Syllabification
Encyclopedia
Syllabification is the separation of a word into syllable
s, whether spoken or written.
It is also used to describe the process of something like a consonant turning into a syllable, but this is not discussed here. For example, in North Central American English, "can" is normally pronounced /kən/, or even with the vowel reduced to a syllabification of the /n/ itself.
The written separation is usually marked by a hyphen
when using English orthography (e.g., syl-la-ble) and with a period when transcribing in the IPA (e.g., [ˈsɪ.lə.bᵊɫ]). For presentation purposes, typographers may use an interpunct
(Unicode
character U+00B7, e.g., syl·la·ble), or a special-purpose "hyphenation point" (U+2027, e.g., syl‧la‧ble).
At the end of a line, a word is separated in writing into parts conventionally called "syllables" if it does not fit and if moving it to the next line would make the first line much shorter than the others. This can be a particular problem with very long words. Word processing
has automated the process of justification
, making syllabification of shorter words often superfluous.
In some languages, the spoken syllables are also the basis of syllabification in writing. However, possibly due to the weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English
, written syllabification in English is based mostly on etymological or morphological
instead of phonetic principles. For example, it is not possible to syllabify "learning" as lear-ning according to the correct syllabification of the living language. Seeing only lear- at the end of a line might mislead the reader into pronouncing the word incorrectly, as the digraph
ea can hold many different values. The history of English orthography accounts for such phenomena.
English written syllabification therefore deals with a concept of "syllable" that doesn't correspond to the linguistic concept or a phonetic (as opposed to morphological) unit.
As a result, even most native English speakers are unable to syllabify words accurately without consulting a dictionary or using a word processor . The process is, in fact, so complicated that even schools usually do not provide much more advice on the topic than to consult a dictionary. In addition, there are differences between British and US syllabification and even between dictionaries of the same English variety.
In Finnish
, Italian
, and other nearly phonemically spelled languages, writers can in principle correctly syllabify any existing or newly created word using only general rules. In Finland, children are first taught to hyphenate every word until they produce the correct syllabification reliably, after which the hyphens can be omitted.
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...
s, whether spoken or written.
It is also used to describe the process of something like a consonant turning into a syllable, but this is not discussed here. For example, in North Central American English, "can" is normally pronounced /kən/, or even with the vowel reduced to a syllabification of the /n/ itself.
The written separation is usually marked by a hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
when using English orthography (e.g., syl-la-ble) and with a period when transcribing in the IPA (e.g., [ˈsɪ.lə.bᵊɫ]). For presentation purposes, typographers may use an interpunct
Interpunct
An interpunct —also called an interpoint—is a small dot used for interword separation in ancient Latin script, which also appears in some modern languages as a stand-alone sign inside a word. It is present in Unicode as code point ....
(Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
character U+00B7, e.g., syl·la·ble), or a special-purpose "hyphenation point" (U+2027, e.g., syl‧la‧ble).
At the end of a line, a word is separated in writing into parts conventionally called "syllables" if it does not fit and if moving it to the next line would make the first line much shorter than the others. This can be a particular problem with very long words. Word processing
Word processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
has automated the process of justification
Justification (typesetting)
In typesetting, justification is the typographic alignment setting of text or images within a column or "measure" to align along both the left and right margin...
, making syllabification of shorter words often superfluous.
In some languages, the spoken syllables are also the basis of syllabification in writing. However, possibly due to the weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English
English orthography
English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English orthography, like other alphabetic orthographies, uses a set of habits to represent speech sounds in writing. In most other languages, these habits are regular enough so that they may be called rules...
, written syllabification in English is based mostly on etymological or morphological
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
instead of phonetic principles. For example, it is not possible to syllabify "learning" as lear-ning according to the correct syllabification of the living language. Seeing only lear- at the end of a line might mislead the reader into pronouncing the word incorrectly, as the digraph
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
ea can hold many different values. The history of English orthography accounts for such phenomena.
English written syllabification therefore deals with a concept of "syllable" that doesn't correspond to the linguistic concept or a phonetic (as opposed to morphological) unit.
As a result, even most native English speakers are unable to syllabify words accurately without consulting a dictionary or using a word processor . The process is, in fact, so complicated that even schools usually do not provide much more advice on the topic than to consult a dictionary. In addition, there are differences between British and US syllabification and even between dictionaries of the same English variety.
In Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, and other nearly phonemically spelled languages, writers can in principle correctly syllabify any existing or newly created word using only general rules. In Finland, children are first taught to hyphenate every word until they produce the correct syllabification reliably, after which the hyphens can be omitted.
See also
- PhonotacticsPhonotacticsPhonotactics is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes...
- Tautosyllabic, heterosyllabicTautosyllabicTwo or more phonemes are tautosyllabic if they occur in the same syllable. Take for instance the English word "cat". Since this word is monosyllabic, the three phonemes /k/, /æ/ and /t/ are tautosyllabic. They can also be described as sharing a 'tautosyllabic distribution'...
and ambisyllabic phones
External links
- Online Lyric Hyphenator: Hyphenates English text into syllables