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Does the word 'rhythm' have one or two syllables?

I'm wondering if there are any reasons for or against a sound-based argument vs a written-based argument.

Decapitated Soul
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Fabian Tamp
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    Syllables are a vocal property of language. A dictionary will tell you the prevailing pronunciation has two syllables. There is nothing about the spelling that has to do with syllable count. – MetaEd Oct 03 '13 at 01:56
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    Related: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/80224/how-many-syllables-are-in-the-word-hour
    Odd how this question is on the verge of closure, but a related one asked last year has 27 upvotes and no close votes. I could understand close votes being cast because of duplication, but they are being cast as "off-topic". Say what?     – J.R. Oct 03 '13 at 10:01
  • @J.R. I think close-votes for duplication and off-topic would both be equally as likely for the simple fact that I had no idea how to articulate such a question (and thus couldn't search for it, or coerce it into a strong fit for stackexchange). That 'related' question is exactly what I was after, however. Thanks! – Fabian Tamp Oct 03 '13 at 13:15
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    In retrospect, I regret my general reference close vote, because it's easy to draw incorrect conclusions about syllabification from a dictionary. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 20:41
  • Following the chain of comments I'm marking this as a dupe instead. – RegDwigнt Oct 11 '13 at 18:23
  • In my opinion the spelling of rhythm does not look like it could be pronounced with only one syllable - is there a way to pronounce r and th and m and not get two syllables? – nnnnnn Aug 02 '20 at 08:35

2 Answers2

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It may appear from spelling that rhythm has only one syllable, because it has only one vowel. However, the M is a syllabic consonant which forms a syllable of its own. Sonorant consonants like L, M, N, and R can act as the nucleus of a syllable just as a vowel can (although English dictionaries often insert a schwa to represent the nucleus).

Bradd Szonye
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  • This seems as a duplicate answer. – Tom Oct 03 '13 at 04:09
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    I'm puzzled as to how this seems like a duplicate of the other answer. We reached the same conclusion but otherwise posted entirely different information. My answer addresses why the word has two syllables despite a spelling that might suggest otherwise, with additional information about the nature of syllables themselves. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 04:28
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    @Tom Just because there's already a correct answer doesn't mean there couldn't be a better one. I'm glad OP accepted the more informative answer, rather than just the answer with the most upvotes (aka. the first answer); it seems like most askers don't. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Oct 03 '13 at 05:06
  • It depends on one's definition of "syllable" – many dictionaries show words like rhythm and fire as having one syllable, not two. Personally, I'd answer one, not two, irrespective of the vowel count, but I wouldn't argue that two is 'wrong' – my ears wouldn't permit that. – J.R. Oct 03 '13 at 09:57
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    Do you have an example of a dictionary listing rhythm as a one-syllable word? Words like fire certainly can be pronounced with one syllable or two, depending on whether you merge the R into the coda or pronounce it syllabically, but I cannot imagine merging the M of rhythm into the coda of the first syllable. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 10:05
  • Bradd, For some reason, dictionaries don't list "rhythm" as "rhyth•m" or "rhy•thm" in the same way they list "meter" as "me•ter". I'm not saying your answer is wrong, I'm just saying that I think the O.P.'s inquiry about "a sound-based argument vs a written-based argument" is very interesting, and not easily answerable using commonly-available references. – J.R. Oct 03 '13 at 10:29
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    Oh! I see now. Those "syllable" dots are for hyphenation, not for pronunciation. Rhythm can't be hyphenated because the second syllable is only one letter, and English conventions don't permit that. Note that the pronunciation includes a schwa before the syllabic M, which is how the dictionary indicates it's a separate syllable. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 13:26
  • @Bradd - As I said, it depends on how one elects to define "syllable". As one website says: Place the hyphen between the syllables, or sounds, of a word. (If you’re not sure where the syllable breaks are in a word, check the dictionary.) By the way, I'm not arguing, I'm agreeing. Your can't-hyphenate-only-one-letter rule probably explains why some dictionaries show a dot in a·gree, and some don't. – J.R. Oct 10 '13 at 14:34
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It has two syllables. Syllables are entirely features of pronunciation, not of writing, so written-based arguments are irrelevant.

Pitarou
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