Why is bicycle pronounced

The letter is at the end of a word or syllable: candy, deny, bicycle, acrylic. Typically, y represents a consonant when it starts off a word or syllable, as in yard, lawyer, or beyond. A syllable usually contains a vowel. Words with no vowels. Cwm and crwth do not contain the letters a, e, i, o, u, or y, the usual vowels that is, the usual symbols that stand for vowel sounds in English. Shh, psst, and hmm do not have vowels, either vowel symbols or vowel sounds.

DA-da-da, beautiful. The reason the British say lorry and Americans say truck, is because each word is part of their terminology. Since the early 20th century, lorry and truck have both described the HGVs that are essential to our society.

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What can you hold in your right hand but not in your left hand? Still have questions? Find more answers. Previously Viewed. Why is the y in bicycle pronounced differently from the y in motorcycle? Unanswered Questions. What characteristics of a tragic hero does Macbeth possess and banquo lack? What could result if a 30 year old lawyer continued to eat as he did as a 17 years old football player? What is the function of resorcinol in the seliwanoff's test?

How do you maximally develop the intelligence quotient of a child? Get the Answers App. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Answers. Since stress is on the first syllable, we get the r-colored schwa in the second syllable. Note that tricycle has the same stress pattern, and has the same vowel.

Primary stress, again, falls on syllable 1, but the important thing is that secondary stress falls on syllable 3, the "cy" syllable. Note that motorcycle has the same stress pattern and, again, same vowel. The primary stress in both words falls on the first syllable, but the secondary stress falls on the first syllable of -cycle. In this context the vowel retains its full pronunciation. Bicycle , however, has only one syllable before the -cycle , and the primary stress falls on this syllable.

English does not allow two stressed syllables in a row in native words, which means that the second syllable of bicycle has no secondary stress. There are a few exceptions to this rule about two stressed syllables in a row, but they are all compounds or neologisms: fly-by, cry-baby. But as the word bicycle became more common, the word was adapted to the native stress pattern, requiring reduction of the vowel in the second syllable.

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