How many syllables in “unemployment”?
“unemployment” has 4 syllables: un·em·ploy·ment
IPA
/ˌʌ.nɪm.ˈplɔɪ.mənt/
Stress
un-em-PLOY-ment (pattern 2-0-1-0)
Division
un·em·ploy·ment
Pronunciation
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| un-em-PLOY-ment | /ˌʌ.nɪm.ˈplɔɪ.mənt/ | ah · n ih m · p l oy · m ah n t | 4 | CMU dictionary |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Syllables vs. morphemes
Syllables (4)
un·em·ploy·ment
Morphemes (3)
un- + employ + -ment
The syllable breaks of unemployment (un·em·ploy·ment) line up with its morphemes (un- + employ + -ment): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.
Count syllables in your own text
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Open the syllable counter →Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many syllables are in "unemployment"?
"unemployment" has four syllables: un·em·ploy·ment.
How do you divide "unemployment" into syllables?
un·em·ploy·ment. The syllable breaks of unemployment (un·em·ploy·ment) line up with its morphemes (un- + employ + -ment): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.
Is this syllable counter free?
Yes. The Fixie syllable counter is free, needs no signup, and runs in your browser; paste any text to count syllables, see stress and IPA.