Syllables and Phonemes in English

Definition of Syllable

A syllable is a single unbroken sound of a spoken or written word.

A syllable is one unit of sound in English. Syllables join consonants and vowels to form words.Sometimes syllables are referred to as the 'beats' of spoken language.

What is Syllable

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound with or without surrounding consonants. It forms the whole word or a part of a word.

A syllable is possible without consonant sound but it is not possible without a vowel sound. It is necessary to have at least one vowel sound to have one syllable.

The number of times you hear a vowel sound in a world is equal to the number of syllables a word has.

Syllables differ from a phoneme. 

What is Phoneme?

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. 
The number of syllables in a word is unrelated to the number of phonemes it contains.
For example the word cat is made up of three phonemes /k/ /a/ /t/ but it has only one syllable as it has only one vowel sound /a/ along with two consonants /k/ and /t/.
There are 44 basic sounds or phonemes but when we speak we don't use isolated sounds like /p/ /t/ /k/.
In order to analyse speech we need a unit longer than a speech sound.

The syllable can be considered as a convenient unit by which the sounds can be organised in particular patterns.

The syllable is thus a very significant unit in the production of speech without which, we cannot analyse analyse or describe it.


Open Syllable:

An open syllable is that syllable which has only one vowel sound or which ends with a vowel sound.

•Example: go

•Say /sei/

•A

    Closed Syllable :

       A closed syllable ends with a consonant. It has only one vowel sound but it can have one or more consonant.

•If

•Ask

•Talk

•Sit

•tin

Monosyllabic:
Words with one syllable are called monosyllabic word.
For Example:

•Cat /Cat/

•Boss /bos/

•Cream /kri:m/

•Dog /dog/

Disyllabic:


Words with two syllables are called disyllabic words.

•Pencil /pen/ /cil/

•Remark /re/ /mak/

•Water /wa/ ter/

        Trisyllabic:

    Words with three syllables are called trisyllabic words.

•Beautiful /beau/ti/ful/

•Artistic /ar/tis/tic/

Foursyllabic:

•Application /app/li/ca/tion/

•Cultivation /cul/ti/va/tion/

•Mandatory /man/da/to/ry/

 Polysyllabic:

•Personification: /Per/so/ni/fi/ca/tion/

•Identification:    /i/den/ti/fi/ca/tion/

•Unsophisticated: /un/so/phis/ti/ca/ted/

This was all about syllables in English which play a very significant role in the production of speech.

   To understand about syllables and phonemes thoroughly for better understanding, click the video below.



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