Scientist is a trisyllabic or two-syllabic word?

Question

The word "scientist" has 2 or 3 syllables?

MIG · Accepted Answer

2

Fivejedjon · Answer

shininggirlThe word "scientist" has 2 or 3 syllables?

In my dialect of British English, it has three syllables. Most dictionaries give it with three.

MIG · Answer

I was sure its 3 but when I checked it on below sites then I changed my mind.
http://www.syllablecount.com/
http://www.wordcalc.com/

Fivejedjon · Answer

Some native speakers pronounce it with two syllables - this is not uncommon with older speakers of British RP - but dictionaries suggest it is normally pronounced with three. I would recommend that learners pronounce it with three.

MIG · Answer

Thank you fivejedjon.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

AlpheccaStars · Answer

shininggirlThe word "scientist" has 2 or 3 syllables?

Does the word "scientist" have 2 or 3 syllables?

Three.
Sci-en-tist.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

MIGI was sure its 3 but when I checked it on below sites then I changed my mind.http://www.syllablecount.com / http://www.wordcalc.com /

From the first link:
This syllable counter uses a combination of a 182,156 word U.S. English syllable dictionary and a formula-based syllable counting program. If a word is not found in our dictionary, the formula-based counter is used. The formula-based counter may not be entirely accurate due to the numerous syllabic anomalies found within the U.S. English language.

In the case of sci-en-tist, it is entirely wrong!

The other site probably used the same, or a similar, calculator, and it is fallible, too.

MIG · Answer

Thank you AlpheccaStars.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Philip · Answer

fivejedjonIn my dialect of British English, it has three syllables. Most dictionaries give it with three.

Even though sometimes barely audible, schwa generally counts as a syllable, as far as I know. If science has 2 syllables, it hardly seems fair

to the word to discount the second one just because we add a third for scientist.

Scientist is a trisyllabic or two-syllabic word?

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