The biggest syllable in English

Apr 21, 2010 by

In yesterday’s posting, I asked the readers to come up with a monosyllabic word of English that fits the pattern of the most expanded syllable: (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C), or a syllable starting with three consonants in a row and ending with four. Of course, we are interested in consonant sounds, not letters.


Maddieson’s (2008) answer: the word strengths, pronounced /stɹɛŋkθs/.

The upside-down “r” symbol stands for the retroflex /r/ (more on retroflex sounds in the next posting); the “ŋ” symbol is for the velar nasal sound; and “θ” is for the voiceless dental fricative.


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