How many syllables does crayon have?

The Sandbox General
1
  • 1
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0 voters

2

I can’t think of how to even pronounce it in 1 or 3

3
  1. would be something like crane

3… cuh-ray-on

4

Ideally two, but usually one.

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5
  1. :judge:
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6

Speaking it, 1, maybe indistinguishable from cran. In writing, I would hate to be in a position where I had to decide whether to hyphenate it.

7

what kind of freak accent

8

started as southern until at least 17, then went to college but still in NC during most vacations. Subsequently in a mid-Atlantic state. I don’t recall anyone ever objecting to my pronunciation, but it is not a word I use that often. I haven’t had any trouble understanding anyone else’s pronunciation, even when two syllables. Don’t think I’ve ever heard 3 syllables.

I did say “maybe undistinguishable from cran”. I think I string it out slightly, but not enough to call it two syllables, not two distinct vowel sounds.

9

Yeah. It’s always funny that there’s a controversy around this word. I didn’t grow up in the US and this is not a word I’ve ever said or heard people use in daily conversation. So frankly, I don’t even know how it’s supposed to be pronounced.

10

I pronounce it exactly as “cran”. Midwest.

11

I’m pretty sure you’ve put the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable.

12

That was one of my grandpa’s favorite expressions.

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13

If you said, “cran” and not “cray-on” I’m not sure I’d even understand you.

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14

From the work of Josh Katz:

700Ă—497 40.6 KB

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15

When I’ve heard it that way it’s sort of a triple dipthong with three vowel sounds crammed into one syllable. It’s not the same “cran” as in “cranberry”.

16

I say something close to cran unless I’m thinking about it, then it’s cray-on

17

It’s easy if you spell it with four Ns and a silent Q.

2 Likes
18

Just to be clear, we’re talking about one of these, right?

image

Of course that’s 2 syllables, mais la deuxième est très nasale.

19

I like this description.

I mouthed/whispered the word a few times (I don’t want to try to explain to my spouse why I’m repeating crayon :laughing:) to try to determine how I say it and my mouth and lips absolutely move like there’s more than one syllable/vowel being formed, but it sounds like a single syllable to my ear.

The -ayon sounds similar when I say mayonnaise but I’m definitely not producing all of the vowels when I say mayonnaise (man-aze) whereas I feel like I am with crayon even if it comes out close to cran. I usually say may-o instead of mayonnaise.

20

The same as would produce