US /ˌæmbɪsɪˈlæbɪk/ UK /ˌambɪsɪˈlabɪk/
adj

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    of a consonant belonging to two adjacent syllables at once

    The medial consonant in "happy" is often analyzed as ambisyllabic.

Thesaurus

Word family
Derived forms ambisyllabicity
Related forms syllabicsyllable

Etymology

A modern linguistic coinage from Latin ambi- ('both, on both sides') + syllabic, ultimately from Ancient Greek syllabe ('a syllable, that which holds together'), from syn- ('together') + lambanein ('to take').

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.