How to find the syllables in a word
What is a syllable? | TheSchoolRun
Syllables explained for parents, including details of how primary-school children are taught to identify syllables to help them with spelling and reading and understanding poetry.
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What is a syllable?
A syllable is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken (or written) word. Syllables usually contain a vowel and accompanying consonants. Sometimes syllables are referred to as the ‘beats’ of spoken language.
Syllables differ from phonemes in that a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound; the number of syllables in a word is unrelated to the number of phonemes it contains. For example: /b/, /k/, /t/, /ch/, /sh/, /ee/, /ai/, /igh/, /ear/ are all phonemes. The word ‘chat’ is made up of three phonemes (/ch/ /a/ /t/). The word ‘light’ is made up of three phonemes (/l/ /igh/ /t/). However, both the words ‘chat’ and ‘light’ have only one syllable each.
The number of times you hear a vowel (a, e, i , o, u) in a word is equal to the number of syllables a word has. A good way to identify syllables is to think about whether you need to change your mouth shape to say the next bit of the word / the new syllable.
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Learning about syllables in primary school
Learning about syllables is part of learning how to decode and spell words. It helps children understand the conventions of English spelling, including when to double letters and how to pronounce the vowels in words they might not have seen before.
Teachers will often get children to clap out the syllables of a word, to help them to understand the concept. (A good game to introduce syllables is to ask each child to stand up and say their name, while clapping out the syllables.
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For example:
- Cat has one syllable (words of one syllable are monosyllabic)
- Water has two syllables (wa / ter)
- Computer has three syllables (com / pu / ter)
- Category has four syllables (cat / e / gor / y)
Syllables in KS1 English
Children in Key Stage 1 will be expected to read words of two syllables. They may be shown how to split the words up into syllables, in order to help them sound them out. For example: if they are shown the word ‘thunder’ and get stuck, a teach may cover the second half of the word (‘der’) and ask them to just sound out the first syllable. Once they have managed this, they uncover the rest of the word and ask them to sound this out.
Children in Key Stage 1 will also learn to spell words with two syllables, at which point they will be encouraged to separate the two syllables themselves, in order to learn the spelling of the whole word.
Syllables in KS2 English
During Key Stage 2, children will progress to learning the spellings of words containing four syllables (or possibly more). They also learn about the use of syllables in poetry.
Children may learn about syllables through writing haikus. A haiku is a Japanese poem with three lines, the first containing 5 syllables, the second containing 7 syllables and the third containing 5 syllables.
This is a haiku about a frog:
Wet amphibian,
Gulps, blinks and flicks out his tongue
To snatch a black fly.
Writing haikus encourages children to think about syllables, but also to think very carefully about their word choices – it may be that one word has too many syllables and does not fit, so they have to think of a new, similar word that fits the given criteria.
Another poetic form based on syllable number is the limerick (the first, second and fifth lines rhyme and have the same number of syllables, usually eight or nine).
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How to Count Syllables
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How to Count Syllables
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In the English language, spelling and pronunciation have a funny relationship. How we write a word and how we say it often do not agree.
There always seem to be exceptions to the rule.
Today our question is related to pronunciation. It comes from our reader Mastaneh:
Question:
How can we recognize the syllables in a word? Would you mind explaining the rules? Thank you. – Mastaneh
Answer:
Hi, Mastaneh!
Firstly, other readers may be wondering why they should learn about syllables. Understanding syllables helps a lot with pronunciation. As we speak, if we miss or add a syllable to a word, people may not be able to understand us.
When we say a word, the sounds we create naturally divide the word into parts. We call these parts “syllables.” For example, the word “machine” has two parts: ma-chine. The word “important” has three parts: im-por-tant.
The number of syllables in a word is decided by its number of vowel sounds. For example, in the word “machine,” there are two vowel sounds: (Ə) and (i).
The English language has up to 20 vowel sounds, so we will not talk about all of them today. But an easy way to identify vowels is that we make them with the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y.
It is important to know that one syllable can have more than one vowel letter. For example, the word “room” has two vowel letters: o and o. But together, they make only one vowel sound: (u:). This explains why “room” has only one syllable. We decide syllables by sound, not spelling.
In the clap method, you clap your hands each time you hear a vowel sound.How to count
Ok, here are two easy methods for counting syllables.
One that I like is the chin method. Here is how to do it: Rest your hand under your chin and say a word slowly. How many times does your chin drop onto your hand? That is the number of syllables.
Another is the clap method. To use it, say the word and clap your hands together each time you hear a vowel sound.
For example, take the word "autumn": au-tumn. That’s two vowel sounds, so it’s two syllables even though autumn has three vowel letters: a, u and u.
Now, let’s do something fun. Close your eyes and listen for the number of syllables in the following words. You can use the chin method, the clap method or just listen carefully:
flower
thought
teacher
broadcast
dreamed
vehicle
How many syllables did you get for each word? You can tell us in the comments area.
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Do you have a question for Ask a Teacher? Write to us in the comments area and be sure to tell us what country you are from.
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spelling – n. the act of forming words from letters
vowel – n. a letter (such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in English) that makes a specific sound
syllable – n.
any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced
chin – n. the part of the face below the mouth and above the neck
clap – n. to hit the palms of your hands together usually more than once
Dividing words into syllables online
The site slogi.su is the most convenient and fastest service for dividing any Russian words into syllables. The service can highlight syllables both in individual words and in the text. We do not have a ready-made dictionary of words with pre-selected syllables, we determine syllables in words automatically. This means that you can enter the word of the Russian language in any number, gender, case and any other form of declension of the word. In addition to the analysis, we give information on each selected syllable in a word - the type of syllable, the division rule. The division into syllables on the site is carried out taking into account the modern rules of the Russian language of the school curriculum (traditional school) and the program with in-depth study.
If there is a difference in the syllables of the two programs, explanations are given on the word page.
Syllables in a word Syllables in a text What is a syllable? Rules for highlighting words Examples of words
Select syllables in a word
To get the syllables in a word, enter the word below. The division is carried out according to the rules of the school curriculum and in-depth study of the Russian language. You can enter only one word and only in Russian letters. Foreign letters, numbers, spaces and other characters are not allowed.
Select syllables in the text
If you need to syllable all words in the text, use the form below. With the help of the form, it is convenient to bring the text of the song to the karaoke format, prepare a children's story for reading by syllables, break words into syllables for foreigners and for other useful needs.
Syllable
A syllable is the smallest unit of speech spoken. Syllables are formed only by vowels, so the number of syllables is equal to the number of vowels in a word.
Consonants "adjoin" one or another vowel in accordance with the rules of division into syllables that have developed in the course of the development of the Russian language. The syllable rules describe the correct way to parse words into syllables.
Syllables are: open and closed, covered and uncovered. An open syllable ends in a vowel, a closed syllable ends in a consonant. A covered syllable begins with a consonant, an uncovered syllable begins with a vowel.
Rules for syllable emphasis
General approaches to syllable emphasis in words for traditional and advanced learning are described below. For detailed materials with explanations and examples, see the rules for dividing words into syllables.
Traditional school
The main rule of the regular school curriculum, which the child is guided by: how many vowels, so many syllables. When transferring words, they are guided by the rules: we transfer the word by syllables, you cannot leave one letter on the line.
These rules are known to all.
When dividing a word into syllables, you can use the method of pushes: put your palm to your mouth and feel the pushes of air while pronouncing the word. Or we imagine a candle in front of us: how many times the flame sways, so many syllables. For some words with a flow of consonants, this option is not always suitable.
Different elementary schools have different principles for teaching syllable division. In some schools, they are taught to visually divide a word into parts - bundles of vowel + consonant (or vowel + several consonants). In other schools, they teach you to pronounce the word with pauses in a convenient way. Pauses also create places of division of syllables.
School of in-depth study
In schools of in-depth study of the Russian language and in the programs of institutes, cases are analyzed when words are transferred not by syllables, that is, the transfer syllable does not coincide with the phonetic syllable.
The division of a word into syllables occurs in such a way that the syllable is pronounced in ascending order: from a voiceless pronunciation to a voiced one. Therefore, syllables of several sounds always begin with a voiceless consonant and end with a vowel. For example: mail (but not mail), mo-shka (but not mosh-ka). A syllable may end in a voiced consonant (sonorant p, l, m, n), which sounds less voiced than a vowel, but louder than a voiceless consonant. For example: bul-ka, var-ka.
Examples of words
We select examples of words broken down into syllables according to various criteria that are most in demand among site visitors. Collections will help you quickly find the right words, rather than inventing and remembering them. Popular lists are words of 2-5 syllables and words with given syllables. Thanks to the collections, you can find examples of words by mask, which is useful when preparing homework, solving crossword puzzles, compiling wall newspapers and other educational and entertaining tasks.
By syllables
Words with
1 syllable2 syllables3 syllables4 syllables5 syllables6 syllables7 syllables8 syllables9 syllables
With syllables
Words with syllables:
do--doses--zhi--zik--cas--kos--kra--mer--they say--mor--nnost--great--pre--with--ren--ska--sli- -sol--tel--fi--cha--chik--chu--shi--scha--schik--schu-
Popular words
Most searched words: Russian → 17918, Russia → 17075, Moscow → 16410, apple → 15804, leaves → 15150, hedgehog → 14844, bear → 13439, monkey → 13139, alley → 13027, notebook → 12971, berry → 12476, anchor → 12305, harvest → 12234, student → 11854, snake → 10857.
After the words, the number of requests per year is indicated.
The most unusual combinations of syllables that our service has processed are collected on the page of interesting words. The result of division into syllables cannot always be used for hyphenation in a word, since other rules are used during hyphenation. You can learn the rules and check hyphenation on the word hyphenation website.
Rules for dividing words into syllables with examples
Let's list the rules for dividing words into syllables that are in textbooks and educational literature. The definition of a syllable in Russian, the types of syllables and general approaches to the selection of syllables in words are described on the main page of the site.
First, we note three important points.
- The division rules are different at school (traditional program) and at the institute (advanced program).
- Rules may vary from school to school.
- A phonetic syllable must be distinguished from a hyphenation syllable.
On our website, we make a reference to the Moscow Phonological School, in particular, we use the rules of a short theoretical course for schoolchildren Litnevskaya E.I. In addition, materials of the school with in-depth study of the Russian language, including philological faculties, are given.
Traditional school
Traditional school is simple.
How many vowels, so many syllables, and how the child divides, it doesn’t matter (as long as it sounds beautiful and the child understands). No matter how a student is taught to divide into syllables, this will not affect anywhere: neither the OGE, nor the Unified State Examination (there are no such tasks). We list three simple rules of the school curriculum.
- The syllable forms a vowel sound:
ste-na, bar-ran (s-tena, bara-n - wrong). - A syllable begins with a consonant before a vowel:
mo-lo-ko, ko-ra (they say-eye, kor-a - wrong). - The letters ь, ъ (which do not mean sounds), й cannot be separated from the previous syllable:
In a traditional school, variability is allowed: sun or sun, computer or computer.
School of in-depth study
In addition to the above three rules, there are additional rules in schools of in-depth study of the Russian language.
- Voiceless consonants go to the next syllable:
dot-ka, mo-shka (in the traditional school it is also true: dot-ka, mosh-ka).
- Voiced consonants ([й], [р], [р'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n']) followed by a noisy consonant depart to the previous syllable:
kor-ka, bul-ka (in the traditional school it is also true: kor-ka, bu-lka). - Consonants that form one sound cannot be separated into different syllables. One sound is formed by combinations of zzh [zh:], tsya, tsya [ts:].
u-e-reap, but-si-tsya, de-la-sya (in the traditional school it is also true: u-e-reap, but-sit-sya, de-la-sya). - Double consonants in the middle of a word refer to the following syllable:
classy, ho-kkey, te-nnis (in a traditional school it is also true: classy, hockey-kei, ten-nis).
The correct division is the one that corresponds to the rules listed. In a traditional school, any option can be considered correct.
Institute program
Syllables are divided according to ascending sonority. Each sound has a sonority from 1 to 4: 4 - vowels, 3 - sonorous, 2 - noisy voiced, 1 - noisy deaf.
