syllable

“No-body!” the team responds, elongating the first syllable.

Each syllable burns like an ember, every word tinged with new possibilities.

Among the instructor’s object lessons: Katy Perry’s 2013 single “Unconditionally,” in which Perry puts the emphasis on that word’s fourth syllable — “un-con-di-tion-al-ly” — in order to ride the song’s throbbing groove.

“Raiiiiii-nieeeeeer,” they sang, each syllable sounding off as the bike reached a higher gear.

His niece, the chef Renee Guilbault, says it like an American, with that last syllable ending in an “s.”