Hyphenation ofintelligibilities

Linguistic Analysis of "intelligibilities" (English (GB))

1. Pronunciation Considerations:

The word "intelligibilities" is pronounced with a relatively standard Received Pronunciation (RP) accent in British English. The 'i' before 't' is a short vowel, and the final 'es' is pronounced as a voiced 'z' sound.

2. Syllable Division:

Following English syllable division rules, the word breaks down as follows (using only original letters):

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: in- (Latin, meaning "not") - negates the root.
• Root: tell (Proto-Germanic, meaning "to count, relate, declare") - the core meaning of understanding.
• Suffixes:
  • -ig- (Germanic origin, adjectival suffix forming qualities) - creates the adjective "intelligent".
  • -ible (Latin, meaning "able to be") - forms an adjective meaning "capable of being understood".
  • -ities (Latin, pluralizing suffix) - forms a plural noun.

4. Stress Identification:

The primary stress falls on the fourth syllable: in-tel-li-gi-bil-i-ties.

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/ɪnˌtɛlɪˈdʒɪbɪlɪtiz/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

Here's a detailed breakdown of each syllable, with IPA transcription, rule application, and potential exceptions:

• in- /ɪn/ - Open syllable. Rule: Onset-rime structure. The consonant 'n' forms the onset, and the vowel 'i' forms the rime. No exceptions.
• tel- /tɛl/ - Open syllable. Rule: Onset-rime structure. 't' is the onset, 'el' is the rime. No exceptions.
• li- /lɪ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Onset-rime structure. 'l' is the onset, 'i' is the rime. No exceptions.
• gi- /dʒɪ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Onset-rime structure. 'g' becomes /dʒ/ due to the following 'i', forming the onset, 'i' is the rime. Exception: The 'g' is pronounced as /dʒ/ due to its position before the vowel 'i'.
• bil- /bɪl/ - Open syllable. Rule: Onset-rime structure. 'b' is the onset, 'il' is the rime. No exceptions.
• i- /ɪ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Single vowel constitutes a syllable. No exceptions.
• ties /tiz/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Consonant cluster 't' and 'z' form the coda, 'i' is the nucleus. Exception: The 'e' is silent, and the 's' is voiced to 'z' due to its position after a vowel.

7. Edge Case Review:

The 'g' changing to /dʒ/ before 'i' is a common English phonetic rule, but it's an exception to the standard grapheme-phoneme correspondence. The silent 'e' before the plural suffix '-s' is also a common exception.

8. Grammatical Role:

"Intelligibilities" primarily functions as a plural noun. Syllabification and stress remain consistent regardless of grammatical role, as it is inherently a noun.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: The state or quality of being intelligible; things that can be understood.
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Synonyms: comprehensibility, understandability, clarity
• Antonyms: obscurity, incomprehensibility, ambiguity
• Examples: "The intelligibilities of the lecture were lost on most of the students." "He struggled with the intelligibilities of the complex scientific paper."

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

While RP is the standard, some regional variations might exist. For example, in some dialects, the 't' in 'intelligence' and therefore 'intelligibilities' might be glottalized (pronounced as a catch in the throat). This wouldn't significantly alter the syllable division, but it would affect the phonetic realization.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• Similar Word 1: possibilities /ˌpɒsɪˈbɪlɪtiz/ - Syllable division: pos-si-bil-i-ties. Similar structure with multiple suffixes. Stress pattern is also similar (penultimate syllable).
• Similar Word 2: responsibilities /rɪˌspɒnsɪˈbɪlɪtiz/ - Syllable division: re-spon-si-bil-i-ties. Similar structure with multiple suffixes and a complex onset cluster. Stress pattern is also similar.
• Similar Word 3: intelligibility /ɪnˌtɛlɪdʒɪˈbɪlɪti/ - Syllable division: in-tel-li-gi-bil-i-ty. The only difference is the absence of the plural suffix '-es', resulting in one fewer syllable. The stress pattern remains on the 'gi' syllable.