syllabification

American  

[si-lab-uh-fi-kay-shuhn] / sɪˌlæb ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

plural

syllabifications

1. the process or result of syllabifying.

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Other Word Forms

• resyllabification noun

Explanation

When you divide a word into its individual vowel sounds, that's syllabification. The syllabification of "vocabulary" looks like this: vo-cab-u-lar-y. The word syllabification essentially means "the act of separating into syllables," and syllable goes back to the Greek syllabē, "that which is held together" or "several sounds taken together." Syllables are sounds held together by vowels, and the process of syllabification involves identifying those separate syllables, in speech or writing. Syllabification is a good way to learn a new word, whether you're trying to spell it or pronounce it correctly. Try it with syl-lab-if-i-ca-tion!

Example Sentences

What he said was unintelligible, but words were uttered; the syllabification was distinct.

From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Poe, Edgar Allan

Therefore I must reject it as nonsense syllabification.

From Bad Medicine by Sheckley, Robert

His attention is called to syllabification as well as to diacritical marks.

From How to Teach Phonics by Williams, Lida M.

As such they are the carriers of practically all significant differences in stress, pitch, and syllabification.

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Sapir, Edward

This was uttered with such blinding rapidity of syllabification as to be a better test of teetotalism than the Scotch one of saying "Biblical criticism" six times.

From Alarms and Discursions by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

Related Words

• accent
• diction
• utterance