syllable
[ sil-uh-buh l ]
/ ˈsɪl ə bəl /
noun
an uninterrupted segment of speech consisting of a vowel sound, a diphthong, or a syllabic consonant, with or without preceding or following consonant sounds: “Eye,” “sty,” “act,” and “should” are English words of one syllable. “Eyelet,” “stifle,” “enact,” and “shouldn't” are two-syllable words.
one or more written letters or characters representing more or less exactly such an element of speech.
the slightest portion or amount of speech or writing; the least mention: Do not breathe a syllable of all this.
verb (used with object), syl·la·bled, syl·la·bling. Chiefly Literary.
to utter in syllables; articulate.
to represent by syllables.
verb (used without object), syl·la·bled, syl·la·bling. Chiefly Literary.
to utter syllables; speak.
Origin of syllable
1350–1400; Middle English
sillable < Anglo-French; Middle French
sillabe < Latin
syllaba < Greek
syllabḗ, equivalent to
syl-
syl- +
lab- (base of
lambánein ‘to take’) +
-ē noun suffix
grammar notes for syllable
Spoken English is very flexible in its syllable structure. A vowel sound can constitute a syllable by itself—like the
e in
unequal
(un·e·qual) —or can be preceded by up to three consonant sounds (as in
strong or
splint ) and followed by up to four consonant sounds, as in
tempts or
sixths (which ends with the sounds k+s+th+s). But the English sound system is not without rules. Some combinations of consonant sounds, like p+k, can never occur within a syllable, and others can occur only at one end or the other. For example, the combination s+f can occur at the beginning of a syllable (as in
sphere ) but not at the end, while the reverse sequence f+s can occur at the end (as in
laughs ) but not at the beginning. The language does stretch occasionally to accommodate borrowings from other languages, as for words like
schlep and
tsar that can be said with an initial consonant cluster not native to English. And in a broad sense, even certain meaningful utterances composed exclusively of consonant sounds can be regarded as syllables. Examples include
shh (urging silence) and
psst (used to attract someone’s attention).
Breaking a written word into syllables—as in a dictionary entry, where the purpose is to clarify the structure of the word and assist in understanding and pronunciation, or in a book, for the purpose of end-of-line hyphenation—involves additional considerations. While based primarily on sound, the syllable divisions in spelled-out forms are also influenced by long-established spelling conventions, the etymology of the word, and the lack of an exact correspondence between spelling and pronunciation. For example, in writing, multisyllabic words with double consonants are conventionally divided between the consonants, even though the consonant is pronounced only once: sudden is divided as sud·den, though pronounced sudd ʹ n. But the word adding —formed by combining the word add with the suffix -ing, is divided as add·ing to show its constituent parts. And a word like exact (pronounced ig ʹ zakt) cannot be divided purely phonetically, because the letter x itself would have to be split; it is traditionally divided as ex·act. This means that even when divisions in the spelled form and the pronunciation do not match, they are both correct.
Breaking a written word into syllables—as in a dictionary entry, where the purpose is to clarify the structure of the word and assist in understanding and pronunciation, or in a book, for the purpose of end-of-line hyphenation—involves additional considerations. While based primarily on sound, the syllable divisions in spelled-out forms are also influenced by long-established spelling conventions, the etymology of the word, and the lack of an exact correspondence between spelling and pronunciation. For example, in writing, multisyllabic words with double consonants are conventionally divided between the consonants, even though the consonant is pronounced only once: sudden is divided as sud·den, though pronounced sudd ʹ n. But the word adding —formed by combining the word add with the suffix -ing, is divided as add·ing to show its constituent parts. And a word like exact (pronounced ig ʹ zakt) cannot be divided purely phonetically, because the letter x itself would have to be split; it is traditionally divided as ex·act. This means that even when divisions in the spelled form and the pronunciation do not match, they are both correct.
OTHER WORDS FROM syllable
half-syl·la·bled, adjective un·syl·la·bled, adjectiveWords nearby syllable
syllabicate,
syllabicity,
syllabify,
syllabism,
syllabize,
syllable,
syllable-timed,
syllabogram,
syllabography,
syllabub,
syllabus
Example sentences from the Web for syllable
British Dictionary definitions for syllable
syllable
/ (ˈsɪləbəl) /
noun
a combination or set of one or more units of sound in a language that must consist of a sonorous element (a sonant or vowel) and may or may not contain less sonorous elements (consonants or semivowels) flanking it on either or both sides: for example "paper" has two syllables
See also open (def. 34b), closed (def. 6a)
(in the writing systems of certain languages, esp ancient ones) a symbol or set of symbols standing for a syllable
the least mention in speech or print
don't breathe a syllable of it
in words of one syllable
simply; bluntly
verb
to pronounce syllables of (a text); articulate
(tr)
to write down in syllables
Word Origin for syllable
C14: via Old French from Latin
syllaba, from Greek
sullabē, from
sullambanein to collect together, from
sul-
syn- +
lambanein to take
Cultural definitions for syllable
syllable
A basic unit of speech generally containing only one vowel sound. The word basic contains two syllables (ba-sic). The word generally contains four (gen-er-al-ly). (See hyphen.)
Idioms and Phrases with syllable
syllable
see words of one syllable.