Lexic.us

Definition of Syllable

1. Noun. A unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme. "The word `pocket' has two syllables"

Definition of Syllable

1. n. An elementary sound, or a combination of elementary sounds, uttered together, or with a single effort or impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or a part of a word. In other terms, it is a vowel or a diphtong, either by itself or flanked by one or more consonants, the whole produced by a single impulse or utterance. One of the liquids, l, m, n, may fill the place of a vowel in a syllable. Adjoining syllables in a word or phrase need not to be marked off by a pause, but only by such an abatement and renewal, or reënforcement, of the stress as to give the feeling of separate impulses. See Guide to Pronunciation, §275.

2. v. t. To pronounce the syllables of; to utter; to articulate.

Definition of Syllable

1. Noun. (linguistics) A unit of human speech that is interpreted by the listener as a single sound, although syllables usually consist of one or more vowel sounds, either alone or combined with the sound of one or more consonants; a word consists of one or more syllables. ¹

2. Noun. The written representation of a given pronounced syllable. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive poetic) To utter in syllables. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Syllable

1. to pronounce syllables (units of spoken language) [v -BLED, -BLING, -BLES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Syllable

Literary usage of Syllable

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1891)
"II. long syllable, which is called KVK\OS. Westphal, however, has shown that the passages in Dionysius cannot be used in support of the so-called ..."

2. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"1134 (first line of right page), third syllable of ... A climacus occurs on the second syllable of docente (fourth line) being followed by an ..."

3. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"As in English a single consonantal sound between vowels belongs after a long vowel or diphthong to the following syllable, which is uniformly dynamic, ..."

4. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1913)
"correct position,2 received a score of one, and the syllable received an extra score of one for being in the correct position. Thus a perfect syllable in ..."

5. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar by Wilhelm Gesenius (1859)
"The sign (т) as short ö in an open syllable is far less frequent, and belongs to the ... This last can occur only under a consonant closing the syllable, ..."

6. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1891)
"II. long syllable, which is called KVK\OS. Westphal, however, has shown that the passages in Dionysius cannot be used in support of the so-called ..."

7. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"1134 (first line of right page), third syllable of ... A climacus occurs on the second syllable of docente (fourth line) being followed by an ..."

8. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"As in English a single consonantal sound between vowels belongs after a long vowel or diphthong to the following syllable, which is uniformly dynamic, ..."

9. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1913)
"correct position,2 received a score of one, and the syllable received an extra score of one for being in the correct position. Thus a perfect syllable in ..."

10. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar by Wilhelm Gesenius (1859)
"The sign (т) as short ö in an open syllable is far less frequent, and belongs to the ... This last can occur only under a consonant closing the syllable, ..."

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