How To Pronounce Quinoa

In British English, quinoa is pronounced /ˈkiːn.wɑː/ or /kɪˈnəʊ.ə/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈkʰĩːnʷ.wɑː]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈkiːn.wɑː/.

Quinoa has two syllables, and the main stress falls on the first syllable. British and American speakers say it the same way.

Slashes / / show the phonemic transcription, the sounds that change meaning. Square brackets [ ] show the phonetic transcription, with the finer detail of how the sounds are actually made.