Monosyllabic language
Encyclopedia
A monosyllabic language is a language in which most words predominantly consist of a single syllable
. Monosyllabic languages are often tonal languages; due to the use of tones, the number of available monosyllables is significantly more than in non-tonal languages, making shorter words more practical.
Though a monosyllable may include as many as six (or possibly more) consonants and a vowel (CCCVCCC), the basic monosyllable has the simple forms CV or VC.
Few known recorded languages preserve simple CV forms which apparently are fully functional roots conveying meaning, i.e. are words ---- but are not the reductions from earlier complex forms that we find in Mandarin Chinese CV forms, almost always derived with tonal and phonological modifications from Sino-Tibetan *(C)CV(C)(C)/(V) forms.
One such language that does record simple C(V) forms as words is hieroglyphic Egyptian where signs for single consonants (with implied vowel) denoting words are marked as words with a short horizontal line: e.g. 3 ₵, which means 'vulture (or perhaps 'the bird')'; and ' ₳, which means 'arm'. Another early language that allows us to see simple CV forms as words is cuneiform (and earlier pictographic) Sumerian, in which, with some reservations based on the multiple readings of most signs, we can specify the final V: e.g. da, 'side'; and sa, 'sinew'. Some scientists, however, believe that Sumerian may have been a tonal language, which seems plausible given the number of homonyms in the language.
An example of monosyllabic language is Old Chinese
. Modern Chinese
and Vietnamese
are often erroneously referred to as monosyllabic languages; see Chinese morphology and Vietnamese morphology
for discussion.
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of 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 with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
. Monosyllabic languages are often tonal languages; due to the use of tones, the number of available monosyllables is significantly more than in non-tonal languages, making shorter words more practical.
Though a monosyllable may include as many as six (or possibly more) consonants and a vowel (CCCVCCC), the basic monosyllable has the simple forms CV or VC.
Few known recorded languages preserve simple CV forms which apparently are fully functional roots conveying meaning, i.e. are words ---- but are not the reductions from earlier complex forms that we find in Mandarin Chinese CV forms, almost always derived with tonal and phonological modifications from Sino-Tibetan *(C)CV(C)(C)/(V) forms.
One such language that does record simple C(V) forms as words is hieroglyphic Egyptian where signs for single consonants (with implied vowel) denoting words are marked as words with a short horizontal line: e.g. 3 ₵, which means 'vulture (or perhaps 'the bird')'; and ' ₳, which means 'arm'. Another early language that allows us to see simple CV forms as words is cuneiform (and earlier pictographic) Sumerian, in which, with some reservations based on the multiple readings of most signs, we can specify the final V: e.g. da, 'side'; and sa, 'sinew'. Some scientists, however, believe that Sumerian may have been a tonal language, which seems plausible given the number of homonyms in the language.
An example of monosyllabic language is Old Chinese
Old Chinese
The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....
. Modern Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
are often erroneously referred to as monosyllabic languages; see Chinese morphology and Vietnamese morphology
Vietnamese morphology
Vietnamese, like many languages in Southeast Asia, is an analytic language. Vietnamese lacks morphological marking of case, gender, number, and tense .-Overview:...
for discussion.