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, page 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, page 113:
      He was attractive, in a sinister yet compelling way, but taciturn to the point of monosyllabicity.
    • 2001, Anatoly Liberman, N. S. Trubetzkoy: Studies in general linguistics and language structure, Duke Univ. Press, →ISBN, page 69:
      It has often been claimed that linguistic evolution leads toward monosyllabicity and that an artificial international language should therefore contain no disyllabic words.
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