In linguistics, a monosyllable is a word or utterance of only one syllable. It is most commonly studied in the fields of phonology and morphology. The word has originated from the Greek language.
"Yes", "no", "jump", "buy", "heat", "sure", "cough", and "and" are examples of monosyllables. Some of the longest monosyllabic words in the English language, all containing nine letters each, are "screeched," "schlepped," "scratched," "scrounged," "scrunched," "stretched," "straights," and "strengths".
See also
External links
- The dictionary definition of monosyllable at Wiktionary
- Little Frank and other tales: Chiefly in words of one syllable (1838)
References
"monosyllable". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 19 July 2019. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monosyllable ↩
Nordquist, Richard (3 July 2019). "What is a Monosyllable?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 19 July 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-monosyllable-1691325 ↩
Bloomfield, Maurice (1888). "The Origin of the Recessive Accent in Greek". The American Journal of Philology. 9 (1). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 1–41. doi:10.2307/287243. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t21c1w96h. JSTOR 287243. /wiki/Maurice_Bloomfield ↩
"monosyllable". Macmillan Dictionary. Springer Nature Limited. Retrieved 19 July 2019. https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/monosyllable ↩
"monosyllable". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 19 July 2019. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/monosyllable ↩
"What is the longest one-syllable English word?". Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200407050447/https://www.lexico.com/explore/what-is-the-longest-one-syllable-english-word ↩