SYLLABLES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

A PROJECT IN CC 124

ENGLISH PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY

Submitted by:

GROUP 9 (AB-ELS 1A)

Abdul, Vanessa

Belandres, Rochell Ann J.

Carubio, Grando

Leuterio, Glarissa D.

Submitted to:

Dr. Luiscel Teofi Cabico

 Syllables in English Language

I Introduction:

A syllable is one or more letters representing a unit of spoken language

consisting of a single uninterrupted sound (Nordquist, 2019). A word can have one,
two, three or more syllables. Syllables are important because they influence the way
we pronounce words and help when you are triyng to read English. Being able to
recognize and count the number of syllables in a word is a foundation skill for
success in reading and spelling (Eide, 2014).

II Discussion:

A syllable is formed as the mouth opens to say vowels and closes to say
consonants. This act of opening and closing creates the rhythm in words. Every
syllable must have a vowel, and every vowel makes a syllable. This means that the
number of vowels in a word is equal to the number of syllables. It is the vowel that
forms the syllable; syllables do not need to include a consonant. Syllables may, of
course, include one or more consonants at the beginning or end, but a vowel can
form a whole syllable on its own (Eide, 2014).

English words are pronounced as a group of syllables – a sylllable is a group

of letters spoken as a single sound. Thus, in an English word, letters group together
to form a syllable (syllable = 1 sound) and syllables join together to form a word.
For example, in “English”, there are two syllables: Eng-lish. Similarly, think of other
words: Super (su-per), pronunciation (pro-nun-ci-a-tion), dictation (dic-ta-tion),
elephant (e-le-phant). It is simple enough – we don’t pronounce individual lettersin
English, we pronounce syllables which are nothing but a group of letters spoken as a
one sound (Improve Pronunciation through the Right Use of Syllables, n.d.).
III Conclusion:

In conclusion, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound,

with or without sorrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of the word.
Syllable is a critical aspect of English pronunciaton. Unless we understand syllables,
we will continue to make mistakes in word stress and pronunciation.

References:

1. Nordquist, R. (2019, January 20). What Is a Syllable in the English

Language?. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/syllable-definition-
1692165

2. Eide, D. (2014, July 23). Understanding and Counting Syllables.

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3. Improve Pronunciation through the Right Use of Syllables. (n.d.).

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