Unsyllabic (Adjective)
Meaning
Not forming a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable; consisting of a consonant sound accompanied in the same syllable by a vowel sound or consisting of a vowel sound dominated by other vowel sounds in a syllable (as the second vowel in a falling diphthong); "the nonsyllabic `n' in `botany' when it is pronounced `botny'"; "the nonsyllabic `i' in `oi'".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- The final 'y' in the word 'city' can be nonsyllabic, especially when the word is pronounced in a relaxed manner.
- The nonsyllabic 'e' at the end of many English words often affects the pronunciation of the preceding vowel sound.
- In phonetics, a nonsyllabic vowel sound usually forms a diphthong with a syllabic vowel.
- In the pronunciation of 'bony', the 'y' can be considered nonsyllabic, depending on the regional accent.
- In certain pronunciations of the word 'poetry', the 'y' at the end is nonsyllabic, often being pronounced as a part of the 'o' sound.