Talk:List of the longest English words with one syllable/Squirrelled

Two syllables in squirrelled

Part of Talk:List of the longest English words with one syllable:

I'm think there are two syllables in squirrelled. [195.92.194.12 19:43, 23 Sep 2004]

Me too. [130.230.1.90 19:39, 23 Sep 2004]

Me three. However, speakers of some dialects, notably Canadian English, pronounce the word as a single syllable. • Benc • 20:43, 23 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'd love to hear an mp3 or something of someone managing to say squirrelled with only one syllable, I'm not sure how it can be said that squirrelled is the longest english word with one syllable when the correct pronunciation of the word has 2 syllables. Suppafly 23:20, 23 Sep 2004 (UTC)

First of all, since I'm a descriptivist at heart, I don't believe that there is such a thing as a "correct" pronunciation. Everyone talks differently; no pronunciation is more "correct" than another except within the context of an established dialect (e.g., Received Pronunciation).

But I do agree that an mp3 would be an excellent addition to the article. It's a vital piece of evidence; many sources I've read claim that squirrelled is a single syllable, but I've never actually heard it being pronounced, myself. Any Canadians (or folks from anywhere else) out there who pronounce it in a single syllable willing to give it a shot? • Benc • 00:56, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I assume it sounds something like "skworld". — David Remahl 02:45, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Would it be unhelpful at this point for me to mention that I've never heard the word at all? ;-) In any case, as I look at it, my impulse would be to pronounce it as a single syllable, in the way that David Remahl suggests. What would be the alternative, "squirrel-lead"? func(talk) 03:02, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Well, when I try to pronounce "skworld", it comes out with a schwa, as in "skuh-world". I'm thinking some folks can do it in a single syllable, though. • Benc • 03:03, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Im Canadian, and I would concur with the the one syllable pronounciation, it would be like Skwurlld with the r-l combo being pushed into a slight extenstion over the second L. ( West Coast Canadian )Bob535 03:16, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'm Canadian, and I would pronounce it like "skworld" as well, but I don't think there is a schwa there (nor is there with squid, or squall, or anything else that starts with squ-). If there is a second syllable there, it's with the -ed at the end, I guess. Adam Bishop 03:21, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I think it's possible for the schwa to appear in either (or neither) place, depending on the dialect: "skwir-uhld", "skuh-world", or "skworld". Or even the archaic-sounding "skwirl-ed" (long e instead of a schwa). I definitely use the "skuh-world" pronunciation, myself. I'm from the southeastern United States, by the way. • Benc • 04:11, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

As a Canadian, I'd pronounce it as two syllables, although I can imagine a possible pronunciation which would be one syllable. -Josh Raspberry, 3:38, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

What's the mystery? If you pronounce "squirrel" as one syllable, you'll pronounce "squirrelled" as one syllable. Enough people do the former: Merriam Websters Collegiate offers both a one-syllable and a two-syllable pronunciation for "squirrel". - Nunh-huh 04:16, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Well, not necessarily. Some people see that it's such a long word on paper and have a mental block, forcing themselves to split it into two syllables somehow. I think that's what I do. :-/

Anyway, I didn't really do a good job of stating the question in the first place, so I'll try to do so now. Would someone who pronounces squirrelled using a single syllable be willing to upload a recording of their pronunciation?. If you could, please pronounce the word three times into the microphone. (This is a standard linguistical technique to account for variations in pronunciation due to being at the beginning of a sentence.) If you have any technical questions, feel free to ask (e.g., how to convert and upload audio file). Many thanks, • Benc • 04:11, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Just in case anybody (Canadian etc.) is wondering where the "two syllable claim" comes from, let me explain that British English is one of the dialects in which squirrelled has two syllables. --Heron 09:20, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'm a South East Londoner (England). We'd pronounce it Skwih-rawled. [Before doffing our cap to you, leaping in the air, clicking our heels and then doing a jovial dance down a poorly lit cobbled alleyway.] --[[User:Bodnotbod|bodnotbod » .....TALKQuietly)]] 11:25, Sep 24, 2004 (UTC)

Don't you rhyme it with "twirled" and then say "baton"? Anyhow, I would say that "squirrelled" rhymes exactly with "twirled" and "whirled" and "world" (the latter two being identical in my pronounciation). Just put "sk" on the front of "world" and there you are, stashed away in a hollow oak. I would say the vowel is a schwa, or whatever a schwa becomes when it's with an r. Sharkford 16:10, 2004 Sep 24 (UTC)

Rhotic, or r-colored. And I would say that the syllabic nucleus in squirrelled corresponds to orthographic <irr>, a syllabic [r] (symbolized in IPA as an [r] or upside-down [r] with a small vertical line underneath). The sounds I hear in the word are [s], [k], voiceless [w], syllabic [r], [l], and [d]: a single syllable. --Gelu Ignisque

"Squirls?" ...I guess if ya shoots 'em an' eats 'em in a squirl pah. ...Our President refers constantly to "terraced attacks" a terrifying thought for those living in fancy high-rise apartments: "Now they're smashing the flowerpots, and there goes your market umbrella, Agnes"... Wetman 05:40, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Oh, is that what he means? I thought he had a thing against tourists. ;-) --Heron 21:31, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The word squirrelled has two syllables, just like 'squirrel'. It's kinda difficult to pronounce because an r between two vowels, so it's often shortened to 'skwurl'. At anty rate 'skwurld' looks completely different, and what happened to the i anyway? It's clearly

skwi - ruhld, and even that's difficult. In some dialects maybe, but not the one I speak. It's silly to give it one when it should be two.

Oh look, it's a skwurl. I'd think it was some kind of

Three syllables in squirrelled

Part of Talk:List of the longest English words with one syllable:

I don't wish to be willfully perverse in raising this alternative, but to my untrained ear there are clearly 3 separate sounds in squirreled.

Sound one: scwi Sound two: rell Sound Three: duh

• I don't think a trailing 'd' is usually, if ever, regarded as a syllable. You wouldn't argue, for example that "wood" has two syllables. --[[User:Bodnotbod|bodnotbod » .....TALKQuietly)]] 12:52, Sep 24, 2004 (UTC)

You're right, Bodnotbod (Gawd bless yer, mite), and our own article on syllable agrees. A syllable has a vowel or quasi-vowel in the middle, with optional consonants on either side. However, from a purely phonotactic point of view, this does make it hard to justify calling squirrelled a single syllable, unless you classify the whole of uirrelle as a single quasi-vowel. Perhaps our "syllable" article needs to say that the definition of a syllable depends on the dialect of the speaker, if this is true. --Heron 13:05, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

What you think you say and what you actually say is usually different, so everyone who has commented here (including me) is probably wrong about how they pronounce this word. Even if one of us were to record it and post it, that pronunciation would not be normal speech, because we would be thinking about it and saying it more slowly and purposefully than in normal speech. Adam Bishop 16:40, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

That's probably true. I said above I pronounce it skwih-rawled. But I think, if I were saying it less consciously the L would go missing, and I also doubt that my Rs are very distinct. So it would probably be more like skwiwwed. Frightening thought, really. --[[User:Bodnotbod|bodnotbod » .....TALKQuietly)]] 14:37, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)

Well. I'm certainly not Canadian, and I pronounce it "skworld". RickK 06:15, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)

I would also like to add that I pronounce it "skworld" and I'm in Seattle, Washington.--Trypsin 08:54, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm a Minnesotan and I pronounce squirreled "squir-relled" or in IPA, [skʷəɹ.ɫd], with two syllables, but I might pronounce it as one syllable when speaking quickly. Gandalf1491 21:04, 4 March 2006 (UTC)