How To Pronounce Welfare

In British English, welfare is pronounced /ˈwel.feə/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [ˈweɫ.feəʴ]. In American English, it is pronounced /ˈwel.fer/.

Welfare has two syllables, and the main stress falls on the first syllable. The British and American pronunciations are different, so listen to both.

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.