Leaf Spelling Dictionary

Is that fourth vowel a u or an o?

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

heard aslanceulate
spelledlanceolate
saidLAN-see-uh-layt

It is an o. The word is lanceolate.

That vowel belongs to lanceola, the small lance the word is named for. In Latin the o was pronounced; in English it has collapsed into an unstressed uh, which is exactly what a u would be used to write. The letter stayed and the sound left.

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