How may syllables does the word 'coyote' have?
Posted by crossaffliction (Brendan Kachel) on Wed 4 Jan 2012 - 02:40 — Edited as of Mon 10 Aug 2015 - 02:24
2
15% (10 votes)
3
85% (58 votes)
Votes: 68
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The following is also three syllables:
Slow News Day
If only someone would publish a book that recorded the most acceptable and widely-used way to spell, pronounce and define words.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Variations give the language flavor and texture. Regional accents are part of why English is such a versatile tongue. Me, I just _love_ to listen to an Aussie say "Aluminum".
Which should be aluminium...
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Wow. I'm the only guy who pronounces it "ky-oat." I think it's a regional thing; people in my area actually have to deal with coyotes, so we just kind of treat the "e" as silent at the end to save time, I guess. I'm guessing the "Yotes" in the fandom (and I think there are multiple "Yotes") are "yotees," not "yoats."
The three syllable version is probably closer to the original Spanish; but even the native Spanish speakers in the region (American Southwest, so a lot of native Spanish speakers, actually) refer to the animals with the two syllables. A good regional, furry example of two-syllable coyotes is John R. Erickson's "Hank the Cowdog" series. Erickson has recorded audio books for the series (seriously furries, if you can find this stuff, it's good, even with the mostly regional humor. I actually recommend the audio books over the written books; Erickson is an amazing voice actor); Hank frequently runs into coyote brothers Rip and Snort, who frequently sing the "coyote national anthem and sacred hymn" Me Just a Worthless Coyote. Since the word is sung, the fact that it has two syllables rather than three is important.
Actually pretty important to me; a screenplay I wrote and plan to work on this year features coyote characters who, as part of their regional dialect, refer to themselves with two syllables. This poll pretty much shows that this needs to be pointed out specifically, or potential readers and such will miss it. I was unaware just how regional the two syllable pronunciation was!
I did check dictionaries now it seems both are acceptable but, yeah, two syllable version seems to be regional. Although I'd say "yote" as "yoat" and not pronounce the "e."
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Not the only, actually. =;3
It varies. When it's in the middle of a long story I'm trying to tell, it's "Ky-oat"; when it isn't, it's "ky-yoat-ee".
I mentally pronounce ‘coyote’ as koh-yoat (2), but every time I hear somebody else say ‘coyote’, it's pronounced as kah-yo-tee (3).
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