Leaf Spelling Dictionary

The vowel before the t is an a

schwaThree of the five vowels in lanceolate are unstressed. The ear gets a blur and the fingers pick a letter.

heard aslanceolute
spelledlanceolate
saidLAN-see-uh-layt

lanceolate. The ending is -ate.

Every shape word in this section takes the same Latin -atus, and English lands it as -ate: cuneate, acuminate, lanceolate. Once the stress has moved off, that a is barely a vowel at all, which is how it comes out as a u.

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