLIEIEyu*nss

•tip•up•my

Triple Entente

tRRIIPPu*l onTTOONNt

•tip•on

This is a French word, so the middle “e” is pronounced with an “o” sound and the final “e” is silent.

Truman Doctrine

tRROOOOmu*n DDOOKKtru*n

•true•rock

Warsaw Pact

wOOREREsore pakt

•draw•snore•war•act

Weimar Republic

vEYEEYEmar ru*PPUUBBlik

•my•car (long vowel not short)•tub•sickThis is a German word, so the letter “w” is pronounced as “v”.

Lithuania

lithooAYAYnia

•with•too•day•me•up

Manchuria

manCHCHOOOOreea

•tan•too•see•up

Nagasaki

naggaSSAARRkee

•bag•up•far •see

Normandy

nOORRmu*ndee

•for•see

Ottoman

OOTTTTa*mu*n

•hot•up

Poland

PPOOlu*nd

•go

Rhineland

rEYEEYEnland

•my•hand

Rumania

rooMMAAYYneea

•shoe•day•see•up

Russia

rUUSHSHa

•rush

Serbia

SSIIRRbeea

•her•see•up

Tunisia

tyooNNIISSSSeea

•tune•miss•see•up

Turkey

TTEERRRRkee

•her•see

Yugoslavia

yoogoSLSLAARRveea

•you•go•car•see•up