How To Pronounce Special

In British English, special is pronounced /ˈspeʃ.əl/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈspeʃ.l̩]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈspeʃ.əl/.

Special 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.