Announcement: 
New Word List with Sound Files available now 

Pronunciation of some medical words

Words that have the following combination of letters at the beginning of the word are often said in the following way:
letter combination sound example pronunciation
pt t pterygoid pterygoid.gif (970 bytes)
ps s psorias psorias.gif (971 bytes)
pn n pneometer pneometer.gif (966 bytes)
gn n gnathitis gnathitis.gif (944 bytes)
mn n mnemonic mnemonic.gif (954 bytes)

 

however

If a prefix ending in a vowel comes before the following combination of letters then the first letter is pronounced:
word pronunciation
hemoptysis hemoptysis.gif (1013 bytes)
prognathism prognathism.gif (1025 bytes)
polypnea polypnea.gif (998 bytes)
dysgnathia dysgnathia.gif (1002 bytes)

Combination of vowels – oe and ae (English spelling) – are pronounced as

‘ee’. Ce/cae/coe as ‘see’ and ge/gae/goe as ‘jee’ in English.

 
word pronunciation
haema he'mah
rugae rugae.gif (908 bytes)
coelum coelum.gif (916 bytes)
septicaemia septicaemia.gif (1048 bytes)
caecum caecum.gif (924 bytes)

Another combination of letter are pronounced in the following way:
Letter combination sound word pronunciation
ph f phrenoplegia phrenoplegia.gif (1031 bytes)
rh r rhytidosis rhytidosis.gif (976 bytes)
ch k cochlea cochlea.gif (960 bytes)
x z xanthic xanthic.gif (937 bytes)
dys dis dysphagia dysphagia.gif (988 bytes)