monosyllabicity

monosyllabicity

English

Etymology

mono- +‎ syllabic +‎ -ity

Noun

monosyllabicity (uncountable)

1. The state or characteristic of being monosyllabic.
   • 1976, Yuen Ren Chao, Aspects of Chinese Sociolinguistics, →ISBN, p. 93:

     The monosyllabicity of Chinese morphemes and units of writing has certain advantages in the use of operational synonyms of symbols under varying conditions of use.

   • 1996, Joan Collins, Infamous, →ISBN, p. 113:

     He was attractive, in a sinister yet compelling way, but taciturn to the point of monosyllabicity.

   • 2001, Anatoly Liberman (ed. and translator), N. S. Trubetzkoy: Studies in general linguistics and language structure, Duke Univ. Press, →ISBN, p. 69:

     It has often been claimed that linguistic evolution leads toward monosyllabicity and that an artificial international language should therefore contain no disyllabic words.