Hyphenation ofsurpassassions

Analysis of "surpassassions" (French)

1. Pronunciation & Initial Examination:

The word "surpassassions" is a conjugated form of the verb "surpasser" (to surpass). It's the first-person plural imperfect subjunctive. Pronunciation involves careful attention to liaison and elision possibilities, though these don't directly affect the core syllabification.

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid breaking consonant clusters unless they are complex, the division will be: sur-pas-sas-sions.

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: sur- (Latin, meaning "over," "above"). Function: intensifier, modifies the verb's meaning.
• Root: pass- (Latin passus, past participle of pascere meaning "to graze, to go through, to suffer"). Function: core meaning of "to go beyond," "to exceed."
• Suffix: -ass- (French, iterative/augmentative marker, historically from Latin). Function: indicates repetition or intensification.
• Suffix: -ions (French, ending for the first-person plural imperfect subjunctive). Function: grammatical marker indicating person, number, tense, and mood.

4. Stress Identification:

In French, stress generally falls on the last syllable of a phrase or breath group. However, within a word, stress is less prominent than in English. In this case, the stress is on the final syllable: sions.

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/syʁ.pa.sa.sjɔ̃/

6. Edge Case Review:

The sequence "ss" is a geminate consonant. French generally treats geminates as belonging to the following syllable, which is reflected in the syllabification.

7. Grammatical Role:

The word is exclusively a verb form. Syllabification doesn't change based on grammatical role as it's a single, inflected form.

8. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: First-person plural imperfect subjunctive of surpasser.
• Translation: "we would surpass"
• Grammatical Category: Verb (conjugated form)
• Synonyms: dépasserions, excéderions
• Antonyms: être dépassé (to be surpassed)
• Examples: "Si nous avions le temps, nous surpassassions nos limites." (If we had the time, we would surpass our limits.)

9. Phonological Comparison:

• passer (to pass): pa-sser. Similar structure, "ss" treated as belonging to the second syllable.
• classes (classes): cla-sses. Again, "ss" belongs to the second syllable.
• possessions (possessions): pos-ses-sions. Demonstrates the pattern of consonant clusters being retained within a syllable unless they are exceptionally complex.

10. Division Rules:

• Rule 1: Vowel-Based Division: Syllables are generally formed around vowel sounds. Each vowel (or vowel digraph) typically forms the nucleus of a syllable.
• Rule 2: Consonant Cluster Handling: Consonant clusters are generally kept together within a syllable unless they are complex or disrupt the natural flow of pronunciation.
• Rule 3: Geminate Consonant Rule: Geminate consonants (like "ss") are usually attached to the following syllable.

11. Special Considerations:

The "sur-" prefix is often pronounced with a slight schwa sound /ə/, but this doesn't affect the syllabification. The imperfect subjunctive ending "-ions" is a common and relatively stable morpheme.

12. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

Pronunciation of the final "s" can vary slightly depending on regional accents, but the syllabification remains consistent.