I was reading about readability tests and it says The sentence “The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of a mammal and reptilian creature.” scores 37.5 as it has 24 syllables and 13 words. Word count: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid … Read more
I’ve read every word starting with “SA” in my dictionary out loud. It’s driving me crazy thinking there is only a single English word starting with what appears to be such a common syllable. Is it my Midwestern American accent? What makes “saga” special? Answer The phonetic translation of the word ‘saga’ is sɑːɡə. There … Read more
Can a 2-syllable word have two open syllables? Essentially, can the final syllable of a 2+ syllable word be open? I know that an open syllable is one where it ends with a long vowel sound and does not have a consonant to “close” it in. However, I have not been able to find out … Read more
At which point can I make a line break in predesign? Answer The general rule is that words can be hyphenated at syllable boundaries. Many good dictionaries mark syllable boundaries to show you where words can be hyphenated 1. Still, according to Merriam-Webster, predesign has only one division point at which a hyphen may be … Read more
For this word: ○ recommend ○/ˌrekəˈmend/ 1) /rekə/ is the first syllable. Does it contain two vowels? ■ e is a vowel ■ ə is a vowel I thought syllables can only contain one vowel? 2) the [ ‘]symbol before /rekə/ means that /rekə/ is stressed. So why is the “o” in “reco” reduced to … Read more
When I try Google, it says 5 syllables (and so do most top result websites): lab·o·ra·to·ry (the dots do not matter, it explicitly states that there are 5 syllables). However, the pronunciation as well as its sound sound like 4 to me: /ˈlabrəˌtôrē/ (You can try the sound from Google). How exactly do you pronounce … Read more
How do you commonly syllabicate words that end with -ism? When I pronounce -ism, it sounds like two syllables, (feudalism sounds like 4 syllables, racism sounds like 3 syllables), but in general, a syllable requires a vowel, which we don’t have in this case. So technically speaking, does the -ism suffix have 1 syllable or … Read more
I’ve noticed a pattern about pronunciation of words in American English – an unstressed syllable in the middle of the word tends to have a schwa sound regardless of the actual written letter. examples: syllable – sɪləbəl sufficient – səfɪʃənt infamous – ɪnfəməs (although famous is pronounced differently) eloquent – ɛl.əˌkwənt So my questions are: … Read more
to further clarify, for example is it possible to have one word that has one pronunciation that is 2 syllables and at the same time the exact same word has another pronunciation that is 3 syllables Answer Yes, there are English words that can be pronounced with more than one syllable count. For example, comfortable … Read more
https://www.howmanysyllables.com/syllables/glorious Divide glorious into syllables: glo-ri-ous Why is it glo-ri-ous and not glor-i-ous? And shouldn’t "glo" be pronounced as glow? Which syllable division rule is used here? Answer The syllabifications from Merriam-Webster, which it seems like the program you link to uses, were settled upon over 100 years ago and most of them haven’t been … Read more
