University Of Zakho

Faculty Of Humanities
Department Of English
Third Semester

The report about

Syllable Types

By: Eman Mushir Yasin

Chiman muhammad amin

Supervisor : Aveen Hasan

March 2021
( 1100 Word )
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 1. introduction

Each word is made up of syllables, and syllables are the individual units of
pronunciation that help write and express the word. Most phonics programs cover all
kinds of words with a single syllable, from digraphs to diphthongs, but then
stop. Otherwise, they jump right to prefixes and suffixes, without ever dealing with
how to read two words from a syllable. Many students can intuitively apply their
phonemic knowledge to read two words from a syllable with ease, but this is often not
the case for our faltering readers. Introducing the six syllable types (and providing
plenty of practice) is a great next step for students who have mastered single syllable
words but still need clear audio instructions.
There are a number of types of syllables in the English language, and the aim of this
report is to explain all types of syllables by explaining: what is a syllable, what are the
types of syllables, examples of each of them, how to calculate them, and why they are
important.

2. What is a syllable ?

The phonemic syllable is an unbroken phonemic syllable formed by the opening

and closing of the mouth to form vowels. It consists of one or more letters with
one vowel sound. This means that we hear one vowel sound per syllable. For
example, the words cat and boat contain one syllable because we hear one moving
sound in each word. The words cupcake and dinner contain two syllables because
we hear two moving sounds in these words.

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 3. The syllable types:

There are sex syllable types and they are:

1. Closed syllable
2. Open syllable
3. Vowel-consonant-e syllable
4. Diphthong (vowel team) syllable
5. R-controlled syllable
6. Consonant-le syllable

3.1 Closed syllable – vc

Closed syllables are ones in which the vowel is "closed in" by another letter, which
will always be a consonant. Closed syllables are ones that:
• have one vowel
• the vowel has a short sound
• end with a consonant
For example : cat ,red,on,dot.

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3.2 Open Syllable – v

Open syllables are ones in which the vowel is "open" in the sense that it is all alone at
the end of a syllable without any other letters after it. Open syllables are ones that:
• have one vowel
• the vowel has a long sound
• the vowel sound is the last sound
For examples: go, me, I, a, cry.

3.3 Vowel-consonant-e syllable – vce

Vowel-consonant-e syllables end in a final silent e with a consonant just before the
silent e. This silent e makes the vowel before it have a long sound. This syllable type
is called many things, such as silent e, magie e, sneaky e.
For example: home, fine, cute.

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 3.4 R-controlled vowel syllable – vr

R-controlled syllables are ones where the presence of an "r" immediately following a
vowel impacts the way the vowel is pronounced. Teachers sometimes call this
syllable type "bossy r" because of how the letter impacts vowels that precede it. R-
controlled syllables are ones that:
• have at least one "r"
• have a vowel just before an "r"
For example : her, bird, fur, ear, for.

3.5 Diphthong (or vowel team) syllable – vv

Vowel team syllables are ones that have two vowels side-by-side that combine to
make a single vowel sound. Syllable that include Diphthong (such as ou, ow, oi, and
oy) are included in this category.
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This syllables have:
• multiple vowels that make one sound when spoken
• the vowel sound can be either long or short
For example: eight, grow, tail, fight.

3.5 Consonant-le syllable – v-le

Consonant-le syllables are ones in which the last two letters are -le, and those letters
are preceded by a consonant. The "e" is silent. These syllables:
• always appear at the end of a word
• have no vowel sound
• end with an "e" that is silent
• have an "l" immediately before the "e"
For example: purple, table, maple.

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 4. What Are Syllables Used For?
• In terms of everyday use, the passages are useful for native English speakers
and new learners alike. When you encounter a new word, the syllables help
break it down into smaller parts. Here you can pronounce someone a word by
first focusing on the individual syllables and then combining them to pronounce
the whole word.

• Syllables help with speech blockers because they allow the speaker to focus on
smaller units. Practicing these smaller units is a helpful exercise to improve
articulation.

• In addition to pronunciation, one of the main reasons for dividing words into
syllables is to teach spelling.

5 . Why should we care about syllable types?

• Knowing the type of syllables can help predict vowel sounds. Vowel sounds
are often the most difficult part of the English language.

• Knowing the syllable type and appropriate division pattern can break long
words into manageable chunks. Words like antidisestablishment can cause a
great deal of panic for our dyslexic readers. But in reality, if we break this
down Converting a word to syllables that we can leave with an-ti-dis-es-tab-
lish-ment are all open or closed syllables that can be easily decoded.
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6 .How to count syllable types?
To find the number of syllables in a word, use the following steps:

• Count the vowels in the word .

• Subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent e at the end of a word, or the second
vowel when two vowels are together in a syllable).
• Subtract (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound.) one vowel from every
diphthong.
• The number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables.

The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the
number of vowels sounds heard. For example:

• The word came has 2 vowels, but the e is silent, leaving one vowel sound and
one syllable
• The word outside has 4 vowels, but the e is silent and the ou is a diphthong
which counts as only one sound, so this word has only two vowel sounds and
therefore, two syllables.

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 7. Conclusion

In this report we conclude that We have a different types of syllable.The English

language has sex syllable types and they are: Closed syllable, Open syllable, vowel-
consonant-e syllable, Diphthong (vowel team) syllable, R-controlled syllable and
Consonant-le syllable. It's very important for everyone to learn the different types of
syllables early in your language arts education. Knowing the syllable type can help
predict vowel sounds and can break long words into more manageable pieces and we
have two methods for counting syllables: chin method and clap method.So , that is
why it is very important to know all syllable types .

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Reference List

• Chomsky ,N, and Halle , M (1968 ) " The sound pattern of English" new york :
Harper and Row.

• Duanmu ,S ( 2008 ) " Syllable structure ", the limits of variation , Oxford University
Press .

• Gimson , A C. (1989) An Introduction To The Pronounciation of English . London :

Arrold .

• Wilson, B. (2012). Wilson Reading System. In Fundations Level K-2 Introductory

Workshop

• Roach p (2009 ) "English phonetics and Phonology " 4" edition, UK University
Press , Cambridge .

• https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Syllable+types+&id=EJ849807

• https://www.academia.edu/43853734/7_syllable_types_posters

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