Is “unusually” four or five syllables?
“unusually” has 4 or 5 syllables, depending on how you say it. Most dictionaries count 5.
IPA
/ə.ˈnju.ˌʒu.ə.li/
Stress
un-U-su-al-ly (pattern 0-1-2-0-0)
Division
un·u·su·al·ly
Pronunciation
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| un-U-su-al-ly | /ə.ˈnju.ˌʒu.ə.li/ | ah · n y uw · zh uw · ah · l iy | 5 | 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 (5)
un·u·su·al·ly
Morphemes (3)
un- + usual + -ly
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 "unusually"?
"unusually" has four or five syllables depending on how it is pronounced. Most dictionaries count five.
Is "unusually" four or five syllables?
Both are accepted. Use five syllables when you need a single answer.
How do you divide "unusually" into syllables?
un·u·su·al·ly. The syllable breaks of unusually (un·u·su·al·ly) line up with its morphemes (un- + usual + -ly): 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.