Teach Me the basics of syllables
Syllables: The Building Blocks of Words
We can divide the pronunciation of a word into units called syllables. There are words made of just one syllable, and longer words made of two or more syllables. For instance, the word dad has one syllable, father has two syllables and grandfather has three syllables.
Sounds: The Building Blocks of Syllables
Just as we can break down a word into syllables, we can similarly break down syllables into sounds. To put it another way, sounds are the building blocks of syllables.
The shortest syllable has only one building block, i.e. one sound and that sound will always be a vowel sound. The vowel sound is the core of the syllable. For instance, the word eye /aɪ/ has one syllable and that syllable is just one vowel sound long.
Syllables Longer than One Vowel Sound
The vowel sound of a syllable may have a consonant before it (CV), a consonant after it (VC) or have one consonant preceding it and one following it at the same time (CVC).
Look at the table for examples of such words. For the sake of simplicity only one-syllable words were used this time. (Tip: Always listen to the audio and repeat multiple times.)
CV
|
VC
|
CVC
|
do /du/
|
of /əv/
|
pen /pen/
|
key /kiː/
|
ape /eɪp/
|
cook /kʊk/
|
high /haɪ/
|
eat /iːt/
|
rice /raɪs/
|
know /nəʊ/
|
eight /eɪt/
|
weight /weɪt/
|
Of course, the vowel sound can be preceded, followed or surrounded by more than one consonant, as follows:
CCV
|
VCC
|
CCVC / CVCC
|
ski /skiː/
|
act /ækt/
|
great /ɡreɪt/
|
throw /θrəʊ/
|
elk /elk/
|
twist /twɪst/
|
W, Y and R: Consonant or Vowel sounds?
You shouldn't confuse letters with sounds!
As it was explained in Lesson 01, one word may have fewer sounds when pronounced than has letters in writing. Also, letters usually don't correspond to the same sounds.
For example, the letters W and Y sometimes correspond to a consonant sound and sometimes to a vowel sound. More specifically, W and Y are usually considered to be consonant sounds, as in the words witch and yacht.
That is except for when W and Y come after a vowel sound; then they sound as part of the vowel sound, as in the words saw and say.
The same applies to the letter R. In general it has a consonant sound, as in carrot, but when it comes after a vowel sound it's pronounced as an extension of that vowel, as in car or arm.
The Syllables in Writing and in Pronunciation
In writing, most people would divide the word restaurant into three parts or syllables, like this: re-stau-rant. But when we read the word (in British English), we pronounce only two syllables, /ˈrest.rɒnt/. (There is a dot in the middle to separate the two syllables).
Indeed, many words are pronounced with fewer syllables than in writing. Listen to the following examples. Mind the dots separating the syllables.
Word
|
Pronunciation
|
Syllables
|
vegetable
|
ˈvedʒ.təbl
|
2
|
chocolate
|
ˈtʃɒk.lət
|
2
|
interesting
|
ˈɪn.trə.stɪŋ
|
3
|
different
|
ˈdɪf.rənt
|
2
|
lovely
|
ˈlʌv.li
|
2
|
Wednesday
|
ˈwenz.deɪ
|
2
|
