Syllable Definition | What is Syllable? - PoetrySoup

Disyllables have two syllables in a foot.

Example

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[n] a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme; "the word `pocket' has two syllables"

A unit of pronunciation making up a word. For example, the word 'badger' consists of two syllables 'bad' and 'ger'. In English, syllables can be defined as either stressed (long) or unstressed (short). See meter.

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antepenult, antepenultimate, language unit, linguistic unit, penult, penultima, penultimate, reduplication, solfa syllable, word

Technique used in both traditional metrical verse forms (see meter) and in Japanese inspired forms such as haiku or tanka.  In traditional metrical forms the counting is based on the regular patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. In Japanese forms, the syllable count is based solely on the total number of syllables. Some modern poets such as Marianne Moore and Peter Reading have used this second type of syllable counting to give their work intricate structures. 

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Tetrasyllables have four syllables in a foot.

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Trisyllables have two syllables in a foot.

Example

N/A

[n] a word or utterance of one syllable

(or monosyllabic) - words with one syllable

Example

Dog

Synonyms

monosyllabic word

See Also...

word

Related Terms

antonym, articulation, expression, free form, homograph, homonym, homophone, lexeme, linguistic form, locution, logos, metonym, minimum free form, polysyllable, syllable, synonym, term, usage, utterance, verbalism, verbum, vocable, word

[n] a word having three syllables

(or trisyllabic) - words with three syllables

Example

Poetry

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word

[n] a word of more than three syllables

(or polysyllabic) - words with four or more syllables

Example

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Synonyms

polysyllabic word

See Also...

jawbreaker, sesquipedalia, sesquipedalian, word

Related Terms

antonym, articulation, expression, free form, grandiloquence, hard word, homograph, homonym, homophone, jawbreaker, lexeme, lexiphanicism, linguistic form, locution, logos, long word, metonym, minimum free form, monosyllable, sesquipedalian, syllable, syn

Closed syllables are syllables that have at least one consonant following the vowel. The most common closed syllable is the CVC syllable.

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Open syllables are syllables that end in a vowel. The most common open syllable is the CV syllable.

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