noun
- Plural of penultima; the second-to-last syllable of a word.
Usage: linguistics; technical term
Examples
- In the word 'computer,' the penultimas is the syllable 'pu.'
- Linguists study how stress falls on penultimas in different languages.
- The penultimas of 'photography' receives the primary stress.
- Understanding penultimas is important for phonological analysis.
- Many Romance languages place stress on the penultimas of words.