Six Syllable Types
Six Syllable Types
Six Syllable Types
Closed syllables
The closed syllable is the most common spelling unit in English; it
accounts for just under 50 percent of the syllables in running
text. When the vowel of a syllable is short, the syllable will be
Six Syllable Types - Page 3
closed off by one or more consonants. Therefore, if a closed
syllable is connected to another syllable that begins with a
consonant, two consonant letters will come between the syllables
(com-mon, but-ter).
Two or more consonant letters often follow short vowels in closed
syllables (dodge, stretch, back, stuff, doll, mess, jazz). This
is a spelling convention; the extra letters do not represent extra
sounds. Each of these example words has only one consonant
phoneme at the end of the word. The letters give the short vowel
extra protection against the unwanted influence of vowel suffixes
(backing; stuffed; messy).
Open syllables
If a syllable is open, it will end with a long vowel sound spelled
with one vowel letter; there will be no consonant to close it and
protect the vowel (to-tal, ri-val, bi-ble, mo-tor). Therefore,
when syllables are combined, there will be no doubled consonant
between an open syllable and one that follows.
A few single-syllable words in English are also open syllables.
They include me, she, he and no, so, go. In Romance
languages especially Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian open
syllables predominate.
Vowel-r syllables
We have chosen the term "vowel-r" over "r-controlled" because
the sequence of letters in this type of syllable is a vowel followed
by r (er, ir, ur, ar, or). Vowel-r syllables are numerous,
variable, and difficult for students to master; they require
continuous review. The /r/ phoneme is elusive for students
whose phonological awareness is underdeveloped. Examples of
vowel-r syllables are found in perform, ardor, mirror, further,
worth, and wart.