Syllabication: single vowel sound

 

Single vowel sound

To count the number of syllables in words, we begin with the definition of the syllable. By definition, a syllable is a part of a word that contains a single vowel sound and that is pronounced as a unit. This definition can be adopted universally, but as we examined in the previous section, languages can differ on what counts as a single vowel sound or on the sound that is pronounced as a unit. Here we learn the conception of the syllable proper to English. 

 

The core in the definition of the syllable is the single vowel sound. So, what is a single vowel sound? Consider the word ‘idea,’ which is pronounced /aɪdiə/. There are four distinct vowel sounds, but the word is a three-syllable word. The reason is that the first two vowel sounds /aɪ/ make only one syllable because the vowel is a special vowel, called a diphthong. In English, a diphthong is a vowel sound that has two perceived auditory vowel qualities, but is a phoneme. A phoneme is like an atom in chemistry, the smallest sound unit that cannot be divided any further. As a phoneme, a diphthong is always viewed as a ‘single vowel sound,’ making one syllable. American English has 5 diphthongs. The remaining vowel sounds of ‘idea,’ that is, /iə/, are two vowel phonemes, /i/ and /ə/, each making its own syllable. These vowels are called monophthongs, which means a vowel sound that has one perceived auditory vowel quality. American English has 10 monophthongs. So, when English people say ‘a single vowel sound’ they mean a vowel phoneme sound. In other words, the number of syllables of a word equals the number of vowel phoneme sounds. Consequently, to count syllables in the English way, we need to know the vowel phonemes of English. 


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