Paradigm

The noun paradigm gives trouble to some who try to say it. As it is a word whose use is restricted to academic circles, many only know it in print. Its pronunciation can be a trap for someone who wants to say it in a meeting. (It means 'a pattern' or 'model', or a 'representation of a typical case'. In grammar, for example, the tables of regular verbs that students have to learn in a foreign language are called the paradigms of a particular form of the verb. In French, the paradigm of the first conjugation is usually formed on the example porter. By extension, the word paradigm is often used to mean 'an example', or 'a model' or 'typical specimen'.)

The problem is that its spelling, which comes from Greek through Latin, does not represent a regular English pattern. The solution is to note that in English the '-g-' is silent, but has the effect of making the vowel sound like 'eye', or 'I'. The word is pronounced 'PAR-er-dime', IPA: /ˈpær ə daɪm/, with the stress on the first syllable.

The adjective paradigmatic is pronounced more regularly, as 'par-er-dig-MAT-ik', IPA: /ˌpær ə dɪg ˈmæt ɪk/.