1.3.2020 – flower versus flour

flower versus flour
two syllables against one
Lose a syllable?

I am always counting syllables.

I see a bumper sticker or a bill board while driving and I divide the words into syllables.

I ran across this anomaly the other day.

Flower and Flour.

Sound very much the same.

But in pronunciation, very different.

I was intrigued.

According to the website, https://www.howmanysyllables.com/, a syllable is the sound of a vowel that is created when pronouncing an A, E, I, O, U, or Y.

Flour is pronounced: fl-ow-r.

The O and U make one vowel sound, ow. The remaining sound is made by the R, which is not a vowel.

Since there is only 1 vowel sound from the vowels “ou”, there can be only 1 syllable.

flower is pronounced: fl-ow-er.

The OW make one vowel sound. The remaining sound is made by the ER.

Since the E is a vowel and there are two vowel sounds, flower is 2 syllables.

I should have known.

Have to love words.