henandchickens
The word 'hen-and-chickens' is a compound noun syllabified into four parts: hen-and-chick-ens. Primary stress falls on the first syllable of 'hen' and 'chickens'. Syllabification follows standard US English rules for vowel-consonant patterns and consonant blends, treating each component as a separate lexical item.
Definitions
- 1
A group of young chickens, especially those recently hatched.
“The farmer counted his hen-and-chickens.”
- 2
A colloquial term for a large family with many children.
“She has a large hen-and-chickens, with six children.”
syn:family
Stress pattern
Primary stress on the first syllable of 'hen' and 'chickens'. Typical for compound nouns.
Syllables
hen — Open syllable, vowel followed by a consonant.. and — Closed syllable, vowel followed by a consonant blend.. chick — Closed syllable, consonant blend followed by vowel and consonant.. ens — Closed syllable, vowel followed by consonant blend.
Word Parts
Similar Words
Vowel-Consonant (VC)
Syllables typically end in vowels.
Consonant Blend
Consonant clusters are generally kept together within a syllable.
Compound Word Syllabification
Each component of a compound word is syllabified independently.
- The compound nature of the word requires independent syllabification of each component.
Nearby Words
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