# Is there a term for the dialect or accent in English in which a typically one-syllable word becomes two syllables? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578 "2025-01-29T14:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/21 "2025-01-29T20:15:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > The Cleveland Guardians (baseball) radio announcer pronounces “foul” as “fow-el” and since he’s a professional speaker it always makes me wonder if I am pronouncing it wrong. Or at least lazily. No, those are just regional variations on how double vowels are pronounced. > [@Mangetout](#): > > ‘Mirror’ is two syllables in most BrE dialects I think (although it might be variously mi-rah or mi-rer), but in some US dialects it sounds, to my ear, like ‘meer’. Another thing about vowel regionalisms, we each have our ears trained to our local dialect, and so someone from that dialect may be saying “mir er”, but with a very subtle drawled schwa for the second syllable. They hear two syllables, but you don’t, because it’s much more subtle than you expect. It’s sort of like why people who are native speakers in a particular language all have similar accents in a different language. And why, for instance, a tonal language like Chinese is harder to learn for a non-tonal language native speaker. A simple example is why Chinese are expected to have trouble with l vs r. Chinese doesn’t distinguish those two sounds. Or look at Spanish. Certain Spanish speakers use an alveolar tap for the r sound, where in English that is the fast t or d. So a name like Perez sounds like “Pettez” to me. Or rolling r’s. I eventually learned why I could never say them as a child. It’s because the American r uses a bunched tongue, where the tip is pulled back, but other languages use the tip pointed out toward the alveolar ridge, similar to l. Once I learned that, I managed to be able to do my r’s. Anyway, “lazy speaking” is a somewhat but not entirely correct statement, except it’s more about how a regional group developed efficiencies of pronunciation, but not everyone found the same efficiencies. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/22 "2025-01-29T20:20:32Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > He pronounced “mayor” almost identically to the word “mare,” as in a female horse Whoops, I think I do that. Da Mayor rhymes with Da Bears. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/23 "2025-01-29T20:23:27Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > It’s sort of like why people who are native speakers in a particular language all have similar accents in a different language. And why, for instance, a tonal language like Chinese is harder to learn for a non-tonal language native speaker. I replied in another recent thread asking what was the cutoff age for learning another language fluently. I found and posted an article that discussed the different general age ranges for learning a language perfectly vs. becoming fairly fluent but always having an accent. Basically by the time you reach a certain age, it becomes very difficult to impossible for your brain to register subtle variations in a foreign language because the language center of our brain automatically maps the closest match of the vocal sounds in our language to the other language. That’s why it’s very difficult to get rid of an accent when learning another language. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/24 "2025-01-29T20:29:15Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > [@MrAtoz](#): > > > > He pronounced “mayor” almost identically to the word “mare,” as in a female horse. > > Most of us do, I think. As I recall, when Tony Blair was having some internal party problems over the Labour nomination for the London mayor, a leading Tory taunted him with the suggestion that the two candidates should do a job share, so his favourite could be his “day mayor” and the troublemaker his “night mayor”. It wouldn’t have worked without the similar pronunciation. Lewis Carroll used essentially the same joke in his poem Phantasmagoria, in which the narrator is talking to a Ghost. The pun is introduced in the following couple of stanzas: > “The proper thing, as you were late, > Was certainly to go: > But, with the roads in such a state, > I got the Knight-Mayor’s leave to wait > For half an hour or so.” > > “Who’s the Knight-Mayor?” I cried. Instead > Of answering my question, > “Well, if you don’t know THAT,” he said, > "Either you never go to bed, > Or you’ve a grand digestion! It goes on like that a while with further puns on the theme. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/25 "2025-01-29T20:37:17Z")
This what came right to my mind. I’ve known plenty of people who speak Southern and this part is very noticeable. Even my first name ‘Ed’ is split into ‘Ay-ud’. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/26 "2025-01-29T20:38:34Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Reminds me of Henry Higgins’ boast: > > > I can place any man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London. Sometimes within two streets. You mean 'Enry 'Iggins? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/27 "2025-01-29T20:40:53Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Is this the same as the tendency, in songs, to sing “Fi-yer” and “Desi-yer”…? I think that tends to be done to maintain the proper number of beats per line. Elton John’s _Daniel_ is an interesting case, where he sings about Daniel traveling to Spain. To my ear Elton stretches Spain out into not just two, but three syllables. It sounds so off to me that I’d never quite understood what he was singing until a few days ago, when I hear a cover of _Daniel_ sung by Wilson Phillips. The irony is that the titular Daniel, and presumably the younger brother, are supposed to be from a small town in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/28 "2025-01-29T20:47:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You mean 'Enry 'Iggins? 😉 Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don’t sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon. 😏 > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > > Is this the same as the tendency, in songs, to sing “Fi-yer” and “Desi-yer”…? > > I think that tends to be done to maintain the proper number of beats per line. Reminds me of _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_. I used to sing and play rhythm guitar while a buddy played the mournful leads notes over it. At the line ‘_In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed…_’ Lightfoot clearly pronounces Detroit in a very Canadian style with 3 syllables-- “De-TROY-it”. The meter sounds off if you sing it any other way. You either have to sing “De-TROY-it they prayed” or fudge with something like “Detroit town they prayed”. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/29 "2025-01-29T20:55:32Z")
“Mare” is my regional pronunciation of mayor in US, New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/30 "2025-01-29T21:00:19Z")
I’ve discerned really quite small geographic accent differences before - notably Oldham vs Central Manchester - 7 miles apart, but I can tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/31 "2025-01-29T21:22:42Z")
So it’s not entirely fictional! I mean, I was aware that there are a wide number of regional accent variations in a relatively small area of Britain, but I’ve wondered how accurate that ‘Higgins boast’ could actually be. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/32 "2025-01-29T21:30:56Z")
In the time the story was set, it would have been even more true than it is today, as people would have had generally less opportunity to travel far away from their place of birth. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/33 "2025-01-29T21:31:39Z")
Does any of this explain why kids are pronouncing “no” as “noah” or otherwise adding extra "uh"s to the end of the last word in their sentences? Why do they do that-uh? Stop-uh! > [@](#): > > Is this the same as the tendency, in songs, to sing “Fi-yer” and “Desi-yer”…? For the life of me, I can’t parse the second word. What is “Desi-yer”? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/34 "2025-01-29T21:32:59Z")
Desire [U2 stretches the word into an entire 8 or 9 syllable song chorus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8rQ575DWD8) 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/35 "2025-01-29T22:22:12Z")
Vowel breaking or making two syllables from one is sort of strange. I’d expect many if not most English speakers pronounce rule, fool, and duel to rhyme. But rule and fuel are considered to be one syllable words, while duel is a two syllable word. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/36 "2025-01-29T22:34:02Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > In Southern American English: There’s an old joke that a Southern woman can pronounce “shit” as a five-syllable word. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/37 "2025-01-29T22:52:52Z")
My Geordie friends in the North-East of England pronounce ‘film’ as ‘filum’; this is such a distinctive and clear way of saying it that I tend to use it myself, and people generally know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/38 "2025-01-29T22:55:53Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > But rule and fuel are considered to be one syllable words, while duel is a two syllable word. I think ‘fuel’ or ‘duel’ are consistently considered one or two syllable words. ‘Rule’ is getting pronounced with a vowel break fairly often so in actual use is turning into two syllables as are many similar words. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/39 "2025-01-29T22:57:29Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > But rule and fuel are considered to be one syllable words, while duel is a two syllable word. In what accent or dialect? In my own Midwestern accent, I think ‘fuel’ comes closer to a two-syllable word for me (few-el) than duel, which I think I pronounce more simply, like ‘dool’. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578/40 "2025-01-29T23:21:51Z")
For a good example of a Baltimore accent, look up the youtube video of "aaron earned an iron urn. ". There are multiple videos of this. You’ll also get to see the realization of people finding out how “hard” their accent really is 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-the-dialect-or-accent-in-english-in-which-a-typically-one-syllable-word-becomes-two-syllables/1013578.md?page=3)