Originally Posted by
BobbyG
r e d d i t.com in that url.
Interesting but I can't buy it, partly because that "unstressed syllable" idea is a crock, and partly because I never hear the referenced schwa sound - it's always a short "i" in bicycle.
Also "sickle: is just as easy to say as "cycle" no matter how many syllables so why isn't it "motorsickle"? I know that some dialects do have motorsickle but why isn't it the normal way? Bicycles obviously predated motorcycles - where did it change?