# Syllables **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260 "2003-11-20T06:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hydrocortisone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/1 "2003-11-20T06:12:12Z")
In another thread I asked how many syllables the word ratio has. The answer was that it was 2 or 3 depending on how it is pronounced. Is the number of syllables for a word determined totally by the way the word is pronounced? If a person mispronounces a word, can they add or subtract syllalbes? Can a person wreck a haiku by pronouncing the words different from the way the author intended them to be pronounced? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/2 "2003-11-20T06:47:49Z")
Sure, there are a few words which have two equally valid pronunciations with different numbers of syllables. Aside from _ratio_ there’s _different_ and _comfortable_. But this isn’t mispronouncing a word. “If a person mispronounces a word, can they add or subtract syllalbes?” Yeah, I guess. There aren’t really rules for how you can and can’t mispronounce a word, you know? As for messing up poetry, there are certainly times when the author intends one way or another. Consider this line from _Romeo and Juliet_: “Uncomfortable time, why camest thou now” I’m guessing _uncomfortable_ is meant to be pronounced with five syllables here, since it keeps it iambic. But I wouldn’t say that the line is **wrecked** if you pronounce it _un-comft-a-bul_. There are also words which can have emphasis on different syllables… although… I can’t think of any. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/3 "2003-11-20T06:49:12Z")
Mispronounce a word? There is no official pronounciation of a word, only a conventional one, depending on the locale. If I intend to communicate with clarity, it would be preferable to stick to the common pronounciations. But other than that, there’s no overriding imperative to pronounce a word a certain way. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/4 "2003-11-20T06:51:29Z")
You act like mispronouncing a word is an alien concept. What do you think “mispronounce” means? ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/5 "2003-11-21T01:38:22Z")
_What do you think “mispronounce” means?_ I think ‘mispronounce’ means pronounce it different than how others do, some of my school teachers had a more rigid view… ---
**Author:** ![adirondack\_mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/6 "2003-11-21T02:36:10Z")
poloponies ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syllables/214260/7 "2003-11-21T07:36:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hydrocortisone \* > \*\*Can a person wreck a haiku by pronouncing the words different from the way the author intended them to be pronounced? \*\* If by “haiku”, you mean Japanese _haiku_, the answer is “no”. Syllable count in Japanese words is not open to debate. _Haiku_ in languages other than Japanese are … in the wrong language.