Syllable
Our presentation will cover….
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Syllable definition
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Syllable structure
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Syllabification
why to know syllable…
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Understanding syllable will help us understand
stress patterns and thus pronunciation of a
language
Syllable
 The syllable is a basic unit of speech studied at both
the phonetic and phonological levels of analysis.
 we refer to syllables (Greek letter sigma ….. )
 Words can be cut up into units called syllables.
 Humans seem to need syllables as a way of
segmenting the stream of speech.
 Syllables don't serve any meaning-signalling function in
language; they exist only to make speech easier for the
brain to process. A word contains at least one syllable.
Phonetic definition
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Phonetically syllables “are usually
described as consisting of a centre which has
little or no obstruction to airflow and which
sounds comparatively loud; before and after that
centre, there will be greater obstruction to
airflow and/or less loud sound”. In the
monosyllable (one-syllable word) cat /kæt/, the
vowel /æ/ is the “centre” at which little
obstruction takes place, whereas we have
complete obstruction to the airflow for the
surrounding plosives /k/ and /t/.
Phonological definition
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Laver (1994: 114) defines the phonological syllable as
“a complex unit made up of nuclear and marginal
elements”. Nuclear elements are the vowels or syllabic
segments; marginal elements are the consonants or nonsyllabic segments. In the syllable paint /peɪnt/, the
diphthong /eɪ/ is the nuclear element, while initial
consonant /p/ and the final cluster /nt/ are marginal
elements.
Structure of Syllable
Syllable Structure
 It is the combination of allowable segments and
typical sound sequences, and is language
specific, e.g. plant
Onset:
 Onset: the beginning sounds of the syllable; the ones
preceding the nucleus. These are always consonants in
English. In the following words, the onset is in bold; the rest
underlined.
 read
flop
strap
 If a word contains more than one syllable, each syllable will
have the usual syllable parts:
 win.dow
to.ma.to
Rhyme (or rime)
 Rhyme: The rest of the syllable, after the onset
 The rhyme can also be divided up:
 Rhyme = nucleus + coda
Coda
 The Coda includes all consonants that follow the Peak
(nucleus) in a syllable.
 Some syllables consist only of a nucleus with no coda.
 The following single-syllable words end in a nucleus
and do not have a coda (phonologically):
Examples:
Glue /glu:/
I
 The syllable structure analysis of the words 'read',
'flop', 'strap' and 'window' are as follows (IPA symbols
are used to show the sounds in the word/syllable):
 read = one syllable
Onset = [ r ]
Rhyme = [ id ]
(within the rhyme:)
Nucleus = [ i ]
Coda = [ d ]
 flop = one syllable
Onset = [ f l ]
Rhyme = [ a p ]
Nucleus = [ a ]
Coda = [ p ]
Types of Syllable
1. Monosyllable
 A word that consists of a single syllable (like
dog) is called a monosyllable (and is said to be
monosyllabic).
 Bear
 dish
 deal
 Ball
 bat
2. Disyllable
 A word that consists of a two syllables (like
window) is called a disyllable (and is said to be
disyllabic).
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arrow
barrow
bellow
billow
3. Trisyllable
 It is for a word of three syllables;
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Beautiful
Terrible
Horrible
carefully
4. Polysyllable
 Which may refer either to a word of more than three
syllables or to any word of more than one syllable.
 Polysyllable
 Trisyllable