Is “literally” three or four syllables?
“literally” has 3 or 4 syllables, depending on how you say it. Most dictionaries count 4. LIT-ruh-lee (3) vs LIT-uh-ruh-lee (4).
Every pronunciation, counted
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIT-er-uh-lee | /ˈlɪt.ɚ.ə.li/ | l ih t · er · ah · l iy | 4 | CMU dictionary |
| LIT-ruh-lee | /ˈlɪt.ɹə.li/ | l ih t · r ah · l iy | 3 | CMU dictionary |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Why the count varies
-ually / -ically reduction. The endings -ually and -ically are pronounced in full, partly reduced, or collapsed (ak-choo-uh-lee, ak-shuh-lee, aksh-lee), giving two or three counts for one word.
What the dictionaries say
- Cambridge (UK) /ˈlɪt.ᵊr.ᵊl.i/
- Cambridge (US) /ˈlɪt̬.ɚ.ᵊl.i/, /ˈlɪt̬·ər·ə·li/
- Wiktionary /ˈlɪ.tə.ɹə.li/ (UK), /ˈlɪ.tɹə.li/ (UK), /ˈlɪ.tə.ɹə.li/ (GA), /ˈlɪ.tɹə.li/ (GA)
For haiku, sonnets and song lyrics
For haiku, sonnets and other syllable-counted verse, 'literally' is safest as 4 syllables, the count most dictionaries give. Poets have also used it as 3 syllables; either scans if the line is read naturally, but say which you mean if the count matters (haiku judges usually accept the dictionary count).
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Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, checked against Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary transcriptions. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.