How do you pronounce "sentient"?

November 18, 2021 4:14 AM

I have always pronounced the word "sentient" as "sen-tee-unt" and have always heard others use that pronunciation. However, I just heard someone on TV pronounce it "sen-shunt". Some googling tells me that that's the American pronunciation, and I've been using the British pronunciation all this time? How do you say that word and where do you live? I'm in PA for reference.
posted by cozenedindigo to Writing & Language (70 answers total)

Neither, though the person on TV is close. I pronounce it like "quotient." In the Midwest, though raised in the South.
posted by yclipse at 4:21 AM on November 18, 2021 [7 favorites]

More like "sen-chent" for me, raised in Southern California.
posted by LionIndex at 4:24 AM on November 18, 2021 [17 favorites]

I (British/Australian), and basically everyone I know, pronounce it like you were. Sen-tee-ent or sent-yent.
posted by pompomtom at 4:34 AM on November 18, 2021 [14 favorites]

Huh. I grew up in the Midwest, and I pronounce it how you do, but it's possible this is one of those words I've only ever read and not heard used out and about.
posted by lemonade at 4:44 AM on November 18, 2021 [10 favorites]

Like you, but I can't say for sure if I've ever heard anyone else say it out loud. The other way sounds ugly to me. I've lived all over the U.S. but New York/New Jersey probably left the most mark on me.
posted by HotToddy at 4:52 AM on November 18, 2021

I’m Australian and pronounce it the way you do.
posted by Jubey at 4:53 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

For me the sound blurs from what you use to the American pronunciation if I say it fast. I tend to lean towards the latter but my ear recognizes them as really the same thing.
posted by restless_nomad at 4:54 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

Sen-tee-int in New England. I love words and I am completely and utterly surprised to hear sen-shunt is a valid pronunciation! I have heard the word spoken before and I have never heard another American say sen-shunt. You learn something new every day, I guess!
posted by Gable Oak at 4:55 AM on November 18, 2021 [17 favorites]

I say sen-tee-int. I grew up in California (with a slight Midwest accent since both of my parents are from the Midwest).
posted by mekily at 4:56 AM on November 18, 2021 [5 favorites]

Brit here. It's sen-tee-ent for me. Would expect to hear sen-shent in media from the US.
posted by freya_lamb at 4:57 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Mine is sort of a halfway. Comes out closer to sen-chient.

From US south, but don’t have a southern accent.
posted by thivaia at 4:59 AM on November 18, 2021 [22 favorites]

I’m from Essex, England, and I pronounce it as you do.
posted by fabius at 5:13 AM on November 18, 2021

British (SE England), but I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone use the word in real life, which means my pronunciation is likely based solely on how the word looks. I had to repeat it out loud a few times to work out how I say it: "sen-ti-ent", it turns out, but the "ti" is very short and not stressed, and the "e" is a schwa, so it might be heard as "sen-tyent" or "sen-chent".

The Chambers dictionary offers three standard pronunciations, with no indication of a US/UK difference: sen-ti-ent, sen-tyent, sen-sh(y)ent. In all cases the "e" in the final syllable is a schwa, but I don't know how to type one.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:14 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

I am from the northeast US (Boston area) and have always pronounced it like "quotient" and think "sen tee ent" sounds wrong but I am 99% sure I picked this up from Captain Picard, and I bet a lot of other people learned the same way (although also note that the American-accented character in the clip is saying it closer to "sen tee ent").
posted by mskyle at 5:15 AM on November 18, 2021 [14 favorites]

Sen-tee-ent like you. Grew up in Midwest USA, occasionally use it as a biologist, all the scientists I know say it like that too.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:20 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’m another sen-chient/sen-tyent, which the consonant in the middle being that “ts” or “tch” sound that’s kind of halfway between “t” and “ch”, and with the vowel sounds after it also pronounced in rapid succession, so they are two separate vowel sounds, but almost not.
posted by eviemath at 5:24 AM on November 18, 2021 [6 favorites]

Sen-tee-ent. Midwest/West Coast/East Coast. I can't really remember hearing anyone say it the other way.
posted by pinochiette at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

Canadian here. SEN-ti-ent
posted by dobbs at 5:46 AM on November 18, 2021 [9 favorites]

I say sen-shent because as a teen I watched the ST:TNG episode that mskyle linked to above. Everyone around me here in NJ who did not watch that episode says sen-tee-ent.
posted by kimberussell at 5:48 AM on November 18, 2021 [3 favorites]

Anyone want a schwa? We have them here!
.ie / .uk [south]: pashənt, quoshənt [and I guess toshənt 'tho I've never used totient] but Sentiənt.
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:20 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

A linguistics doctoral candidate could do worse than a study of how Patrick Stewart influenced pronounciations of various science terms among millennials (see also, from the clip, the long A in Data).

When I say it--and in the context of our pets, I use it quite a lot--it's roughly "sen-tyent", pronouncing the ie as a dipthong. But when I hear it in my head, especially if the voice of the text is supposed to feel distinguished or erudite, it's Sir Patrick all the way.

Quick edit: I'm from the Northeast US.
posted by thecaddy at 6:20 AM on November 18, 2021 [13 favorites]

Raised in New Jersey, live in Massachusetts, "sen-tyent".
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:27 AM on November 18, 2021

I say "sen-tee-int" grew up in the mid-atlantic US. I've always thought of this as a "toe-may-toe" "toe-mah-toe" sort of thing, as I've heard the other way, and never thought of either as right or wrong.
posted by coffeecat at 6:31 AM on November 18, 2021

I'm in PA, and my default pronunciation is something along the "sen-chient" axis.
posted by Stacey at 6:54 AM on November 18, 2021

They are all correct in American English. The word isn't common enough to have a single consensus pronunciation. I personally swap freely between the two depending on my mood, how fast I'm talking, and whether it's after cocktail time. (American, grew up in Houston, live in California.)
posted by Nelson at 7:06 AM on November 18, 2021

I’m another sort of blended pronunciation person (USA). I write science fiction and hang out with other science fiction writers, and so terms like “sentient” and “sapient” come up with some frequency. I believe I’ve heard all of the above pronunciations and never blinked at any of them.
posted by wintersweet at 7:14 AM on November 18, 2021

I use both. Raised in the Midwest, living in PA.
posted by coppermoss at 7:15 AM on November 18, 2021

Australia, two syllables. The t is clearly still there, not mashed into a sh, but the "ient" syllable has a schwa for the vowel: sent yənt
posted by flabdablet at 7:18 AM on November 18, 2021

Grew up mid-atlantic and I pronounce it as you do.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:22 AM on November 18, 2021

I pronounce it the same way you do, and I grew up in the DC/midatlantic region.
posted by nightrecordings at 7:27 AM on November 18, 2021

US Midwest - sen-chee-ent, always with three syllables in my case. I would not bat an eye at someone only using two, though. Like elaborate and separate, I hear it both ways and don't think of it as a US/UK divide.
posted by soelo at 7:33 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Same as you. I grew up in southern California in the 1980s. But, it's also a word I'm not sure my family has ever said, so it's possible I either made it up or learned it from the radio. (Which included a lot of BBC and other Commonwealth services when I was regularly learning new "big" words.)The second version would stand out as a little bit odd, but not odd enough to mention. It might make me ask where the speaker grew up later on.
posted by eotvos at 7:45 AM on November 18, 2021

I googled pronounce sentient and it gives an audio clip that this idiotic phone will not allow me to link.
posted by theora55 at 8:09 AM on November 18, 2021

I grew up in the Midwest (SW Michigan). I think I mentally pronounced the word "sen-tee-ent" as a young reader in the 1970s, but I now say "sen-chent" on those rare occasions when I use it in speech.

FWIW, here's what the OED notes for pronunciation: "Brit./ˈsɛnʃnt/,/ˈsɛnʃɪənt/,/ˈsɛntɪənt/, U.S./ˈsɛn(t)ʃ(i)ənt/,/ˈsɛn(t)iənt/."
posted by brianogilvie at 8:10 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Grew up in the tri-state area (Long Island), have always pronounced it the way you do and can't recall ever hearing it "sen-chent"! I did my humanities grad degree in Southern California, the word definitely appeared with some frequency in texts, everyone said it like you and I do.
posted by nancynickerson at 8:13 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

I pronounce it in-between, with the "ti" being a little like a cross between "tsh" and "tch" -- the closest analog I can think of is the sound that is transcribed as "qi" in Mandarin, and with a bit of a diphthong. Like, "sen-tshyunt." It'll slip closer to "sen-tee-unt" if it's in a phrase like "sentient beings" and closer to "sen-shunt" if no noun follows it, like "Is the creature sentient?"

Grew up in the U.S. South with New England parents.
posted by alligatorpear at 8:24 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

sen-ti-ent, sen-tyent, sen-sh(y)ent

Southern Ontario here. I’ve probably said it all three ways with a slight favouring of the middle of the three. Honestly, it would never occur to me that any one was either* preferable or unusual.

*That first syllable can be ee- or eye-. What am I say? I am making up for my prescriptivist youth.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:07 AM on November 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

British person here who's lived in, and worked with people from, diverse areas of the UK. "Sentient" used to come up fairly frequently in one of my former roles and everyone pronounced it as you do.

A rough and ready rule of thumb is that the shorter or simpler pronunciation or spelling is usually the American version, such as sen-chent/sen-tee-ent, color/colour, aluminum/aluminium, etc (no judgement or criticism intended or implied by that, btw, just a useful heuristic that seems to be generally true)
posted by underclocked at 9:10 AM on November 18, 2021

I pronounce it "sen-tee-unt"—US Midwest.
posted by smich at 9:24 AM on November 18, 2021

An English learner's dictionary gives both pronunciations. Mine is the UK one, and I'm not sure if that's the way I said it before moving here or if I've always said it that way.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 9:39 AM on November 18, 2021

Canadian here (British Columbia). Sen-tee-ent for me. If pressed I’d say my final syllable is more of a schwa.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:00 AM on November 18, 2021

Grew up in Berkeley, spent two decades away in Boston, and I speak as fast as the Micro Machines man, so my pronunciation of "sentient" usually sounds like "SEN-tchint." If I'm slowing down for emphasis, I say "SEN-tee'yənt," somewhere between 2.5 and 3 syllables, with the middle syllable somewhat elided, and more emphasis on the final syllable than the middle syllable.

Having grown up a TNG fan, I subscribe heavily to the Patrick Stewart Linguistic Influence theory, even though my own personal pronunciation differs.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 10:32 AM on November 18, 2021

I'm a sentchiant person. Grew up in the southwestern part of the US.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 10:48 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

SEN-chint. Maryland.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 10:58 AM on November 18, 2021

Grew up in Los Angeles. I say "SEN-ti-ent" but neither way sounds wrong to me, just alternate pronunciations of the same word.
posted by wanderingmind at 11:02 AM on November 18, 2021

SEN-chent. Grew up in Northern Virginia, although both my parents were from the Midwest and so I have a few scattered speech habits of that region.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:25 AM on November 18, 2021

SE US. All family also from SE US. Always sen-tee-int. I had no idea that there even was another pronunciation. *I* learned something new today.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 11:59 AM on November 18, 2021

soelo - I just realized that I pronounce elaborate and separate differently dependent upon using the word as an adjective or a verb.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 12:04 PM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

SEN-chee-ent; upstate New York.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:19 PM on November 18, 2021

Sen shunt. From LA. And watcher of TNG.
posted by asimplemouse at 12:30 PM on November 18, 2021

Sen-ti-ent here in Vancouver, Canada. Us Canadians are always good for a weird mix of British and American pronunciations, for whatever that (isn't) worth.
posted by cgg at 1:14 PM on November 18, 2021

sen-ti-ent, from Idaho/Washington. I watch and read *a lot* of sci-fi and have probably heard many variations but they didn't really register!
posted by esoterrica at 1:32 PM on November 18, 2021

I say sen-tee-ent. I never heard of the ch version until I read your post. I'm American, NYC born and raised.
posted by zorseshoes at 2:32 PM on November 18, 2021

SEN-tee-ent, grew up and live in New England and Mid-Atlantic USA.
posted by Pax at 2:55 PM on November 18, 2021

From the south, say it like in Star Trek and never heard it any other way in conversation.
posted by acantha at 3:00 PM on November 18, 2021

I say this word both ways and they both sound correct and "the same" to me even though the difference is obvious. U.S. Midwest, have also lived some time on the U.S. East Coast.
posted by shadygrove at 3:21 PM on November 18, 2021

Grew up in New England. Say sent-YENT
posted by jessamyn at 3:21 PM on November 18, 2021

My partner and I also experienced that lately watching something and both repeated the pronunciation in wonder. I wonder if we were watching the same thing (though I can't remember what it was)?

We also both pronounce it SEN-ti-ent. I'm from Vancouver BC and my partner is from Ottawa, Ontario.
posted by urbanlenny at 3:34 PM on November 18, 2021

SW Ontario = SEN-tee-ynt
posted by brachiopod at 4:03 PM on November 18, 2021

…and also maybe SEN-chee-ynt
posted by brachiopod at 4:10 PM on November 18, 2021

I had always said it in my head with the pronounced T until I went to college and heard a professor pronounce it like Picard, sen-chee-nt. Kinda 2 1/2 syllables. I think a lot of people pronounce the T because they only read it rather than heard it pronounced out loud, or only heard it pronounced by other people who only read it.
posted by MythMaker at 4:21 PM on November 18, 2021

So this is fun: I probably learned this word as a kid from reading sci-fi, but the first time I can remember hearing it was from it's usage in the first Halo (which just turned 20 a few days ago!). Sen-tee-ent.

But then why is Cortana (voiced by American actor Jen Taylor) using the British pronunciation? Turns out her character was originally written with a British accent... which helps explain her use of "sod off" in the same scene.
posted by Rhaomi at 8:16 PM on November 18, 2021

Sen-tee-ent -- Michigan born and raised.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:59 PM on November 18, 2021

sen-tee-yent. Texas.
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:49 PM on November 18, 2021

Both pronunciations are acceptable. Personally I say "sen-tee-ent". b. Southern California 1950s.
posted by rmmcclay at 3:28 AM on November 19, 2021

I say "sen-tee-ent" even though I was raised in the US, and I think it's a sign I was destined to move to the UK at some point.

Incidentally, science fiction tends to use the word "sentient" a bit too specifically. It means "conscious" in the sense of "sensing the world", which means that tortoises and bluebottle flies and earthworms are all "sentient beings" simply by virtue of having senses.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:45 AM on November 19, 2021

I’m from the PNW and grew up on TNG. I say it like Picard.
posted by liet at 10:25 AM on November 19, 2021

Born and raised in New York City but had Scottish mother.
Sen-t-ent.
But also: Al you minium.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 8:03 AM on November 20, 2021

Sent-ee-ent or sen-shent. SoCal. Born 1980s. Parents and teachers said it those ways, too.
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:13 PM on November 20, 2021

My go-to for pronunciations is Forvo.com, and although they only have 3 examples, they all seem to be of the "sen-tee-ent" variety.
posted by qwip at 3:30 PM on November 20, 2021