Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

talented tenth

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.77 in modern English

Syllables
tal-ent-ed -tenth
IPA
17
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A leadership class of African-Americans in the early 20th century, typified by one in ten black men thought to have educated themselves and become involved in social change.

Etymology

The term was coined by White Northern philanthropists, then publicized by W. E. B. Du Bois in an influential essay of the same name, which he published in September 1903.

Inflected Forms

the Talented Tenth (canonical)

Questions

What does talented tenth mean?
A leadership class of African-Americans in the early 20th century, typified by one in ten black men thought to have educated themselves and become involved in social change.
Where does talented tenth come from?
The term was coined by White Northern philanthropists, then publicized by W. E. B. Du Bois in an influential essay of the same name, which he published in September 1903.

How to pronounce talented tenth

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “talented tenth”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “talented tenth”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “talented tenth” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.