syllables

IPA/ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/
KK[sˈɪləbəlz]IPA/ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/

syllables — noun

  • syllablessingular
  • syllablesesplural

1. any of the small sound groups that a word breaks into during speech, each group

1.名詞B1
釋義

any of the small sound groups that a word breaks into during speech, each group built around a single vowel sound (such as 'a' in 'a-go') or a vowel-like consonant (such as 'm' in 'rhythm')

例句

The short word 'banana' has three syllables that you can hear when spoken slowly.

examples of syllable division

Nora struggled to pronounce the last syllable of the Polish place name correctly.

pronunciation context

同義詞
  • phoneme

    a smaller unit — a single speech sound like /b/ or /t/, not a group of sounds like a syllable

  • mora

    a specialist term in linguistics for a timing unit smaller than a syllable, used mainly for languages like Japanese

用法筆記

Frequently used with a number (one syllable, two syllables) or with ordinal adjectives (first syllable, final syllable). A syllable always contains a vowel sound, but a single vowel sound can form a whole syllable by itself (e.g. the 'a' in 'ago').

常見錯誤

❌The word 'bread' has five syllables' (counting the two vowel letters).
✅The word 'bread' has one syllable.
💡syllables are about spoken vowel sounds, not written vowel letters.
❌A syllable is the same as a letter.
✅A syllable is a unit of spoken sound, while a letter is a written symbol.
💡letters and syllables are different concepts; a single syllable can be written with several letters (e.g. 'night').