bonanova Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) Usually it takes a consonant and a vowel to make a syllable: CON - SO - NANT; VOW - EL. But some words have fewer than two letters per syllable: A - NE - MO - NE is one example - 7/4 = 1.75 letters / syllable. Can you find any words with at least 4 syllables that use 6 or fewer? There are two with twice as many vowels as consonants. Hint: Count "Y" as a vowel if you pronounce it as such [CA - NA - RY]; as a consonant otherwise [YEL - LOW] Of course I meant 6 or fewer Edited December 17, 2008 by bonanova correct the problem statement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 CRISPS ... CRIS-SP-PS-SS ALUMINI is the best I can do, so far A-LU-MI-NI for less than 6 I suspect Latin based words either that or redneck American Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Usually it takes a consonant and a vowel to make a syllable: CON - SO - NANT; VOE - EL. But some words have fewer than two letters per syllable: A - NE - MO - NE is one example - 7/4 = 1.75 letters / syllable. Can you find any words with at least 4 syllables that use fewer than 6 letters? Hint: Count "Y" as a vowel if you pronounce it as such [CA - NA - RY]; as a consonant otherwise [YEL - LOW] Fewer than six letters (as in 5 or less)? or six letters and fewer? epitome (E-PI-TO-ME) is about as good as I can do off the top of my head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Reality is the closest I can get to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Can you find any words with at least 4 syllables that use fewer than 6 letters? A bit of a stretch, but... aioli? I think there is supposed to be a diaeresis on the first "i", which would technically make it "ah-ee-oh-lee", even though it is not usually pronounced that way, in English anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Iouea - or IOU 3 for 3 IOUA 4 for 4 (I owe you A lota dosh 7 for 5 OCEANIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted December 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Fewer than six letters (as in 5 or less)? or six letters and fewer? epitome (E-PI-TO-ME) is about as good as I can do off the top of my head Yeah - sorry - 6 or fewer. There is at least one fairly common word for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Ionian idiocy affects the ooecia of life forms from Peoria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 LOL THATS A GOOD ONECRISPS ... CRIS-SP-PS-SS ALUMINI is the best I can do, so far A-LU-MI-NI for less than 6 I suspect Latin based words either that or redneck American Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I make no apology for the utopia of the areola. And every Ohioan searches for oidia in the forest while they listen to Albinani's Adagio in G Minor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Appapo as amity is a relier, such as an eloper from a barrio in Panama, finding vacancy in an Iowan town! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Iouea is a short 4 syllable word. Iouea is a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Appapo as amity is a relier, such as an eloper from a barrio in Panama, finding vacancy in an Iowan town! :) OOOOOPS! That is Idiocy! I was doing 3 syllables. I could have gone all day with that! My bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Acuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Usually it takes a consonant and a vowel to make a syllable: CON - SO - NANT; VOW - EL. But some words have fewer than two letters per syllable: A - NE - MO - NE is one example - 7/4 = 1.75 letters / syllable. Can you find any words with at least 4 syllables that use 6 or fewer? There are two with twice as many vowels as consonants. Hint: Count "Y" as a vowel if you pronounce it as such [CA - NA - RY]; as a consonant otherwise [YEL - LOW] Of course I meant 6 or fewer Well, I have found a word that is 7 letters, 4 syllables, but has only 2 consonants. SEQUOIA SE-QUO-I-A Yes, that IS the syllable configuration thingy. HAPPIES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Well, I have found a word that is 7 letters, 4 syllables, but has only 2 consonants. SEQUOIA SE-QUO-I-A Yes, that IS the syllable configuration thingy. HAPPIES Pretty sure SE-QUOY-A is only three. How about: U-TO-PI-A A-NE-MI-A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I have found a word that is 7 letters, 4 syllables, but has only 2 consonants. SEQUOIA SE-QUO-I-A Yes, that IS the syllable configuration thingy. HAPPIES se⋅quoi⋅a –noun either of two large coniferous trees of California, Sequoiadendron giganteum or Sequoia sempervirens, both having reddish bark and reaching heights of more than 300 ft. (91 m). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
bonanova
Usually it takes a consonant and a vowel to make a syllable: CON - SO - NANT; VOW - EL.
But some words have fewer than two letters per syllable: A - NE - MO - NE is one example - 7/4 = 1.75 letters / syllable.
Can you find any words with at least 4 syllables that use 6 or fewer?
There are two with twice as many vowels as consonants.
Hint: Count "Y" as a vowel if you pronounce it as such [CA - NA - RY]; as a consonant otherwise [YEL - LOW]
Of course I meant 6 or fewer
Edited by bonanovacorrect the problem statement
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