Syllable facts for kids

A syllable is a basic sound unit in a word. When you say a word, you often break it into these smaller parts. Think of it as a single burst of sound you make without stopping. Every word, no matter how short or long, has at least one syllable.

How a syllable can be broken down into parts like the body and coda.

Words can have different numbers of syllables.

• Monosyllables are words with only one syllable, like "cat" or "run."
• Polysyllables are words with more than one syllable, such as "basket" (two syllables) or "computer" (three syllables).

What are Open and Closed Syllables?

Syllables can be described as either "open" or "closed," depending on how they end.

• An open syllable ends with a vowel sound. For example, the "py" in "happy" (Hap-py) is an open syllable.
• A closed syllable ends with a consonant sound. The "hap" in "happy" (Hap-py) is a closed syllable.

We can use "C" for consonant sounds and "V" for vowel sounds to show syllable patterns.

• An open syllable often looks like CV (Consonant-Vowel).
• A closed syllable often looks like CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant).

It's important to remember that these C and V patterns refer to sounds, not always to the letters themselves. For example, "th" in English is one consonant sound, even though it's two letters.

Examples of Syllables in English Words

Let's look at some common English words and break them down by their syllables and sound patterns.

One-Syllable Words:

• Cat (CVC) - Ends with a consonant, so it's a closed syllable.
• House (CVC) - Ends with a consonant, a closed syllable.
• The (CV) - Ends with a vowel sound, an open syllable.
• Like (CVC) - Ends with a consonant, a closed syllable.
• Run (CVC) - Ends with a consonant, a closed syllable.

Two or More Syllable Words:

• Basket (2 syllables: Bas-ket; CVC-CVC)
• Doctor (2 syllables: Doc-tor; CVC-CVC)
• Happy (2 syllables: Hap-py; CVC-CV)
• Computer (3 syllables: Com-pu-ter; CVC-CCV-CVC) - The "pu" part sounds like "pyuu," which is a consonant-consonant-vowel sound.
• Merciful (3 syllables: Mer-ci-ful; CVC-CV-CVC)
• Pronunciation (5 syllables: Pro-nun-ci-a-tion; CCV-CVC-CV-V-CVC)

What is a Syllabary?

Some languages don't use an alphabet where each letter stands for a single sound. Instead, their writing systems use signs that represent entire syllables. A writing system like this is called a syllabary.

A good example is the Japanese language, which uses a syllabary called Kana. In Kana, each symbol stands for a syllable, like "ka," "ki," "ku," "ke," "ko," rather than just a single letter like "k" or "a."

See also

In Spanish: Sílaba para niños