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Narisha
how many syllables in the words: nationality, question, conversation?
are the letters IO and UE - diphthongs?
Feb 2, 2010 7:45 PM
Answers · 3
2
Finishing up Sonia's correct answer... :)
It's actually the syllables "-tion" and "que-" you have to look at: "ti-on" gets tiring to say, so we slur it into "shon" or "chon" (nation, federation, question).
Q is always followed by a U in English (only exceptions are borrowed words and acronyms), giving a "kw" sound. So it's "ques-tion", instead of "qu-es-tion".
Extra note: some words have different syllables between American and British styles, mainly because the British will drop a syllable for easier speech, where Americans may prefer reading the word as phonetically as possible. A classic example is "comfortable": pronounced "com-for-ta-ble" in America and "comf'-ta-ble" in the UK.
February 2, 2010
2
holaa amiga
mira en spanish seria: nationality = 5 sylables, en question = 2 sylables y conversation = 4 sylables
good lucky
sonia
February 2, 2010
sonia is right about the syllables...
I'm not pretty sure though if 'IO' in "nationality" and 'UE' in "question" are both dipthongs. since 'tion' can both be pronounced as 'shon' or 'chon' and 'que' as 'kwe' (thanks to Peachey), I would say that 'IO' and 'UE' are rather "VOWEL DIGRAPHS"
an example of "dipthong" (IO) is "PINOCCHIO", where your tongue glides at the end of the word.
:)
February 3, 2010
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Narisha
Language Skills
English, Italian, Russian, Spanish
Learning Language
English, Italian, Spanish
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