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How to pronounce Phenolphthalein?

21 replies

TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 15:08

Phenolphthalein how to say it?

fen ol al aine

How do we do the phth bit in the middle? (y9 Science Acids & bases)

OP posts:
stokeymum39 · 23/11/2018 15:10

feen olp thaline. hope that makes sense. :)

NotCitrus · 23/11/2018 15:12

Feen-olf thy leen. With the F in the middle dropped most of the time.

TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 15:14

stokey

what is the h after the p doing then?

Also is the th a 'th' or 't' sound?

Is the a as in cat or as in /ay/

and line' as in washing line? or leen as in Pauline?

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 15:15

Citrus Why 'thy' not 'tha' ?

OP posts:
DixieFlatline · 23/11/2018 15:17

Phenol and phthalein are individual parts of the word (and words themselves) so neither should have bits chopped off and clearly stuck on the other in pronunciation. I hadn't come across the word 'phthalein' before but www.dictionary.com/browse/phthalein suggests ignoring the 'ph' part exists entirely is acceptable.

TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 15:18

ps Are you both 'guessing' or does one of you 'know'? Smile

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 23/11/2018 15:19

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/phenolphthalein

There’s a sound button you can play.

Reallybadidea · 23/11/2018 15:19

According to my chemistry a level teacher it is fee-nol thay-leen. No ph sound.

TeeBee · 23/11/2018 15:20

I say it the same as Stokeymum. And that's how my chemistry lecturer used to pronounce it.

christmaschristmaschristmas · 23/11/2018 15:20

feen - al - thy - leen

TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 15:23

Thank you all.

OP posts:
worriedaf · 23/11/2018 15:25

I’m a chemistry teacher and I say it phee nol fay leen. Doubting myself now!

JumpersForGoalposts · 23/11/2018 15:28

I've always thought it was pronounced fee-nol thar-leen.

PurpleDaisies · 23/11/2018 15:29

Fee nol thay lean for me.

I have now said it so many times in my head it is weird.

DixieFlatline · 23/11/2018 15:32

The phonetic guide on the Oxford Dictionary link gives both fee-nol-tha-leen and fee-nol-thay-leen (translated into layperson phonetics...) as accepted versions.

WTFIsAGleepglorp · 23/11/2018 15:33

Fee nol tha leen

TeenTimesTwo · 23/11/2018 16:19

Thank you. Smile

DD hasn't a hope of learning how to spell it, but at least I know how to say it and I can discuss its meaning with her, and so she can come up with something vaguely near enough to be recognisable if she needs to write it down.

OP posts:
HettySorrel · 23/11/2018 22:47

Fee-nol-tha-leen is how I was taught.

PickAChew · 23/11/2018 22:50

Pheenol tharlin

kabine · 24/01/2019 22:40

What wonderful thread. This has taken me back to my school time and made me look up what exactly phenolphthalein is.

MeetOnTheledge · 24/01/2019 22:44

Fee-nol-tha-leen (I'm a chemist). A lot of people say fee-nol-thay-leen though.

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