Wiktionary lists two pronunciations for io:
/ˈi.oː/, [ˈioː]
Was one more common than the other? And just so I'm clear, the first would sound something like ee-oh in English, and the second yo?
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1 Answer
Both of them are the same thing, and are pronounced the same way. It is just a matter of how to write it down. The left one, /ˈi.oː/, is phonemic transcription, showing the phonemes of the sound system of the language. The right one, [ˈioː], is phonetic transcription, showing the actual pronunciation. This means that phonetic transcription is more detailed.
As you wrote, ee-oh is probably the best approximation how to say it in English. Although, phonetically most English speakers say it [ˈiːoʊ], which is not the same as the pronunciation of io!.
