For basic understanding of knowing what syllable is. Always use phonetic transcription(produce/ articulate the sounds in the word) to mark or identify syllables.

1. Syllable
syl-la-ble
/si-lə-bl/

2. Syllable
Syllable is the next
higher unit than the
phoneme. MAN-/mæn/
Phoneme is a minimal
contrastive unit of
sound. /m/,/æ /,/n/

3. Count the syllables in a word
A word consists of ONE
(Monosyllable) or MORE than ONE
syllable (Polysyllable)
E.g. RAT- /ræt/ one syllable
(Monosyllable)
REDEEM- / rɪ-di:m /-two syllables
(Disyllable)
HUMANIST- /hju-mə-nist / three
syllables (Trisyllable)

4. Are they Monosyllabic or
Polysyllabic?
Cat catch car
categorical casting
Boar beard beginning
bargain batch

5. Components of a syllable
Syllable
ONSET
RIME
(Releasing Consonant)
CONSONANT
NUCLEUS
CODA
(Arresting Consonant)

6. Components of a syllable with
EXAMPLE
Syllable
BAT /bæt/
ONSET
RIME
/æt/
(Releasing Consonant)
/b/
CONSONANT
/b/
NUCLEUS
/æ/
CODA
(Arresting Consonant)
/t/

7. Identify the onset in the
following syllables
/si:t/ - seat
/def/ - deaf
/ti:/ - tea
/spi:k/ - speak
/lɔs/ - loss
Hint– Consonant(s) that begins the
syllable is ONSET.
Consonants in a syllable are OPTIONAL.

8. Identify the NUCLEUS
/sti:l/ - steal
/pet/ - pet
/kɔf/ - cough
/slæk/- slack
Hint– Nucleus is the VOWEL.
Nucleus is MANDATORY.

9. Find the coda.
Note: Some syllables don’t have
coda
/ri:d/ -read
/ski:/- ski
/θred/ - thread
/θri:/ - three
/spred/ - spread
/ki:/ -key

10. Syllabic Consonants
/n/ /l/ /m/
Nucleus of some syllables are
occupied by certain
consonants which function like
vowels.
button /bʌtn/ /bʌ-tn/
bottle /bɔtl/ /bɔ-tl/
rhythm /riðm/ /ri-ðm/

11. Syllabic Structure
CCC V CCCC or C 0-3 V C 0-4
No. of Consonants
Beginning of a syllable (ONSET)
Middle of a syllable
(NUCLEUS- only one vowel)
End of a syllable (CODA)
0–3
0
0-4

12. Types of Syllables
Structure
V
VC
CVC
CCCV
CCCVCC
CVCCCC
E.g.
I
all
girl
straw
sprained
tempts
/ai/
/ɔ:l/
/gɜ:l/
/strɔ:/
/spreind/
/tempts/

13. Identify the structure of the
following syllables
/a:sk/ -ask
/reinz/ -rains
/stʌnts/ -stunts
/twelfθs/ -twelfths
/snæks/ -snacks

14. Consonant Clusters
CCC in the beginning or
CCCC in the end of a
syllable occurring together.
/trʌnks/ -/tr/,/nks/

15. Abutting Consonants
Send-/send/ number -/nʌm-bə/
/nd/ in send and /mb/ in number
Consonants which occur together in a
word but form part of two different
syllables.

16. θænk jʊ