[General] How to split syllables in the word?

[Williamyh]

Hi Everybody,

I always have my own way to split the syllables in the word. But I have difficulty when telling people how to use the proper way to split them. Even I use the dictionary (e.g. longman dictionary of contemporery english) which does not tell us how to split the syllables. For example, "Bedroom", we should say "Bed room" or "Bed droom", "Ticket" should pronounce "Tick et" or "Tick ket"...so on and so on. Please advise. Thanks.

WYH

[Linguist__]

Originally Posted by Williamyh

Hi Everybody,

I always have my own way to split the syllables in the word. But I have difficulty when telling people how to use the proper way to split them. Even I use the dictionary (e.g. longman dictionary of contemporery english) which does not tell us how to split the syllables. For example, "Bedroom", we should say "Bed room" or "Bed droom", "Ticket" should pronounce "Tick et" or "Tick ket"...so on and so on. Please advise. Thanks.

WYH

The 'ticket' example is fairly straightforward - it is pronounced 'tick et'. No one pronounces the /k/ twice - 'tick ket'.

Bedroom is more complicated, and I think it is more a personal thing than a set rule. I would say 'Be droom' - to me the 'd' and 'r' are closely pronounced in a sort of affricated way, and I don't say the word like bed + room.

Generally, in syllabification of English, you want to have a consonant starting a syllable. So, in a word like 'walking' it would be 'wa(l) king', not 'walk ing'. I put the 'l' in brackets because it isn't pronounced.

Also, remember that syllables aren't really describable by their nature. It's an abstract concept that humans can measure with some ease, but instrumental analysis can't. Linguists don't really agree what makes a syllable a syllable - just that vowels are important.

Apart from helping children/adults with word finding difficulties, writing poetry/lyrics, and analysing speech sounds, I never really see any practical use for splitting words into syllables.

I know, for example, in Portuguese, syllables are counted considerably differently than in English.

[pennyy]

In syllabification, I think onsets are generally preferred to codas. So 'ticket' should be syllabified as /tI-ket/. 'bedroom' is not as straightforward as it is a compound noun. But if onsets are preferred, shouldn't it be pronounced /be-droom/?

[Linguist__]

Originally Posted by pennyy

In syllabification, I think onsets are generally preferred to codas. So 'ticket' should be syllabified as /tI-ket/. 'bedroom' is not as straightforward as it is a compound noun. But if onsets are preferred, shouldn't it be pronounced /be-droom/?

Thanks for pointing that out, I meant to say 'ti cket'.