English Syllables and Syllabic Words

Hello! everyone. Welcome to our new blog post on English Syllables and Syllabic Words. Through this article we will learn what is syllable and how many syllables are there in English Grammar. We will also get to know about different kinds of syllabic words as well.

Why to Learn About English Syllables?

Well, learning about English syllable is essential as it is the very basics of English language. Below are five points that will tell you why we should learn about it.

  1. Syllable plays a very significant role in English language as it determines the rhythm of language, specifically in the field of spoken English.

  2. Understanding the syllable structure lead to flawless pronunciation in English communication.

  3. Knowing the break down of the words into syllables improve our reading skill and vocabulary acquisition.

  4. Recognizing the stressed and unstressed syllables is a real advantage to steal the show to stand out from others.

  5. Overall, it is the key aspect of English language and learning about this enhances our language proficiency. 

But before we deep delve into this topic, we should have general concept on vowel sounds in English Grammar. If you already know about English vowel sound, it is great. But if don’t, you can considering visit our previous blog post on this topic.

What Is a Syllable?

A Syllable is a part of a word that can be pronounced in a single breath or at a time. A Syllable must have at least one vowel or vowel sound.

Example: – For example we can take the word ‘Mother’ (Mother= Mo+ther). When we attempt to pronounce the word ‘Mother’, first we pronounce ‘Mo’ in a single breath and then ‘ther’. So, in this word there are two syllables.

What Is A Closed Syllable?

Syllable Structure

In English there are several types of syllables that are based on their structure and the vowel sound they produce. Understanding and recognizing these different types of syllables is very much important for accurate pronunciation, decoding the words while reading, and improving overall language fluency.

Closed Syllable

As the name suggests, a closed syllable is a type of syllable where the vowel sound is “closed” or “stopped” by a consonant sound, and cannot be pronounced as a long vowel sound.

Example: Cat, Sit, Stop etc.

Open Syllable

The scenario is completely different in case of open syllable. It is a type of syllable that ends with a vowel sound and which does not have a consonant sound following it and hence resulting in a long vowel sound.

Example: Me, Go, Hi etc.

Vowel-Consonant-e Syllable

The syllable which contains a long vowel sound followed by a consonant and the vowel “e” (where “e” is usually silent), is known as Vowel-Consonant-e Syllable. The  use of “e” at the end of the syllable influences the pronunciation of the vowel and makes it long.

Example: Cake, Ripe, Bone etc.

Consonant-le Syllable

This is a type of syllable that contains a consonant followed by an “l ” (L) and an “e” (E) (where “e” is usually silent). The presence of “le” at the end of the syllable makes a unique sound which is often pronounced as “ul”.

Example: Table, Pickle, Cable etc.

R-controlled Syllable

This is a type of syllable that contains a vowel sound followed by the letter “r”. The use of “r” changes the way the vowel sound is pronounced and it produces a unique sound.

Example: Car, Bird, Fern etc.

Syllable StructureWhat is It & FunctionExample
1. Closed SyllableThe vowel sound is "closed" or "stopped" by a consonant sound, and cannot be pronounced as a long vowel sound.Cat, Sit, Stop etc.
2. Open SyllableIt ends with a vowel sound and which does not have a consonant sound following it and hence resulting in a long vowel sound.Me, Go, Hi etc.
3. Vowel-Consonant-e SyllableIt contains a long vowel sound followed by a consonant and the vowel "e" (where "e" is usually silent).
The  use of "e" at the end of the syllable influences the pronunciation of the vowel and makes it long.
Cake, Ripe, Bone etc.
4. Consonant-le SyllableIt contains a consonant followed by an "l " (L) and an "e" (E) (where "e" is usually silent). The presence of "le" at the end of the syllable makes a unique sound which is often pronounced as "ul".Table, Pickle, Cable etc.
5. R-controlled SyllableIt contains a vowel sound followed by the letter "r". The use of "r" changes the way the vowel sound is pronounced and it produces a unique sound.Car, Bird, Fern etc.

How Many Syllable- Number & Syllable

Well, mainly six different types syllable are there in English Grammar according to the number of syllable present.

Monosyllable

  • In Greek, ‘Mono’ means ‘one or single’.

  • So, when the number of syllable is one, it is called Monosyllable.

Disyllable

  • In Greek, ‘Di’ means ‘two or double’.

  • So, when the number of syllable is two, it is called Disyllable.

Trisyllable

  • Tri’ means ‘three’.

  • So, when the number of syllable is three, it is called Trisyllable.

Tetrasyllable

  • Tetra’ means ‘four’.

  • So, when the number of syllable is four, it is called Tetrasyllable.

Pentasyllable

  • Penta’ means ‘five’.

  • So, when the number of syllable is five, it is called Pentasyllable.

Polysyllable

  • When the syllable number is more than five, it is called Polysyllable.

Note:- Logically, more than one is known as Poly i.e. many in numbers. Since, we have come to know about Monosyllable, Disyllable, Trisyllable, Tetrasyllable and Pentasyllable where the number of syllable is One, Two, Three, Four and Five respectively, we shall call it Polysyllable when the syllable number is more than five.

Different Kinds of Syllable| How Many Syllables
Different Kinds of Syllable| How Many Syllables
 

Different Kinds of Syllabic Words

Now we will get to know about different kinds of syllabic words where the number of syllable present in the word make it different from other words.

Monosyllabic Word

A word with single syllable or one syllable is called a Monosyllabic Word.
Or, where there is only one syllable in a word, the word is called a Monosyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘Man’, ‘Bat’, ‘Ball’ etc.

Here in these words the number of syllable is one and when we attempt to pronounce the above words we can see that we can pronounce them each in a single breath.
Monosyllabic Word With Examples
Monosyllabic Word With Examples

Disyllabic Word

A word with two syllables is called a Disyllabic Word.
Or, where there are two syllables in a word, the word is called a Disyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘Father’, ‘Mother’, ‘Brother’ etc.
  • Here in these words the number of syllable is two and when we attempt to pronounce the above words, we fail to pronounce them each in a single breath. We need a break.
  • If we take the very first word (i.e. ‘Father) for explanation, we can see that when we attempt to pronounce the word ‘Father’, at first we pronounce ‘Fa’ and then ‘ther’. The similar thing happens in case of the other two words.
Disyllabic Word With Examples
Disyllabic Word With Examples

Trisyllabic Word

A word with three syllables is called a Trisyllabic Word.
Or, where there are three syllables in a word, the word is called a Trisyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘Condition’, ‘Position’, ‘Remember’ etc.
  • Here in these words the number of syllable is three and when we attempt to pronounce the above words, we fail to pronounce them each in a single breath. We need two breaks.
  • If we take the very first word (i.e. ‘Condition’) for explanation, we can see that when we attempt to pronounce the word ‘Condition’, first we pronounce ‘Con’ and then ‘di’ and finally ‘tion’.
Trisyllabic Word With Examples
Trisyllabic Word With Examples

Tetrasyllabic Word

A word with four syllables is called a Tetrasyllabic Word.
Or, where there are four syllables in a word, the word is called a Tetrasyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘Unfortunate’, ‘Photography’ etc.
  • Here in these words the number of syllable is four and when we attempt to pronounce the above words, we fail to pronounce them each in a single breath. We need to stop three times.
  • If we take the very first word (i.e. ‘Unfortunate’) for explanation, we can see that when we attempt to pronounce the word ‘Unfortunate’, at first we pronounce ‘Un’ and then ‘for’ and then ‘tu’ and finally ‘nate’.
Tetrasyllabic Word With Examples
Tetrasyllabic Word With Examples

Pentasyllabic Word

A word with five syllables is called a Pentasyllabic Word.
Or, where there are five syllables in a word, the word is called a Pentasyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘University’, ‘Individual’ etc.
  • Here in these words the number of syllable is five and when we attempt to pronounce the above words, we fail to pronounce them each in a single breath. We stop four times.
  • If we take the very first word (i.e. ‘University’) for explanation, we can see that when we attempt to pronounce the word ‘University’, first we pronounce ‘U’ and then ‘ni’ and then ‘ver’ and then ‘si’ and finally ‘ty’.
Pentasyllabic Word With Examples
Pentasyllabic Word With Examples

Polysyllabic Word

A word with many syllables is called a Polysyllabic Word.
Or, where there are more than five syllables in a word, the word is called a Polysyllabic word.

Example: – For example we can say ‘Identification’, ‘Capitalization’ etc.
  • Here in these words the number of syllable is many (more than five) and when we attempt to pronounce the above words, we fail to pronounce them each in a single breath. We stop five times or more than five times.
  • If we take the very first word (i.e. ‘Identification’) for explanation, we can see that when we attempt to pronounce the word ‘Identification’, first we pronounce ‘I’ and then ‘den’ and then ‘ti’ and then ‘fi’ and then ‘ca’ and finally ‘tion’.
Polysyllabic Word With Examples
Polysyllabic Word With Examples

A Bengali YouTube Video on English Syllable And Syllabic Words

If you are one from Bengali Medium, then the following video in your mother tongue will help you to understand the topic in a better way.

QUIZ: English Syllables And Syllabic Words

I hope you have learned something new from this article. So that you can test your learning, we have designed a quiz on this particular topic. I highly recommend you to go through the quiz section and self-check what you have learned. Go ahead. It will be fun.

FAQ: English Syllables And Syllabic Words

Below are some Frequently Asked Questions with the answers to the point to boost your learning on the above topic.. Hope you will like these too.

Click & Proceed to the Quiz

Q 1. What is a Stressed Syllable?

Ans. A stressed syllable is that particular syllable which is pronounced with greater emphasis than the other syllables present in a word. For example, in the word “banana,” the stress is placed on the second syllable: ba-NA-na.

Q 2. What do you call a word with one syllable?

Ans. A word with one syllable or single syllable is called Monosyllabic Word for example- bat, cat, rat etc.

Q 3. What is the longest two syllable word?

Ans. The longest two-syllable word in English is “floccinaucinihilipilification,” which means the act or habit of estimating or judging something as worthless. It contains 29 letters and it is often considered as the longest non-technical word in the English language.

Q 4. What is ‘R’ controlled syllable?

Ans. When a syllable contains a vowel sound followed by the letter “r”, it is called ‘R’ controlled syllable. The use of “r” changes the way the vowel sound is pronounced, resulting in a unique sound. Example: Car, Bird, Fern etc.

Q 5. What is a Disyllabic word?

Ans. A word of two syllables is called Disyllabic word or  where there are two syllables in a word, the word is called a Disyllabic word. Example: Father= Fa-ther, Mother=Mo-ther.

Ans. The longest two-syllable word in English is “floccinaucinihilipilification,” which means the act or habit of estimating or judging something as worthless. It contains 29 letters and it is often considered as the longest non-technical word in the English language.


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Thank you all. Stay cool and stay happy. See you next time.

About Captain Som

Avatar of Captain SomHi! This is Captain Som, a Teacher by profession and a Blogger by passion. I run this blog "Lighthouse Edulight".

I also own a Youtube Channel named "Lighthouse Edulearn", one of the best platforms to learn English for the students from Bengali Medium.

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