Where did the middle syllable go?
vowel-digraphCuneate has three vowels in a row after the n, and only two of them get said.
heard ascunayte
spelledcuneate
saidKYOO-nee-ayt
cuneate has three syllables: KYOO-nee-ayt.
Said quickly, the ee in the middle is short enough to sound like part of the vowel that follows it, so the ear delivers two syllables instead of three and the writing has to invent a way to end the word. Hence the ayte.
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