noun
- the second-to-last syllable of a word
Usage: linguistics
Examples
- In the word ‘computer,’ the penultima is ‘put.’
- The stress falls on the penultima in many Spanish words.
- Students learning Latin must identify the penultima to apply accent rules.
- The penultima of ‘banana’ is the syllable ‘na.’
- Linguists analyze vowel length in the penultima of classical languages.