Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

soft sign

/ˌsɔftˈsaɪn/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.53 in modern English

Syllables: soft- sign
IPA: /ˌsɔftˈsaɪn/

12

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The Cyrillic letter Ь/ь (transliterated in English with an apostrophe (’) or prime (′)), which in modern languages using the Cyrillic alphabet serves to denote a soft (palatized) consonant.

Etymology

Calque of Russian мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak), from мя́гкий (mjáxkij, “palatal, palatized, soft”) + знак (znak, “mark, sign”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌsɔftˈsaɪn/
British English: /ˌsɒftˈsaɪn/

Inflected Forms

soft signs (plural)

Synonyms

front jer front yer

Antonyms

hard sign

Rhymes With

line in line fine online design red line sign mine nine gold mine wine decline

Questions

How do you pronounce soft sign?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌsɔftˈsaɪn/.
What does soft sign mean?: The Cyrillic letter Ь/ь (transliterated in English with an apostrophe (’) or prime (′)), which in modern languages using the Cyrillic alphabet serves to denote a soft (palatized) consonant.
Where does soft sign come from?: Calque of Russian мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak), from мя́гкий (mjáxkij, “palatal, palatized, soft”) + знак (znak, “mark, sign”).

How to pronounce soft sign

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