muttonheadedness
The word 'muttonheadedness' is divided into five syllables: mut-ton-head-ed-ness. It consists of the root 'mutton', the adjective-forming suffix '-headed', and the noun-forming suffix '-ness'. Primary stress falls on the 'head' syllable. Syllabification follows standard US English rules regarding VCC patterns and consonant cluster separation.
Definitions
- 1
Foolishness; stupidity; lack of good sense.
“His muttonheadedness led to a disastrous decision.”
“The project failed due to sheer muttonheadedness.”
Stress pattern
Primary stress falls on the third syllable ('head'). The first and fourth syllables are unstressed, and the fifth syllable receives secondary stress.
Syllables
mut — Open syllable, onset 'm', vowel 'ʌ', coda 't'. ton — Open syllable, onset 't', vowel 'ə', coda 'n'. head — Open syllable, onset 'h', vowel 'ɛ', coda 'd'. ed — Closed syllable, onset 'd', vowel 'ɪ', coda 'd'. ness — Closed syllable, onset 'n', vowel 'ə', coda 's'
Word Parts
Vowel-Consonant-Consonant (VCC) Rule
Syllables are often divided before the second consonant in a VCC pattern (e.g., 'mut-ton').
Consonant Cluster Separation
Consonant clusters are broken to avoid creating illegal syllable codas.
Stress-Timing
English is a stress-timed language, influencing syllable duration and prominence.
- The word is relatively uncommon, so regional variations are less documented. The proposed division aligns with standard US English phonological rules.
Nearby Words
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