# How syllables does the word "sire" have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816 "2014-06-27T21:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/1 "2014-06-27T21:17:25Z")
Is it one or two? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/2 "2014-06-27T21:21:45Z")
One. Rhyme it with fire. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/3 "2014-06-27T21:26:43Z")
I’m pretty sure this is regional. For me, both “sire” and “fire” rather clearly have two syllables – sai-er and fai-er. Some dialects (esp. British ones?) are clearly one syllable though. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/4 "2014-06-27T21:33:48Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m pretty sure this is regional. For me, both “sire” and “fire” rather clearly have two syllables – sai-er and fai-er. Some dialects (esp. British ones?) are clearly one syllable though. When you consider the rhyming words, it’s hard to make strong case for one syllable: Buyer, crier, drier, friar, fryer, hire, higher, mire, pyre, tire, wire. Of course, in the South that’s dealt with by changing the pronunciation to “far.” 🙂 And if you’re a forest ranger you spend a fair amount of your time in a Far Tar. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/5 "2014-06-27T21:38:54Z")
Both fire and sire have two syllables for me. Where I live (Saskatchewan), film and milk are sometimes two syllable words as well. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/6 "2014-06-27T21:42:47Z")
When I was a little kid, first learning about syllables, I was told that words like “fire” and “sire” are correctly said to have one syllable, even though I always pronounced them as two. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/7 "2014-06-27T21:45:56Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m pretty sure this is regional. For me, both “sire” and “fire” rather clearly have two syllables – sai-er and fai-er. Some dialects (esp. British ones?) are clearly one syllable though. I’m British, and I’d have thought two. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/8 "2014-06-27T21:46:50Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > One. Rhyme it with fire. Rhyming with fire means it has TWO syllables. Only madmen and Brits pronounce /aɪ/ followed by /ɹ/ without /ə/ in between. [And don’t get me started on people who only pronounce /ɹ/ if there’s a following vowel sound.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_accent) That’s simple madness and probably why Atlantis was destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/9 "2014-06-27T21:51:29Z")
Two. Sy-er. Fr-yer. Fry-er. Cry-er. Py-er. Etc cetera. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/10 "2014-06-27T22:01:37Z")
One syllable and a [diphthong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphthong). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/11 "2014-06-27T22:18:58Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Py-er. I bet you say “suh-weet” too… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/12 "2014-06-27T22:33:44Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > When you consider the rhyming words, it’s hard to make strong case for one syllable: > Buyer, crier, drier, friar, fryer, hire, higher, mire, pyre, tire, wire. > > Of course, in the South that’s dealt with by changing the pronunciation to “far.” 🙂 > > And if you’re a forest ranger you spend a fair amount of your time in a Far Tar. It beats spending time in a [Tar Far](http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100910180115/simpsons/images/4/48/Tire_fire.png). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/13 "2014-06-27T22:36:13Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > When you consider the rhyming words, it’s hard to make strong case for one syllable: > Buyer, crier, drier, friar, fryer, hire, higher, mire, pyre, tire, wire. These are not rhyming words for me. Higher has two syllables; hire has one. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/14 "2014-06-27T22:42:32Z")
Round here it sounds more like foire or foyer ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/15 "2014-06-27T22:43:06Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > These are not rhyming words for me. Higher has two syllables; hire has one. I guess I’m going to have to give you that one. Said side by side there’s a difference, but unless you slow the typical speech down to hear it, you would be hard pressed to hear that second syllable in higher. Too many words are that way, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/16 "2014-06-27T22:50:33Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > One syllable and a [diphthong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphthong). This here. The two adjacent vowel sounds do not create an additional syllable. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/17 "2014-06-27T22:54:56Z")
That’s a naive statement! ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/18 "2014-06-27T23:02:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Rhyming with fire means it has TWO syllables. Only madmen and Brits pronounce /aɪ/ followed by /ɹ/ without /ə/ in between. [And don’t get me started on people who only pronounce /ɹ/ if there’s a following vowel sound.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_accent) That’s simple madness and probably why Atlantis was destroyed. Well I’m a Brit — although we rarely call ourselves that — and some of us pronounce ‘_Sir_’ as ‘_Sah_ !’ ( followed by clicked heels ); also I wouldn’t think many Americans would have used the word much as an honorific in the last 300 years. Anyway, perhaps in various broad country accents — of which we had too many — some pronounced fire as fie-e-yer, but most now use the one syllable. For an Italian sound, you may like to listen to this short film very hard, if you can find it. **[The Sire of Vincigliata](http://www.filmarchives-online.eu/viewDetailForm?FilmworkID=70c817c25addc8c10a194108bbf6fc27&content_tab=eng)** Colour no less, 1913. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/19 "2014-06-27T23:03:05Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > This here. > > The two adjacent vowel sounds do not create an additional syllable. > mmm Sure, two adjacent vowels don’t necessarily create an additional syllable, but this is the rhyme [-aɪə(ɹ)](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English:-a%C9%AA%C9%99(%C9%B9)). As wiktionary says > [@](#): > > Since aɪə(r) can also be pronounced as one syllable rather than two, the following lists can be adjusted by one syllable for the alternate pronunciation. So… it’s dialectal. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816/20 "2014-06-27T23:16:41Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Sure, two adjacent vowels don’t necessarily create an additional syllable, but this is the rhyme [-aɪə(ɹ)](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English:-a%C9%AA%C9%99(%C9%B9)). As wiktionary says > > So… it’s dialectal. I’m totally with Wiki on this one. Hire and higher are homonyms with two syllables, and rhyme with the two syllable fire and all the others on that page. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-syllables-does-the-word-sire-have/691816.md?page=2)