The Roc is a mythical, giant bird.
Emu Owl Roc (mythical) Tit Auk Ani
Emu.
moa
nib
emu
tit
Four; each letter has its own phoneme.
The answer is 3 In each equation the numerical position in the alphabet of the first letter of each word is used. Thus alligator + bird is 1 + 2, or 3 (the "a" in alligator is the 1st letter of the alphabet and "b" in bird is the 2nd).
There are 3 syllables in mythical:my/thi/cal
emu jay
caw awk coo
Another 3 letter word for respect is awe.