Breaking doubled consonants into syllables

[Laurence Horn]

Any cases of compounding like these, where each word contributes its own consonant, do retain their pronunciation except sometimes in fast speech. (I can imagine "bookcase" either with or without a double /kk/, for example.)

LH

On Aug 26, 2012, at 4:37 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:

> Does the example of "bookkeeping" and related words help? There aren't many words in English with geminates, but they do exist.
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>
> On Aug 26, 2012, at 11:20 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
>> Is there a general rule about breaking English words with doubled
>> consonants into syllables, either in speaking or in writing?  For
>> example, "canning" would be spelled and pronounced "can-ning", with
>> an N sound beginning the second syllable.
>>
>> My speech says such a rule is not applicable to speaking.  For
>> example, I don't say "stop-ping" but rather -- I think --
>> "sto-pping".  (For my "canning" I can't tell.)
>>
>> But I assume it applies to writing.  Are their counter-examples?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org