Usenet Newsgroups : rec.puzzles Hall of FameThe rec.puzzles Hall of Fame is a compilation of over 500 of the most popular puzzles that have been posted and discussed in the rec.puzzles newsgroup. In most cases a detailed solution has been provided. Many of these puzzles also appear in Braingle's own collection. |
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What words have an exceptional number of letters per syllable?
Solution
longest for each number of syllables
one SCRAUNCHED (10) [SQUIRRELLED (11)] two SCRATCHBRUSHED (14)
one, for each letter ARCHED, BROUGHAMS, CRAUNCHED, DRAUGHTS,
EARTHED, FLINCHED, GROUCHED, HAUNCHED, ITCHED, JOUNCED, KNIGHTS,
LAUNCHED, MOOCHED, NAUGHTS, OINKED, PREACHED, QUETCHED, REACHED,
SCRAUNCHED, THOUGHTS, UMPHS, VOUCHED, WREATHED, XYSTS, YEARNED,
ZOUAVES
two, for each letter ARCHFIENDS, BREAKTHROUGHS, CLOTHESHORSE,
DRAUGHTBOARDS, EARTHTONGUES, FLAMEPROOFED, GREATHEART,
HAIRSBREADTHS, INTHRALLED, JUNETEENTHS, KNICKKNACKS, LIGHTWEIGHTS,
MOOSETONGUES, NIGHTCLOTHES, OUTSTRETCHED, PLOUGHWRIGHTS,
QUICKTHORNS, ROUGHSTRINGS, SCRATCHBRUSHED, THROATSTRAPS,
UNSTRETCHED, VERSESMITHS, WHERETHROUGH, XANTHINES, YOURSELVES,
ZEITGEISTS
shortest for each number of syllables
two AA (2)
three AREA (4) [O'IO (3)]
four IEIE (4)
five OXYOPIA (7)
six ONIOMANIA (9) [AMIOIDEI (8)]
seven EPIDEMIOLOGY (12) [OMOHYOIDEI (10)]
eight EPIZOOTIOLOGY (13)
nine EPIZOOTIOLOGICAL (16)
ten EPIZOOTIOLOGICALLY (18)
twelve HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUAA (21)
--
I think I remember that in the 1940's, a linguist (may have actually
been Whorf?) concluded that the longest English syllable in terms of
sounds (phonemes) -- not letters -- was "thou triumphedst" (presumably
based on a pronunciation of it as [traimpftst]). Of course, this
involves some cheating (relying on fast speech coalescence of two
syllables into one, using archaic 1600's ending, etc.), but it's cute
in its way...
Henry Churchyard churchh@usa.net http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/
--
****
All unbracketed words occur in Webster's Third New International
Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Springfield, MA, 1961.
