How you pronounce it depends on which variety of English you speak. In American English we usually pronounce the 'r', (lɪbərtɪ) but the 't' often sounds like a 'd'. Here are samples of various English speakers saying the word "liberty": http://www.forvo.com/word/liberty/ Unfortunately, pronunciation rules are often inconsistent in English. We borrow a lot of words from other languages, but often keep their original spellings intact, resulting in words that follow other language' pronunciation rules.

The US pronunciation of 'liberty' is /ˈlɪb·ər·t̬i/ The British pronunciation /ˈlɪb·ə·t̬i/ Nobody would ever say /'lɪbərətɪ/ as four syllables. It is always a three-syllable word, whichever pronunciation you use. If you are not sure how to pronounce a word, all you need to do is check any good online dictionary. The more words you hear pronounced correctly, the easier it will become for you. For example, if you know how to pronounce 'liberty', this will help you to pronounce similar words, such as 'property', correctly.

Unfortunately English is full of exceptions between how something is spelled and how it is pronounced. The reasons go back into history and I'll spare you the whole history lesson for now. Just know it goes back to the fact that some words have changed pronunciation since they were first committed to print. Some things simply need to be taken on faith that they are the way they are. As for Liberty, the r is there and said in the "er" sound. My dictionary shows it as follows liberty pronounced [lib-er-tee]. If you would like to work on some pronunciation issues, contact me for a complimentary session. I'm happy to run through any number of words you want and see if we can't help you.

Look at this link - American pronunciation http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american-cobuild-learners/liberty?showCookiePolicy=true then this one, http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-cobuild-learners/liberty?showCookiePolicy=true Look at the different phonetic transcriptions and listen to the different sounds (there is a link on the pages). In standard southern English (my accent), we don't pronounce the "r" before another consonant. I think that people from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa share this feature of pronunciation. Americans, Scots, Irish, Canadians, and people for SW England do pronounce the "r". Obviously, it is much better to say it my way but some strange people don't agree with me!

Hi Kevin. I hope this website will help you with pronunciation: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/american-english/liberty You can listen to the word you want to practice. You asked about "ch-k or sh" I will give you an example: schedule - In American English the "ch" = "k" but in British English the "ch" = "sh" Depending on the country the pronunciation can be different.