Name: Paulo U.

Torino

Schedule: TTH 12:00-01:30am

Course & Year: BEED-ECE IIB

Professor: Mrs. Cristy Alonso

Syllabication Rules
Syllabication is the art of forming or dividing words into syllables. Syllables are single
speech parts that are made up of a vowel sound with or without a closely combined
consonant sound.
In some languages, the spoken syllables are also the basis of Syllabication in writing.
However, possibly due to the weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the
spelling of modern English, written Syllabication in English is based mostly on
etymological or morphological instead of phonetic principles. English written
Syllabication 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 Syllabication and
even between dictionaries of the same English variety.
The centered dots () in the example words below in each rule indicate potential end-ofline division points and not necessary syllabication. These division points are
determined by considerations of both morphology and pronunciation, among others.
Here a consistent approach has been pursued, both toward word division based on
traditional formulas and toward syllabication based on phonetic principles. When you
hyphenate a word hyphenate between syllables.
Hyphens (-) are used to separate syllables in pronunciation transcriptions. In actual
speech, of course, there is no pause between the syllables of a word. The placement of
hyphens is based on phonetic principles, such as vowel length, nasalization, variation
due to the position of a consonant in a syllable, and other nuances of the spoken word.
The syllable breaks shown in this text reflect the careful pronunciation of a single word
out of context. Syllabication tends to change in rapid or running speech: a consonant at
the end of a syllable may shift into a following syllable, and unstressed vowels may be
elided. The numerous variations in pronunciation that a word may have in running
speech are of interest to phoneticians but are well outside the scope of us.
As a result, the hyphens (-) indicating syllable breaks and the centered dots ()
indicating end-of-line division often do not fall in the same places.

Rule#1
Every syllable has one vowel sound.
Rule#2
The number of vowel sounds in a word equals the number of syllables.
home /hom/ = 1
subject /sb-kt/ = 2
publishing /p-bl-/ = 3
Rule #3
A one syllable word is never divided.
stop /st:p/
feet /fi:t/
bell /bl/
Rule#4
Consonant blends and digraphs are never separated.
resting /rs-t/ *
bushel /b-l/ *
reaching /ri:-t/ *
* In speech the words above, the /t/, //, /t/ are properly pronounced in the second
syllable.
Rule #5
When a word has a "ck" or an "x" in it, the word is usually divided after the "ck" or "x".
nickel /n-kl/ *
taxis /tk-siz/ **
* In speech the word nickel has the in the second syllable.
** The letter "x" in the word taxi has two sounds: /ks/. In speech the word taxi has the
sound /ks/ with /k/ in the first syllable and /s/ in the second syllable.
Rule #6
A compound word is divided between the two words that make the compound
word.
inside /n-sad/ or /n-sad/
football /ft-b:l/
toothbrush /tu:-br/
Rule #7

When two or more consonants come between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided
between the first two consonants.
sister /ss-t/
butter /b-t/
hungry /h-gri/
Rule #8
When a single consonant comes between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided
after the consonant if the vowel is short.
dragon /dr-gn/ *
canister /k-ns-t/ *
habit /h-bt/ *
* In speech the above words have the consonant sounds /g/, /n/, and /b/ in the second
syllable.
Rule #9
When a single consonant comes between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided
before the consonant if the vowel is long.
basin /be-sn .n/
fever /fi:-v/
major /me-/
Rule #10
When two vowels come together in a word, and are sounded separately, divided the
word between the two vowels.
diaspora /da-s-p-r/
diet /daj-t/
pronunciation /pr-nn-si-e-n/
Rule #11
When a vowel is sound alone in a word, it forms a syllable itself.
graduate /gr--wet/ *
education /--ke-n/ *
hiatus /ha-e-ts/
* In speech the words graduate and education, has the consonant "d" sound (//) in the
second syllable with the vowel "u".
Rule #12
A word that has a prefix is divided between the root word and the prefix.

discount /ds-kant/
misfit /ms-ft/
untie /n-ta/
Rule #13
When be, de, ex and re are at the beginning of a word, they make a syllable of their
ownn.
become /b-km/
defend /d-fnd/
exhale /eks-hel/
remain /r-men/
Rule #14
A world that has a suffix is divided between the root word and the suffix.
kindness /kand-ns/
thankful /k-fl/
stuffing /st-f/ *
* In speech the word stuffing has the consonant sounds /f/ in the second syllable.
Rule #15
When a word ends in le, preceded by a consonant, the word is divided before that
consonant.
purple /p-pl/
fumble /fm-bl/
middle /m-dl .l/
Rule #16
When -ed comes at the end of a word, it forms a syllable only when preceded by "d" or
"t".
funded /fn-dd/ *
started /st-td/ *
* In speech the above words have the consonant sounds /d/ and /t/ in the second
syllable with -ed.
Rule#17
When a word or syllable ends in al or el, these letters usually form the last syllable.
usual /ju:--wl/ or /ju:l/ or /ju:-wl/ *
level /l-vl/ *

* In speech the above words have the consonant sounds / / and /v/ in the second
syllable.
Rule #18
When ture and tion are at the end of a word, they make their own syllable.
posture /p:s-t/
lotion /lo-n/
Rule #19
When a word ends in ly, divide the word before the ending.
especially /s-p--li/
roughly /r-fli/ *
* In speech the word roughly has the consonant sounds /f/ in the second syllable.
Rule #20
When a word ends in the noun suffix ant preceded by a consonant or digraph, divide the
word before that consonant or digraph.
assistant /-ss-tnt/ *
attendant /-tn-dnt/ *
immigrant /-m-grnt/ *
* In speech the words above have silent the first consonant sounds /s/, /t/, and /m/ in the
first syllable.