0

I have the same question as answered here: Counting syllables in English words

But for rhymes and their metre. When you look for words that rhyme with "castle", does castle still count as two syllables in the metre? I am not sure if this has to do with right pronunciation and/or accents, but it seems to me that the word that sounds almost as if it would have only one syllable cannot fit into a verse that requires two syllable for the correct metre.

How do you count syllables to write nice sounding rhymes?

allo
  • 123
  • 4
  • 1
    "Castle" counts as two syllables – rjpond Oct 18 '20 at 14:20
  • 'Castle' has two syllables: [kɑː.sl̩], but it can also be pronounced with three syllables: [kɑːsə.l̩]. What do you want to rhyme 'castle' with? Can you give some more examples? – Void Oct 18 '20 at 14:42
  • 1
    I cannot imagine castle pronounced with a single syllable, what would be the phonetic spelling of monosyllabic castle? – Tom J Nowell Oct 18 '20 at 18:01
  • @Void I tried to find some rhymes with several words and some seem not to work in the right metre even when the number of syllables you would use for hyphenation is matching. I found the explanation for "castle" which I linked in the question, but the answers don't address with how many syllables such a word fits into a metre. – allo Oct 19 '20 at 13:52
  • 1
    What do you mean "with how many syllables such a word fits into a meter"? Castle has two sylables the first is stressed. (So it is a trochee.) It fits in with two sylables.... like any other two syllable word. – James K Oct 19 '20 at 15:57
  • @allo Welcome to ELL.SE. Perhaps you could [edit] your post to provide an example? Just because a syllable is unstressed does not mean it is not pronounced. If a poet wants the reader to drop a syllable from pronunciation entirely to fit a particular scansion, it is usually explicit, e.g. using o'er for over or 'tis for it is. This would be unnatural for "castle" or similar words (in General American) like hassle, passel, or vassal. – choster Oct 19 '20 at 16:30
  • Sorry I still try to remember what the exact verse was. I was joking with someone about rhymes and we had something about sand castle in a rhyme and the number of syllables seemed not to match with the metre. When I get it together again or find another example, I'll add it. Already thanks a lot for the feedback to the unspecific question. – allo Oct 27 '20 at 13:36

1 Answers1

1

Castle has two syllables, the first is stressed "CA-stle". The second syllable has a schwa sound and is pronounced like an unstressed "sul". It is a "stressed-unstressed" pattern, so it is a "trochee"

The simple rule for rhyme is that two words rhyme if they have the same vowel in the stressed syllable and are the same for the rest of the word. So whether two words rhyme or not depends on dialect, but not on spelling.

In British English (RP), "castle" rhymes with "parcel".

In American English (GA), "castle" rhymes with "tassel".

A word can have more syllables and still rhyme. There aren't many good examples of a many-syllable rhyme with "castle", but in American English, "castle" rhymes with "fluorouracil" (flu-rou-RA-cil) (its an anticancer drug). They both have the same stressed vowel "A" and the same ending ("sul")

Near rhymes have slightly different sounds. "castle" is a near rhyme with "dazzle" (but the consonant is different)

James K
  • 217,650
  • 16
  • 258
  • 452
  • Thanks for the answer, but my question is not only about if the sound rhymes (i.e. what's the stressed syllable), but if it fits into the metre, too. I can rhyme "castle" with "fluorouracil", but then I probably have some words before "castle" in the line, so the lines in the metre match. – allo Oct 19 '20 at 13:45
  • I don't understand your question... It has 2 sylables. Two, one stressed one unstressed. It fits in as two sylables. If you are making the meter match closely then it is a trochee, (if it forms a metrical foot) of one stressed and one unstressed sylabel..... – James K Oct 19 '20 at 16:00