When two words are divided into its component sounds, called syllables, this process is called Syllabication. Syllabication is used and is necessary in pronunciation of words.
What are syllables and consonants?
A syllable is a unit of sound. It can be a vowel, or vowels combined with one or more consonants. A consonant is a basic speech letter of the alphabet that represents a sound produced by obstructing the breath in the vocal tract. Other than A, E, I, O, and U (called vowels) all the other alphabets are known as consonants.
For example:
- T is pronounced using the front part of the tongue.
- K is pronounced using the back part tongue.
- B is pronounced using the lips
- H is pronounced in the throat
- F is pronounced by forcing air through a narrow gap
- M is pronounced using the nasal passage.
Rules of Syllabication:
Many students find it difficult to remember the syllabication process. There are rules that help in this process. The rules are as follow:
1. Every syllable involves one vowel sound
- Recognize it. For example the word amazement has three syllables and therefore three vowel sounds, while the word flat has one only one syllable and therefore only one vowel sound.
- Don’t forget to ignore the silent vowels in this rule. For example the word Age has “e” silent so it has one vowel (i.e. A) and therefore one syllable.
- Also in some words which has two vowels next to each other sometimes can represent two separate vowel sounds, as in chaos (with its two syllables “cha-” and “-os”). But in other situations the two vowels next to one another can make a single vowel sound, as in boat, which only has one syllable.
- There are no syllables in English that do not involve a vowel sound.
2. Divide doubled consonants in the middle to form syllables.
- When there two consonants in a row that are surrounded by vowels, then divide the doubled consonants in two parts to create proper syllabication. For example let-ter, mar-ble, plas-ma, and Eas-ter.
- There are exceptions to this rule that include consonant digraphs only, which are single sounds represented by two consonants. Common consonant digraphs include the sh, ph, th, wr, wh, ck, ng, and ch sounds. These should be treated like a single consonant and should not be divided further. For example, In word rather, the correct division is rath-er, not rat-her.
3. Divide words with single consonants sandwiched between vowels before the consonant.
- This rule does not apply to all words, but it will work for more than half of the words. Therefore try this method first. For example, if you come across words such as ti-ger or fi-ber, the syllable division comes before the middle consonant. That beginning sound will be a longer vowel sound instead of a shorter vowel sound.
4. Memorize important English bound morphemes.
- A bound morpheme is a part of a word that cannot stand alone as a word but that has a self-contained meaning. For example, the English prefix non- meaning a negation. The English syllable -er meaning comparison. These morphemes usually have the ability to stand alone as their own syllables during syllabication. Memorizing these morphemes will help you learn the syllabication process easier. Common bound morphemes include: un-, non-, pre-, post-, -ing, -ed, -er, -est, and -less.
5. Memorize the special rule about -le words.
- Words that have a consonant plus the letters -le at the end have special rules regarding syllabication. These words are divided just before the consonant before le. For example, we can divide bubble as bub-ble; maple as ma-ple; and purple as pur-ple.
- However there is an exception to this rule which is that when the -le is preceded by the ck digraph. These words are divided just before the -le. For example, pickle should be divided into pick-le; buckle should be divided into buck-le; etc.
6. Division of compound words in-between the two base words.
- Compound words are words that includes two separate words, each with a different meaning. For example, cupcake, and wallpaper are compound words. Be sure that you divide compound words in between their base components: cup-cake; wall-paper.
Examples of Syllabication of Words
| Words | After syllabication | Words | After syllabication |
| Table | Ta-ble | Wallpaper | Wall-paper |
| Basket | Bas-ket | Raincoat | Rain-coat |
| Diet | Di-et | Snowman | Snow-man |
| Teacher | Teach-er | Earring | Ear-ring |
| Pickle | Pick-le | Weather | Weath-er |
| Elephant | El – e – phant | Tiger | Ti-ger |
| Apple | Ap-ple | Control | Con-trol |
| Contrast | Con-trast | Ballroom | Ball-room |
Keep exploring English to learn about important phonics concepts and find worksheets to help you teach your kids.