Is it a syllable?

Question

Hello everyone!Our teacher told us that we put strees on the third syllable counting from the end when the word end with "my", and told us that the vowel can be a signal syllable, for instance:economy "e" is a syllable; co; no; my.Is it true to say that?Another teacher told me that "eco" is asyllable and not "e".Thank you for your help!

Avangi · Accepted Answer

NSHASHBAeconomy "e" is a syllable; co; no; my. Is it true to say that?
Another teacher told me that "eco" is a syllable and not "e".In my opinion, the first teacher is correct and the second one is not.

The advice about the accent is correct also, although I don't know offhand if it applies in all cases.

Regards, - A.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Our teacher told us that we put stress on the third syllable counting from the end when the word ends with "my"-- Possibly true; I've never heard that advice.

and told us that the vowel can be a signal syllable-- Which vowel? Signal for what?

economy "e" is a syllable; co; no; my.Is it true to say that?-- Almost all dictionaries divide the word into syllables in the beginning of the entry, like this:

e·con·o·my

or like this:

i-'kä-n?-me
ih-kon-uh-mee

So you can see that 'economy' is a 4-syllable word and 'e' is its first syllable. You can also see that dictionaries show a slight variation in how they divide syllables, especially written vs spoken.

Another teacher told me that "eco" is asyllable and not "e".-- Bad teacher

NSHASHBA · Answer

Hello friends!
I'm very grateful for your support.
I would correct this mistake:
~~the words ending in "my" are stressed on the before last syllable~~
When I'd checked the lesson of stress I found that:
The words ending in "gy","ty","phy","al" are stressed on the third syllable counting from the end, for example:
'Po.li.cy,phi.'lo.so.phy, e.du.'ca.tio.nal...

Philip · Answer

There are descriptive "rules" that give a generality. Prescriptive rules are more rare, when it comes to certain aspects of pronunciation. I have a feeling that these

NSHASHBAThe words ending in "gy","ty","phy","al" are stressed on the third syllable counting from the end, for example:
'Po.li.cy,phi.'lo.so.phy, e.du.'ca.tio.nal...

are of the descriptive nature....a good guideline, probably.

Avangi · Answer

From your first post:

NSHASHBAOur teacher told us that we put strees on the third syllable counting from the end when the word end with "my

From your second post:

NSHASHBAI would correct this mistake:
~~the words ending in "my" are stressed on the before last syllable~~

Now I'mthe one who is confused!

The original certainly applies to your "economy" example, which seemed to be your poster child.
- A.

Avangi · Answer

Re the original "my" ending, third-from-the-end stress rule, I personally find it quite compelling.

Of the 234 words ending in "my," I find only five counterexamples:

diathermy
endothermy
eur[ h ]ythmy
gymnospermy
polychromy

and possibly "homeothermy," which MW doesn't even list.
(Since "hypergamy" conforms, there's an outside chance that "homeothermy" does as well!)

There are 81 two-syllable words, which are all stressed on the first syllable,
so I wouldn't exactly call them counterexamples:
blimy
creamy
phlegmy
pygmy
seamy
smarmy
stormy
stymy
tummy
wormy
yummy
etc.
etc.

Then, sadly, we have "my," which is stressed on the last syllable.

Respectfully submitted for your amusement,
- A.

NSHASHBA · Answer

AvangiRe the original "my" ending, third-from-the-end stress rule, I personally find it quite compelling.Of the 234 words ending in "my," I find only five counterexamples:diathermyendothermyeur[ h ]ythmygymnospermypolychromyand possibly "homeothermy," which MW doesn't even list.(Since "hypergamy" conforms, there's an outside chance that "homeothermy" does as well!)

Thank you sir Avangi!
You should know that there are exceptions .

Is it a syllable?

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