Stone Material Pronunciation Guide

Stumped on how to pronounce a gemstone name? Sometimes, we've been stumped, too. We've devised this casual pronunciation guide with the names of common gemstone beads.

• Syllables in ALLCAPS are where the stress is.
• Syllables ending in "ite" are pronounced like "sight" or "kite."
• Syllables ending in "ston" are pronounced like "stone."
• Vowels are short unless otherwise noted

Consonants are short unless otherwise noted

• "ch" is pronounced as in "church"
• "k" is pronounced as in "kite"
• "s" is pronounced as in "sight"
• "g" is pronounced as in "give"
• "j" is pronounced as in "jelly"
• "sh" is pronounced as in "she"
• "th" is pronounced as in "bath"
• "ts" is pronounced as in "patsy" or "tse-tse"
• "zsh" is pronounced as the "j" is in "déjà vu"
• "z" is pronounced as the "z" in "zipper" or the "s" in "cars"

You can find a more formal pronunciation guide online at Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

We've also included unusual sub-types of popular stones under the gemstone header (such as Botswana agate under Agate, Lavender amethyst under Amethyst, Brecciated jasper under Jasper, etc.). These stone sub-types can have unusual names or pronunciations. Here's an example: