silent letters (was broadcasters)

[Benjamin Barrett]

Doesn't it come down to how they're pronounced? I can say them as one long
syllable (and I believe many do), but in my dialect, they are two because a
slight schwa comes into play before the /r/.

Benjamin Barrett
gogaku at ix.netcom.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On
> Behalf Of Aaron E. Drews

> > Has anyone NOT heard AI @RN  ('eye-ern)?  I've heard this
> pronunciation all
> > my life, and use it myself.
>
> That's what I would use two.  I would count it as two syllables, but
> counting syllables with /r/ is difficult.  What about, say, "fire" or
> "hour"?