Syllable
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Pcyrus
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Rime misspelled as rhyme
{{for|the computer operating system|Syllable (operating system)}}
{{Suprasegmental}}
A '''syllable''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{polytonic|συλλαβή}}) is a unit of organization for a sequence of [[Speech communication|speech]] sounds. For example, the word ''water'' is composed of two syllables: ''wa'' and ''ter''. A syllable is typically made up of a [[syllable nucleus]] (most often a [[vowel]]) with optional initial and final margins (typically, [[consonant]]s).
Syllables are often considered the [[phonology|phonological]] "building blocks" of [[word]]s. They can influence the rhythm of a [[language]], its [[prosody (linguistics)| prosody]], its [[poetry|poetic]] meter, its [[lexical stress|stress]] patterns, etc.
Syllablic writing began several hundred years before the [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets|first letters]]. The earliest recorded syllables are on tablets written around 2800 BC in the [[Sumeria]]n city of [[Ur]]. This shift from [[pictogram]]s to syllables has been called 'the most important advance in the history of [[writing]]'.<ref>[[Geoffrey Blainey]], ''[[A Short History of the World]]'', p.87, citing J.T. Hooker et al., ''Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet'', [[British Museum]], 1993, Ch. 2</ref>
A word that consists of a single syllable (like [[English language|English]] ''cat'') is called a '''monosyllable''' (such a word is '''monosyllabic'''), while a word consisting of two syllables (like ''monkey'') is called a '''disyllable''' (such a word is '''disyllabic'''). A word consisting of three syllables (such as ''indigent'') is called a '''trisyllable''' (the adjective form is '''trisyllabic'''). A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as ''intelligence'') is called a '''polysyllable''' (and could be described as '''polysyllabic'''), although this term is often used to describe words of two syllables or more.
==Syllable structure==<!-- This section is linked from [[General American]] -->
The general structure of a syllable consists of the following segments:
*[[Syllable onset|Onset]] (obligatory in some languages, optional or even restricted in others)
*[[Syllable rime|Rime]]
**[[Syllable nucleus|Nucleus]] (obligatory in all languages)
**[[Syllable coda|Coda]] (optional in some languages, highly restricted or prohibited in others)
[[Image:Syllable structure.png|200px|thumb|tree representation of a CVC syllable]]
In some theories of phonology, these syllable structures are displayed as [[tree diagram]]s (similar to the trees found in some types of syntax). Not all phonologists agree that syllables have internal structure; in fact, some phonologists doubt the existence of the syllable as a theoretical entity. See [http://www.cunyphonologyforum.net/syllable.php] for discussion of this point.
The syllable nucleus is typically a [[sonorant]], usually making a vowel sound, in the form of a [[monophthong]], [[diphthong]], or [[triphthong]], but sometimes sonorant [[consonant]]s like {{IPA|[l]}} or {{IPA|[r]}}. The syllable ''onset'' is the sound or sounds occurring before the nucleus, and the syllable ''coda'' (literally 'tail') is the sound or sounds that follow the nucleus. The term ''rime'' covers the nucleus plus coda. In the one-syllable English word ''cat,'' the nucleus is ''a,'' the onset ''c,'' the coda ''t,'' and the rime ''at.'' This syllable can be abstracted as a ''consonant-vowel-consonant syllable,'' abbreviated ''CVC.''
Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus. Onsets are extremely common, and some languages require all syllables to have an onset. (That is, a CVC syllable like ''cat'' is possible, but a VC syllable such as ''at'' is not.) A coda-less syllable of the form V, CV, CCV, etc. is called an '''open syllable''', while a syllable that has a coda (VC, CVC, CVCC, etc.) is called a '''closed syllable''' (or ''checked syllable).'' All languages allow open syllables, but some, such as [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], do not have closed syllables.
A '''[[syllable weight|heavy syllable]]''' is one with a ''branching rime'' or a ''branching nucleus'' — this is a metaphor, based on the nucleus or coda having lines that branch in a tree diagram. In some languages, heavy syllables include both VV (branching nucleus) and VC (branching rhyme) syllables, contrasted with V, which is a '''light syllable'''. In other languages, only VV syllables (ones with a long vowel or [[diphthong]]) are heavy, while both VC and V syllables are light. The difference between heavy and light frequently determines which syllables receive [[stress (linguistics)|stress]]—this is the case in [[Latin]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]], for example. In [[mora (linguistics)|moraic theory]], heavy syllables are said to have two moras, while light syllables are said to have one. [[Japanese language|Japanese]] is generally described this way.
In other languages, including [[English language|English]], a consonant may be analyzed as acting simultaneously as the coda of one syllable and the onset of the following syllable, a phenomenon known as '''ambisyllabicity'''. Examples occurring in [[Received Pronunciation]] include words such as ''arrow'' {{IPA|[ˈærəʊ]}}, ''error'' {{IPA|[ˈerə]}}, ''mirror'' {{IPA|[ˈmɪrə]}}, ''borrow'' {{IPA|[ˈbɒrəʊ]}}, ''burrow'' {{IPA|[ˈbʌrəʊ]}}, which can't be divided into separately pronounceable syllables: neither {{IPA|[æ]}} nor {{IPA|[ær]}} is a possible independent syllable, and likewise with the other short vowels {{IPA|[e ɪ ɒ ʌ]}}.
==Syllables and suprasegmentals==
The domain of [[suprasegmental]] features is the syllable and not a specific sound, that is to say, they affect all the segments of a syllable:
*[[Lexical stress|Stress]]
*[[Tone (linguistics)|Tone]]
Sometimes [[syllable length]] is also counted as a suprasegmental feature; for example, in most Germanic languages, long vowels may only exist with short consonants and vice versa. However, syllables can be analyzed as compositions of long and short phonemes, as in Finnish and Japanese, where consonant gemination and vowel length are independent.
==Syllables and phonotactic constraints==
[[phonotactics|Phonotactic]] rules determine which sounds are allowed or disallowed in each part of the syllable. [[English language|English]] allows very complicated syllables; syllables may begin with up to three consonants (as in ''string'' or ''splash''), and occasionally end with as many as four (as in ''prompts''). Many other languages are much more restricted; [[Japanese language|Japanese]], for example, only allows /n/ and a [[chroneme]] in a coda, and has no consonant clusters at all, as the onset is composed of at most one consonant.
There are languages that forbid empty onsets, such as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]] (the names transliterated as "Israel", "Abraham", "Omar", "Ali" and "Abdullah", among many others, actually begin with semiconsonantic glides or with glottal or pharyngeal consonants).
Phonotactics is the micro-level study of the structure of syllables that aims to explore how well-formed the syllables of a language are. A macro-level study of the syllables that aims to examine the constraints on the combinatory possibilities of syllables, their positions of occurrence and possible order in the word is called [[Syllabotactics]].
==Syllabification==
{{main|Syllabification}}
''Syllabification'' is the separation of a word into syllables, whether spoken or written. In most languages, the actually spoken syllables are the basis of syllabification in writing too. However, due to the very weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English, for example, written syllabification in English has to be based mostly on etymological i.e. morphological instead of phonetic principles. English "written" syllables therefore do not correspond to the actually spoken syllables of the living language.
(''Syllabification'' may also mean the process of a consonant becoming a syllable nucleus.)
==Ambisyllabicity==
Many English speakers have a strong feeling that a single consonant after a stressed short vowel belongs with the previous syllable, /'CVC.V/, as in ''competitive'' {{IPA|/kəm.ˈpɛt.ɨ.tɪv/}} and ''better'' {{IPA|/ˈbɛt.ər/}}. This is at odds with the universal tendency for /CV.CV/ syllabification, and so the concept of ''ambisyllabicity'' was developed, with the idea that these consonants are shared between the preceding and following syllables. However, Wells (2002)[http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/syllabif.htm] argues that this is not a useful analysis, and that English syllabification is simply /'CVC.V/.
==Syllables and stress==
Syllable structure often interacts with stress. In [[Latin]], for example, stress is regularly determined by [[syllable weight]], a syllable counting as heavy if it has at least one of the following:
* a long vowel in its nucleus
* a diphthong in its nucleus
* one or more coda(e)
In each case the syllable is considered to have two [[mora (linguistics)|moras]].
==Syllables and vowel tenseness==
In most [[Germanic language]]s, [[tenseness|lax vowels]] can only occur in closed syllables. Therefore, these vowels are also called ''checked vowels'', as opposed to the tense vowels that are called ''free vowels'' because they can occur in open syllables.
==Syllable-less languages==
The notion of syllable is challenged by languages that allow long strings of consonants without any intervening vowel or sonorant. Languages of the Northwest coast of North America, including [[Salishan languages|Salishan]] and [[Wakashan languages]], are famous for this. For instance, these [[Nuxálk language|Nuxálk]] (Bella Coola) words contain only [[obstruent]]s:
: {{IPA|[ɬχʷtɬʦxʷ]}} 'you spat on me'
: {{IPA|[ʦ’ktskʷʦʼ]}} 'he arrived'
: {{IPA|[xɬpʼχʷɬtɬpɬɬs]}} 'he had in his possession a bunchberry plant' <cite>(Bagemihl 1991:589, 593, 627)</cite>
: {{IPA|[sxs]}} 'seal blubber'
In Bagemihl's survey of previous analyses, he finds that the word {{IPA|[ʦ’ktskʷʦ’]}} would have been parsed into 0, 2, 3, 5, or 6 syllables depending which analysis is used. One analysis would consider all vowel and consonants segments as syllable nuclei, another would consider only a small subset as nuclei candidates, and another would simply deny the existence of syllables completely.
This type of phenomenon has also been reported in [[Berber languages]] (such as Imdlawn Tashlhiyt Berber) and [[Mon-Khmer languages]] (such as [[Semai]], Temiar, [[Kammu language|Kammu]]). Even in English there are a few utterances that have no vowels; for example, ''shh'' (meaning "be quiet") and ''psst'' (a sound used to attract attention).
''Imdlawn Tashlhiyt Berber:''
: {{IPA|[tftktst tfktstt]}} 'you sprained it and then gave it'
: {{IPA|[rkkm]}} 'rot' (imperf.) <cite>(Dell & Elmedlaoui 1985, 1988)</cite>
''Semai:''
: {{IPA|[kckmrʔɛːc]}} 'short, fat arms' <cite>(Sloan 1988)</cite>
==See also==
*[[Mora (linguistics)]]
*[[List of the longest English words with one syllable]]
*[[Phonology]]
*[[Pitch accent]]
*[[Stress (linguistics)]]
*[[Syllabary]] writing system
*[[Syllabic consonant]]
*[[Syllabification]]
*[[Timing (linguistics)]]
*[[International Phonetic Alphabet#Suprasegmentals|IPA symbols for syllables]]
==External links==
* [http://www.juiciobrennan.com/hyphenator/ Online Lyric Hyphenator] - Separates English text into syllables
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsASyllable.htm What is a ''syllable''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www.cunyphonologyforum.net/syllable.php Do syllables have internal structure? What is their status in phonology? <small>CUNY Phonology Forum</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsASyllabicConsonant.htm What is a ''syllabic consonant''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnOnset.htm What is an ''onset''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsARime.htm What is a ''rime''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=syllable Syllable <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=onset Onset <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=rhyme Rime <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=nucleus Nucleus <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=coda Coda <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsMetricalPhonology.htm What is ''metrical phonology''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Syllable+weight Syllable Weight <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=mora Mora <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=foot Foot <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Quantity-(in)sensitivity Quantity-(in)sensitivity <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Extrametrical Extrametrical <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Maximal+onset+principle Maximal Onset Principle <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsSyllabification.htm What is ''syllabification''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
* [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=syllabification Syllabification <small>(Lexicon of Linguistics)</small>]
* [http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsANuclearSyllable.htm What is a ''nuclear syllable''? <small>(SIL)</small>]
*[http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=1787&CurriculumID=13 Syllables Quiz]
==References and recommended reading==
* {{cite journal
| authorlink = Bruce Bagemihl
| last = Bagemihl | first = Bruce
| title = Syllable structure in Bella Coola
| journal = Linguistic Inquiry
| year=1991 | volume=22 | pages=589–646
}}
* {{cite journal
| author = Dell, F.; Elmedlaoui, M.
| title = Syllabic consonants and syllabification in Imdlawn Tashlhiyt Berber
| journal = Journal of African Languages and Linguistics
| year = 1985 | volume = 7 | pages = 105–130
}} (Cited in Bagemihl 1991).
* {{cite journal
| author = Dell, F.; Elmedlaoui, M.
| title = Syllabic consonants in Berber: Some new evidence
| journal =Journal of African Languages and Linguistics
| year = 1988 | volume = 10 | pages = 1–17
}} (Cited in Bagemihl 1991).
* {{cite book
| authorlink = Peter Ladefoged
| last = Ladefoged | first = Peter
| title=A course in phonetics
| edition = 4<sup>th</sup> edition
| location = [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]]
| publisher= Harcourt College Publishers
| year=2001
| id=ISBN 0-15-507319-2
}}
* Sloan, K. (1988). Bare-consonant reduplication: Implications for a prosodic theory of reduplication. In H. Borer (Ed.), ''Proceedings of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 7''. Stanford, CA: Stanford Linguistics Association. (Cited in Bagemihl 1991).
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Phonotactics]]
[[Category:Phonology]]
[[af:Lettergreep]]
[[ay:Aru qallu]]
[[br:Silabenn]]
[[ca:Síl·laba]]
[[cs:Slabika]]
[[cy:Sillaf]]
[[de:Silbe]]
[[es:Sílaba]]
[[eo:Silabo]]
[[fa:هجا]]
[[fr:Syllabe]]
[[gl:Sílaba]]
[[ko:음절]]
[[io:Silabo]]
[[os:Википеди:Æххуыс]]
[[it:Sillaba]]
[[he:הברה]]
[[la:Syllaba]]
[[lt:Skiemuo]]
[[hu:Szótag]]
[[mr:साहाय्य:संपादन]]
[[nl:Lettergreep]]
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[[oc:Sillaba]]
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[[pl:Sylaba]]
[[pt:Sílaba]]
[[ro:Silabă]]
[[ru:Слог]]
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[[simple:Syllable]]
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[[uk:Склад (мовознавство)]]
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