syllable
Rhythmic speech unit
A syllable is a unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted sound, typically containing a vowel with or without surrounding consonants.
Words break into syllables: "cat" has one, "kitten" has two, "syllable" has three.
Syllables determine rhythm in speech and poetry, and they guide where words can be hyphenated in writing.
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- vowelUnobstructed speech sound
- consonantIn agreement with
- diphthongComplex vowel gliding between positions
- articulationClear vocal expression
pronunciation · stress · accent · intonation · tone · pitch · onset · coda
Study of verse rhythm
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- iambicVerse rhythm type
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
- dactylicThree-beat poetic meter
anapestic · spondee · pentameter · tetrameter · trimeter · hexameter · foot · stressed
Clarity of spoken words
- dictionChoice of words
- utteranceSpoken expression aloud
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
- articulationClear vocal expression
accent · inflection · stammer · stutter · clarity · drawl · clipping · hyphenation
Rhythmic pulse or strike
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- tempoRate of musical performance
- pulseArterial blood throb
- flowUnbroken forward movement
pattern · timing · emphasis · syncopation · lilt · pace · regularity · modulation
Distinct part of whole
- unitIndividual part or measure
- partPiece of whole
- divisionSplitting into parts
- componentElement of a system
onset · nucleus · coda · rime · cluster · building block · trisyllable
Metered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- haikuJapanese seventeen-syllable verse
- limerickComedic five-line poem
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
ballad · couplet · quatrain · rhyme · ode · elegy · epic · lyric
Writing using sound-units
- kanaJapanese phonetic writing system
- hiraganaJapanese phonetic alphabet
- katakanaJapanese phonetic writing system
- Cherokee syllabaryScript for a tribal language
mora · script · character · writing system
Correct letter sequence
- readingInterpreting written text
- phonicsSound-based reading instruction
- literacyAbility to read, write
- decodingExtracting meaning from symbols
sounding out · blending · segmenting · instruction · early reading · fluency
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- vowelUnobstructed speech sound
- consonantIn agreement with
- diphthongComplex vowel gliding between positions
articulation · pronunciation · stress · accent · intonation · tone · pitch · onset · coda · nucleus
prosody
Study of verse rhythm
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- iambicVerse rhythm type
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
dactylic · anapestic · spondee · pentameter · tetrameter · trimeter · hexameter · foot · stressed · unstressed
enunciation
Clarity of spoken words
- dictionChoice of words
- utteranceSpoken expression aloud
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
articulation · accent · inflection · stammer · stutter · clarity · drawl · clipping · hyphenation · word break
beat
Rhythmic pulse or strike
flow · pattern · timing · emphasis · syncopation · lilt · pace · regularity · modulation · swing
segment
Distinct part of whole
component · onset · nucleus · coda · rime · cluster · building block · trisyllable
verse
Metered poetic passage
sonnet · ballad · couplet · quatrain · rhyme · ode · elegy · epic · lyric · blank verse
syllabary
Writing using sound-units
- kanaJapanese phonetic writing system
- hiraganaJapanese phonetic alphabet
- katakanaJapanese phonetic writing system
Cherokee syllabary · mora · script · character · writing system
spelling
Correct letter sequence
- readingInterpreting written text
- phonicsSound-based reading instruction
- literacyAbility to read, write
decoding · sounding out · blending · segmenting · instruction · early reading · fluency
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
- speech or wordsnoun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun
- spoken languagespeech, spoken word, pronunciation, accent, dialect
- linguisticslinguistics, phoneme, phonemes, morpheme, morphemes
- linguistics termssynonym, antonym, homonym, grammar, phonetics
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- stressed syllableEmphasized unit of speech
- two syllables
- one syllable
- three syllables
- unstressed syllableUnaccented unit of speech
- syllabus weekInitial class sessions, light workload
bisyllabic, syllabus, syllables, syllabic, monosyllabic, polysyllabic, monosyllable, syllabled, disyllable