4
$\begingroup$

This is in the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a certain rule, I call it a Asymphonic Word™. Use the following examples to find the rule:

$$ % nonstandard template, do not reuse % \def\Pad{\P{0.0}} \def\Title{\textbf{Asymphonic }} \def\S#1#2{\Space{#1}{20px}{#2px}}\def\P#1{\V{#1em}}\ \def\V#1{\S{#1}{9}} \def\T{\Title\textbf{Words }^™\Pad}\def\NT{\Pad\textbf{Non-}\T\ }\displaystyle \smash{\lower{29px}\bbox[yellow]{\phantom{\rlap{rubio.2017.02.04}\S{6px}{0} \begin{array}{cc}\Pad~\T&\NT\\\end{array}}}}\atop\def\V#1{\S{#1}{5}} \begin{array}{|c|c|}\hline\Pad~\T&\NT\\\hline % \text{CACHE}&\text{CRICKET}\\ \hline \text{CIRCLE}&\text{CROCODILE}\\ \hline \text{CANCER}&\text{COCK}\\ \hline \text{GRUDGE}&\text{GANG}\\ \hline \text{GEOGRAPHY}&\text{GEOLOGY}\\ \hline \text{GRAPHOLOGY}&\text{GEMOLOGY}\\ \hline \text{GAUGE}&\text{GAG}\\ \hline \text{CROTCH}&\text{CHARACTER}\\ \hline \end{array}$$

CSV version:

CACHE, CRICKET
CIRCLE, CROCODILE
CANCER, COCK
GRUDGE, GANG
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY
GRAPHOLOGY, GEMOLOGY
GAUGE, GAG
CROTCH, CHARACTER

Not only these but many such words exist.

| improve this question | |
$\endgroup$
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I just wanted to say that "Non-Asymphonic" is a double negative and should be replaced with "Symphonic". $\endgroup$ – BooleanCheese Oct 10 '17 at 20:18
10
$\begingroup$

In a Non-asymphonic word, when

a letter appears more than once, it it pronounced the same way each time. C is a hard C, as in CROCODILE, if it appears that way at least once. GAG=hard g, hard g.

In an asymphonic word,

a letter that appears twice (or more?) has different pronunciations. CANCER= hard c, soft c. GAUGE=hard g, soft g.

Why you would call it non-asymphonic instead of symphonic is one of those deep mysteries.

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ It is probably worth noting the O's in a few of the Non- words and A's in the last one. Either it is required for all pairs, or just consonants. $\endgroup$ – Apep Oct 10 '17 at 15:56
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ The rule seems to apply to repeated consonants only, rather than all repeated letters. $\endgroup$ – MikeQ Oct 10 '17 at 16:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Mike Q. You are correct. I overlooked the repeated vowels in CHARACTER, CROCODILE, and GRAPHOLOGY. $\endgroup$ – user41265 Oct 10 '17 at 16:13
  • $\begingroup$ GANG probably needs more attention, since NG isn't same as G. (try to make them same, it sounds hilarious either way). +1 anyway. $\endgroup$ – Bass Oct 10 '17 at 16:17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Bass Even if they don't sound quite the same, they're both a hard G sound, as opposed to being soft G sounds (Neither Jang or Ganj sound like Gang) $\endgroup$ – DqwertyC Oct 10 '17 at 16:21

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.