Syllabification

Question

Could someone give me some tips in working out where the syllables of a word begin and end ?
After sounding them out, here is how I break up some words into syllables, but I'm not totally sure:
In-vis-i-ble (in-vi-si-ble ?)
Trai-ning (train-ing ?)
Cu-rry (curr-y ?)
Can there be more than one valid way of dividing a word into syllables ?

Thanks,
David F

Usenet · Accepted Answer

David Fisher schrieb:
[nq:1]Could someone give me some tips in working out where the syllables of a word begin and end ?[/nq]
Tip: use a dictionary!
[nq:1]After sounding them out, here is how I break up some words into syllables, but I'm not totally sure:[/nq]
By my Merriam-Webster NED (B&L):
[nq:1]In-vis-i-ble (in-vi-si-ble ?)[/nq]
in-vis-i-ble
[nq:1]Trai-ning (train-ing ?)[/nq]
train-ing
[nq:1]Cu-rry (curr-y ?)[/nq]
cur-ry
[nq:1]Can there be more than one valid way of dividing a word into syllables ?[/nq]
Words are usually broken up by their etymologic roots (into units of meaning), with an extra rule for double consonants. This leaves little choice in the matter.
Cheers
Michael

Still an attentive ear he lent Her speech hath caused this pain But could not fathom what she meant Easier I count it to explain She was not deep, nor eloquent. The jargon of the howling main from Lewis Carroll: The Three Usenet Trolls

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Could someone give me some tips in working out where the syllables of a word begin and end ? After ... break up some words into syllables, but I'm not totally sure: In-vis-i-ble (in-vi-si-ble ?) Trai-ning (train-ing ?) Cu-rry (curr-y ?)[/nq]
Dear David,
You might have more luck posting this question on sci.lang (though I've found that the people who live there are mealy-mouthed).

As I understand it (and I might very very easily be wrong), there are many definitions of "syllable". If you just type "What is a syllable?" into Google, you'll get at least a dozen general definitions, and presumably these will divide into subgroupings. So if it's true that there's many accepted definitions, then your first question is dependent on the definition you choose, and, assuming you're not operating under the constraints of a particular definition, the answer to your second question is "Yes".
How I've usually gone about this...
I'd divide your words like this:
* invisible: in vi si ble
* training: trai ning
* curry: cu rry
My background is in classics, and I've most often identified syllables for the purposes of Latin metre. The process I've been taught (though, let me say again, this is just according to a particular definition) is something like:
Syllables are to do with sounds, and nothing to do with, for instance, etymology or morphology. Also, the focus is on the sound, not the spelling, so when I write "consonant" here, I'm not talking about individual letters.
Note that English spelling is misleading. When you're looking for the vowels and consonants, your ear should guide you rather than the spelling. For instance, the "ng" in "sing" is a single nasal consonant. The "ble" in "invisible" is a consonant+vowel+consonant. Look at the entire utterance rather than just the word. For instance, "That I did" would divide into "Tha ti did" (the "t" would carry over to the next vowel), assuming that the phrase was spoken without pause.
Usually, when you change vowel sounds, you change syllable. But it's also a question of temporal length, duration. A vowel+vowel combination will sometimes count as two syllables.
If you get consonant+vowel at the start of an utterance, treat the consonant as belonging to the first syllable of that utterance rather than to the previous utterance.
If, within an utterance, you get a stream of vowels and consonants VCVCVCV divide the syllables so that the consonants belong to the vowels following them, rather than to the preceding vowels. Divide CVCVC as CV CVC rather than CVC VC.
But if you get CVC at the end of a line, the final consonant has to belong to the final syllable of the utterance rather than to the next utterance.
If you get a double consonant, then, in general, divide the syllables so that the syllabic break falls between the consonants. For instance, divide CVCCVC as CVC CVC rather than CV CCVC. However, liquids (Rs and Ls) are an exception. If you get CVCLVC, divide this as CV CLVC. For instance, "I grimaced" would divide as "I gri maced" rather than "Ig ri maced".
And there is an exception to this exception. If you have a double consonant combination, and the second consonant is a liquid, and the first consonant is the same liquid, then divide as CVL LVC. But make sure that the double liquid is there in the sound, not just in the spelling. (For instance, the words "curry" and "spelling" only have single liquid sounds.) "Shell likes shells" would divide as "Shell like sshells" rather than "She lllike sshells". ==
Regards,
VI
http://kenm.mydeardiary.com/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"Shell likes shells" would divide as "Shell like sshells" rather than "She lllike sshells".[/nq]
Sorry... If can follow my dodgy notation, this should divide as "Shell likes shells" rather than "Shell like sshells". The "s" at the end of "like" and the "sh" at the beginning of "shells" are separate consonants, and the syllabic break should fall between them. ==
Regards,
VI
http://kenm.mydeardiary.com/

Usenet · Answer

(Email Removed) schrieb:
[nq:2]Could someone give me some tips in working out where ... sure: In-vis-i-ble (in-vi-si-ble ?) Trai-ning (train-ing ?) Cu-rry (curr-y ?)[/nq]
[nq:1]How I've usually gone about this...[/nq]
... reminds me a lot of how words are broken up in singing.
[nq:1]I'd divide your words like this: * invisible: in vi si ble * training: trai ning * curry: cu rry My background is in classics, and I've most often identified syllables for the purposes of Latin metre.[/nq]
I thought for Latin metre, mainly the vowels counted (but then I'm an amateur at this).
Your way of breaking the words into syllables reminds me of singing (note the parallel to the "singing", i.e. pitched, Greek sentence melody) where you hold a note on the vowel sound and lump all consonants together in the time between notes. The syllable "in" is singable because you can sing "n", and but for the end syllables, you usually opt to end a syllable on a vowel.
Cheers
Michael

Still an attentive ear he lent Her speech hath caused this pain But could not fathom what she meant Easier I count it to explain She was not deep, nor eloquent. The jargon of the howling main from Lewis Carroll: The Three Usenet Trolls

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Could someone give me some tips in working out where the syllables of a word begin and end ?[/nq]
VI replied:
[nq:1]As I understand it (and I might very very easily be wrong), there are many definitions of "syllable" ...(snip) How I've usually gone about this...(snip rules)[/nq]
Thank you ! That was very helpful ...
David F

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]David Fisher schrieb:[/nq]
[nq:2]Could someone give me some tips in working out where the syllablesof a word begin and end ?[/nq]
[nq:1]Tip: use a dictionary![/nq]
Good suggestion. I wrote some software for
hyphenation. 18K of rules and 22K of exceptions.
GFH

Usenet · Answer

Hi David,A few more notes on this... I've started a thread in sci.lang called "Division of syllables". There's a couple of different responses there. Some treated the division of syllables as a sort of arbitrary, conventional thing, though there are usually reasons for the convention (for instance, one person noted that some languages have only CV syllables, but no languages have only VC syllables). Others (the majority I think) treat syllables as a matter of...

well, sort of "prominence" in a continuous stream of sound, the general idea being, I suppose, that each syllable corresponds to a renewed effort in sound production. For instance, one person remarked that, in the word "pop", the initial "p" sound is different from the final "p" sound, so if you had a "p" that was more like the former than the latter, you would be more inclined to treat the "p" sound as the start of a syllable.

Almost everyone talked about syllables in the context of individual words, not of groupings of words, though one person remarked that "linking" does happen in English.
So how to mark things into syllables in English?... I think the main approach implied in the sci.lang thread is to listen to the way you naturally speak and to pay close attention to the degrees of prominence of the consonant sounds.
==
Regards,
VI
http://kenm.mydeardiary.com/

Syllabification

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions