A reader sent me a long, interesting question:
I belong to a writing group and, every time somebody tries their hand at haiku, I find myself questioning the number of syllables in a plural or past tense word or in a word where the "ed" has been added as a descriptive.
I always ask the group and my questions are ignored. Perhaps because they don't want to embarrass me by pointing out my lack of knowledge or perhaps because none of us know the correct answer.
I have checked my several dictionaries and the online offerings of the same information and find myself getting very frustrated! :-)
Is "tailed" as in "red tailed hawk" 1 or 2 syllables?
What about "served,"
"winged,"
"glazed,"
"antiqued," and
"washed" ?
I would say they are all 1 syllable (except "antiqued" - which I question whether it is 2 or 3 syllables because the "d" sounds like a distinctly separate sound) but, whether 1 or 2 or 3, is there some hard-and-fast rule on which I can rely when I am the one writing haiku?
And plurals: "misquotes,"
"leaves,"
"neighbors," or
Possessives: "grandpa's" ?
Again, I'd say that the addition of the "s" does not add to the syllable count but, right or wrong, are there any cases you can think of where it does? And, is there any hard-and-fast rule that I can rely on when I write?
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