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According to https://www.howmanysyllables.com/, “dune” and “rider” are 1 syllable and 2 syllables respectively, but “Dunerider” is 4 syllables.

I don't understand.

The first word of a close compound noun is usually stressed, so “Dunerider” should pronounce [ˈd(j)uːnraɪdə], right?

I feel "Dunerider" should be ˈd(j)uːn-raɪ-də, 3 syllables. If it is 4 syllables, is it ˈd(j)uː-n-raɪ-də?

related question: A better parody of “traitors, Rattlesnakes and alligators”

Zhang Jian
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    This web site probably uses rules to guess the syllable count of words, and has a list of exceptions kindly contributed by users. it's a neat business model. The exceptions are therefore probably limited to words that were queried by other users,.Dunerider is not a real word: it is used only in Frank Herbert's Dune books, and in games derived from it. – JavaLatte Feb 28 '21 at 03:59
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    I’m voting to close this question because it relates to a word that is not real. – JavaLatte Feb 28 '21 at 04:00
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    @JavaLatte - I suppose you're right but there is no such thing as "a word that is not real". Everything that can be pronounced becomes a word eventually and the word in the question can be pronounced! –  Feb 28 '21 at 07:18
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    @JavaLatte The word is very much real, having been used in books, games and now on this site. How could it possibly not be real? – Polygnome Feb 28 '21 at 15:08
  • Is this question serious? The web site is a joke. Is this actually just spam SEO'ing ther silly web site? – Fattie Feb 28 '21 at 15:37
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    I quite like the idea of the mythical "dunny-rider" character; sounds like a refreshing change from the usual Marvel/Disney fare! – Toby Speight Feb 28 '21 at 16:33
  • dune+ rider, three syllables. I mean..... – Lambie Feb 28 '21 at 17:05
  • @TobySpeight Glad my mind wasn't the only one that went there! – user_1818839 Feb 28 '21 at 21:07
  • @Fattie That website was the first item (or should I use another word instead of "item") when I binged "word syllables". – Zhang Jian Mar 01 '21 at 13:58
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    hi @ZhangJian , yes, as I have explained it is not a real company nor is it a real website. It is just an "SEO-spam" website. You can read about SEO online. – Fattie Mar 01 '21 at 14:30

3 Answers3

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The website you linked is unreliable and incorrect. I wouldn't recommend using it (or any other website) syllabification because syllabification is a highly controversial topic in linguistics. How to syllabify a word depends on who pronounces it. For example, the traditional pronunciation of the word film is [fɪlm] (one syllable), but I've certainly heard the disyllabic pronunciation [ˈfɪ.ləm].

The word 'dune' is usually pronounced [djuːn] and 'rider' [ˈɹaɪdə] (BrE). I agree with your analysis that 'dunerider' should be [ˈdjuːn.ɹaɪ.də] (three syllables) (it can also be pronounced in many other ways, though, even four-syllable pronunciation is possible depending on the speaker). It is not pronounced /ˈd(j)uː-n-raɪ-də/ (four syllables), because it suggests that the /n/ is syllabic which it is not. /n/ can only be syllabic when it's preceded by an obstruent (/t s z d/ etc) as in button. I would suggest you use your ears for deciding the number of syllables in a word.

Let's see how 'dunerider' is a three-syllable word:

sonority curve for 'dunerider'

This is the sonority curve for the word 'dunerider'. The dark blue dots mark the peaks of sonority and the number of peaks correspond to the number of syllables. As you can see, there are three peaks in [ˈdjuːn.ɹaɪ.də], hence three syllables.

The sonority of all phonemes of English can be depicted on a sonority scale (sonority hierarchy). A sonority hierarchy is a hierarchical ranking of speech sounds. Typical order of sonority values is:

Vowels [ɑ, ɔ, ɪ, i] etc > Glides [j, w] > Liquids [ɹ, l] > Nasals [m, n, ŋ] > Fricatives [s, f, θ, ð, z, ʃ] etc > Affricates [d͡ʒ, t͡ʃ]> Plosives [p, b, t, d, k, g]

Vowels are the most sonorous whereas plosives are the least sonorous sounds.

[From my previous answer]

I have explained the Onset Maximisation Principle (syllabification rule) in this answer.

Void
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    Nobody pronounces 'dune' with two syllables! Presumably the erroneous fourth syllable arose because the website analysed the word as 'duner'+'ider'. – TonyK Feb 28 '21 at 12:21
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    @TonyK: Right! I've never heard 'dune' pronounced disyllabically, but there may be people who pronounce it with two syllables. – Void Feb 28 '21 at 13:03
  • “we have syllabic consonants that make syllables on their own, [...] consonants can't [make a syllable on their own],” seems to be a contradiction—possibly an initial statement that was later edited incompletely? – KRyan Feb 28 '21 at 14:01
  • @KRyan: Uh... that's ambiguous. I meant consonants cannot make syllables when they're alone (unlike vowels). (I'll update) – Void Feb 28 '21 at 14:12
  • I'm sorry, I just noticed the 3rd para, but there's still wildly wrong emphasis here. – Fattie Feb 28 '21 at 15:39
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    @Fattie: I have updated my answer. The question is about syllables, not about the ridiculousness or spuriousness of the website – Void Feb 28 '21 at 17:08
  • @TonyK Or because the website analysed the word as 'du' + 'ne' + 'rider'. Even if it correctly applies the maximum onset principle and thus groups the first r with the following i, it might go wrong in thinking that the first e is a syllable nucleus. – Rosie F Mar 01 '21 at 08:44
  • Reminds me of the joke "How many syllables does "gloria" have? Everyone else:3. Catholics: 18 – Kevin Mar 02 '21 at 17:01
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There is a "Contact Us" form linked directly from the page you cited with the text "Wondering why dunerider is 4 syllables? Contact Us! We'll explain." If you want to know why the site has it listed as 4 syllables, try that.

I would question using this syllable website as a source of truth. It would be better to understand for yourself the rules to determine the number of syllables in a word. To this end, please see this question, you may find it helpful.

As for dunerider, your analysis is correct. If it is said as a combination of dune ("doon" - 1 syllable) and rider ("rai-der" - 2 syllables), then it is 3 syllables. That is how I would naturally say this as a native American English speaker without a pronunciation guide.

mjjf
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    It is possible that the site you have linked is mostly or completely automated, and it is interpreting the written form as du + ne + ri + der. I can't access it either by the link here or by typing the URL directly. – Sydney Feb 28 '21 at 03:40
  • @Sydney Odd, I got there from a browser in the U.S. To be clear, the https://www.howmanysyllables.com website is not something I recommend, I only included information about the site because it is explicitly part of the original question text. – mjjf Feb 28 '21 at 03:48
  • Which website do you recommend? I didn't visit howmanysyllables.com until today. I tried another online syllable counter, which also says "Dunerider" is 4 syllables. However, I guess @Sydney is right -- those websites are mostly or completely automated. – Zhang Jian Feb 28 '21 at 03:54
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    @ZhangJian I'm afraid I don't have a website to recommend. When I want to know the syllables in a word I say it in my head and count. I know that isn't great advice since I can't explain how I know what a syllable is, but check out the question I linked. Watching some instructional videos might help too. Good luck! – mjjf Feb 28 '21 at 04:01
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    The question you linked is helpful. By the way, that question also cited the website, howmanysyllables.com – Zhang Jian Feb 28 '21 at 04:09
  • @ZhangJian Interesting. I suppose it is like using Wikipedia - a great source of information, sometimes wrong. Use it as a reference at your own risk. – mjjf Feb 28 '21 at 04:14
  • I was able to access it now. Its definition of a syllable leaves a lot to be desired, but it clearly says "If a vowel is silent, it is not counted as a syllable. example: fire (1 syllable)" which would clearly apply to 'dune' (https://www.howmanysyllables.com/whataresyllables) – Sydney Feb 28 '21 at 09:06
  • @mjjf I suggest editing out the text that includes a link (1st para) since all of this is just SEO spam for a ridiculous SEO website unmaintained for 7 years – Fattie Feb 28 '21 at 15:42
  • @mjjf Worse though, as Wikipedia's content is produced by humans, fact-checked by other humans, and erroneous content can be corrected by humans. The site in question is simply using the result of a flawed algorithm to guess the pronunciation, and as such the content has no way of being checked or corrected by humans. There are still some things that AI is just not good at. – Darrel Hoffman Mar 01 '21 at 14:50
  • @DarrelHoffman True, I definitely don't recommend the syllable site and find Wikipedia much more useful. Not a perfect comparison, apologies. – mjjf Mar 01 '21 at 18:02
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The web site is completely, totally wrong.

Every single word I tried - was wrong.

It's not a serious, professional site. (It's not offered by, say, a major dictionary or the like.)

It's a silly site someone threw together, the "data" there means utterly nothing.

There are dozens of toy "syllable counter!" website sitting dead on the web, SEO companies throw these up when there's a fad. This QA should be deleted promptly as it is only feeding a (ridiculous, dead anyway) spam site.

Fattie
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    Why should the question be deleted? It's about syllables, a totally valid question. If anything, edit out the website from the question. Though I'm not sure that's really necessary either. – mjjf Feb 28 '21 at 16:34
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    @mjjf The question is asking why that specific specific web site claims the word is four syllables. If the asker had not seen this site the question would not have been asked, so there's no reasonable way to remove the site without removing the question.

    However I do think the question has value because the answers do point out that the site isn't reliable, and that's a good thing to do.

     – barbecue Feb 28 '21 at 21:34
  • @barbecue That website was the first item (or should I use another word instead of "item") when I binged "word syllables". After being confused by that website, I immediately tried another online syllable counter, which also said dunerider is 4 syllables. It was then when I asked the question. Now I know those websites are unreliable. BTW, I'm not the only one who cited that website in questions: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/136110/counting-syllables-in-english-words – Zhang Jian Mar 01 '21 at 14:07
  • The issue with most of these sites is that they use algorithms to guess at the syllables rather than maintaining an actual dictionary. You can test this for yourself by entering a random combination of letters. If it provides a syllable count, you know it's using an algorithm rather than a dictionary. English spelling is extremely inconsistent, so any algorithm based on spelling would have to be enormously complex to be reliable. – barbecue Mar 01 '21 at 17:34