How to pronounce "flehmen" in English
ˈfleɪmən
FLAY·mən
Primary stress: FLAY
Hear native speakers say flehmen in context across real video clips
And that is where that funny face comes in. When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response, they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff. they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff.
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “flehmen”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
FLAY
Gliding diphthong with sustained vocal resonance.
mən
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
Primary emphasis falls on the first syllable ("FLAY"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "flehmen" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "flehmen is" sounds like "flehmen-iz").
In natural sentences, avoid over-stressing "flehmen" unless it conveys the core contrast or focal point of your message.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response, they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff.”— SciShowWatch clip
“but for animals that are seasonal maters, they'll do something called the flehmen response where they actually open their lips and their mouth”— Andrew HubermanWatch clip
“And that might explain why people tend to associate the flehmen face with cats and horses more than with dogs, even though all of them can sniff this way.”— SciShowWatch clip
“that there's something called the flehmen response, during the mating seasons for different animals, you can actually even see this in horses,”— Andrew HubermanWatch clip
“That sneer is actually what’s known as the Flehmen response, and it gives cats and other animals, like horses, llamas, dogs, and giraffes”— SciShowWatch clip
“Same thing -- it’s called the flehmen response.”— SciShowWatch clip
Practice Speaking “flehmen”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response, they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff.
Hear it in context: “flehmen”
6 clipsThe English word “flehmen” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as ˈfleɪmən (phonetic respelling: FLAY-mən). Phonologically, it consists of 2 syllables (FLAY · mən), with primary lexical stress placed on the 1st (initial) syllable (FLAY). Grammatically, “flehmen” functions as a noun. SayItVid indexes 6 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “flehmen” in natural connected speech across American (US: 6 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from SciShow, Andrew Huberman.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USSciShowClip #1 · @1:24
“And that is where that funny face comes in. When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response, they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff. they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff.”
- 🇺🇸 USAndrew HubermanClip #2 · @42:35
“you can actually even see this in horses, but for animals that are seasonal maters, they'll do something called the flehmen response where they actually open their lips and their mouth they'll do something called the flehmen response”
- 🇺🇸 USSciShowClip #3 · @1:53
“can use this secondary smelling system in different ways. And that might explain why people tend to associate the flehmen face with cats and horses more than with dogs, even though all of them can sniff this way. even though all of them can sniff this way.”
- 🇺🇸 USAndrew HubermanClip #4 · @42:27
“is such a real thing in the animal world that there's something called the flehmen response, during the mating seasons for different animals, you can actually even see this in horses, during the mating seasons for different animals,”
- 🇺🇸 USSciShowClip #5 · @0:25
“Or, if they do, that face isn’t how they show it. That sneer is actually what’s known as the Flehmen response, and it gives cats and other animals, like horses, llamas, dogs, and giraffes and it gives cats and other animals, like horses, llamas, dogs, and giraffes”
Definition & Meaning: “flehmen”
- Flaring of the lip in mammals, associated with intensive smelling; flehming.
Example Sentences (3)
- “During the preliminary phase of courtship between captive animals, Matthew Gaughwin observed flehmen on a number of occasions when the male sniffed intensely at areas of ground where the female had previously urinated and once when the male had sniffed the female's cloacal region.”
- “When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response, they’re opening up those canals and starting the pumping action”
- “but for animals that are seasonal maters, they'll do something called the flehmen response where they actually open their lips and their mouth”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “flehmen”
- Pronunciation:
- FLAY-mən
- Syllables:
- FLAY · mən
- Written Hyphenation:
- fleh · men
- Primary stress:
- FLAY
- IPA:
- ˈfleɪmən
- Hear it in context
- flehmen
Words that Rhyme with “flehmen”
-eɪmənWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"flehmen" (⁄ˈfleɪmən⁄) has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "flehmen" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about flehmen
How do you pronounce “flehmen”?
“flehmen” is pronounced ⁄ˈfleɪmən⁄ (FLAY-mən). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “flehmen”?
“flehmen” has 2 syllables: FLAY · mən.
Where is the stress in “flehmen”?
The primary stress in “flehmen” is on “FLAY”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “flehmen” mean?
Flaring of the lip in mammals, associated with intensive smelling; flehming.
How can I hear “flehmen” used in real sentences?
This page has 6 real-world video examples of “flehmen” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “flehmen”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).