Ah, yes, two-syllable “Israel,” which always comes up when I sing the Murrill Evening Canticles!
On Wed, 4 Mar 2026, David Wright wrote: > (My "problem word" in this context (but not written out) is Israel, which > I point as either Isræl (2 syllables) or Israël (2½), the latter usually > occurring at the end of phrases. > If I were engraving an “Israel” that singers need to sing as a disyllable, my solution (for what it’s worth) would probably be to typeset IPA directly under the word. If your singers are familiar with IPA, this approach saves valuable time in rehearsal, because no singer has to raise a hand and ask “How are we supposed to sing ‘Israel’ here?” Is - rael /ˈɪz ɹɛl/ See Typesetting IPA transcriptions for lyrics - LilyPond wiki <https://wiki.lilypond.community/wiki/Typesetting_IPA_transcriptions_for_lyrics>. I would probably use #3, the \withIPA option.
