Syllable Combinations in the English Language

Every word in the English language has at least one syllable. Syllables are segments of sound and each syllable contains at least one vowel. Although syllables have no meaning, they do aid in providing a way to process language. Syllable combinations in the English language take six forms: open, closed, silent-e, vowel combinations, vowel-r, and consonant L-E. The first five syllable types can also be simple or complex.

Open Syllable

Say "no." That is an example of an open syllable. Say "so." That is another example of an open syllable. Say "to-tal." The first syllable is an open syllable. An open syllable has only one vowel and the vowel sound is the last sound in the syllable.

Closed Syllable

Note that a closed syllable has only one vowel and ends in a consonant. With the letter V representing a vowel and the letter C representing the consonant, the structure of this syllable would be V-C. Some examples of a closed syllable are: of, on, an, in, ask, mock, sock, stretch and twelfth.

Silent-E, Vowel-Consonant-E Syllable

Spell "wake." Now say the word. The letter e is silent. Spell "ate." Now say the word. These are examples of silent-e syllables. This type of syllable ends with a V-C-silent E combination. It has only one vowel and one consonant that precedes the silent e, thus "suite" is not considered a silent-e syllable because more than one vowel precedes the consonant. These syllables always end with a silent e. Other examples are: kite, bike, bake, toke.

Vowel Combination or Vowel Team

Pronounce "thief." The two vowels I and E form a vowel combination. Other examples are: suit, boat, piece and true. Another type of vowel combination teams a vowel and consonant that, when combined, make a unique sound. Pronounce "toy." This is a vowel combination because the V-C combination is unique. Other examples of the V-C unique sound are: hay, bay, boy, gay. This type of syllable has either a combination of two or more vowels or a C-V combination that represents a unique sound.

Vowel-R

Say "or," "worth," "care" and "air." These are Vowel-R syllables. These are syllables with a single vowel followed by the letter R like the word "or" or "worth" or a V-R-silent e combination like the word "care" or a vowel combination followed by an R like the word "air." Other Vowel-R words include: perform, mayor, candor and farther.

Consonant L-E or Stable Final Syllable

Say "table." The consonant B is followed by the letters LE. Additional examples of the consonant L-E type of syllable are: cable, rifle and trickle. This type of consonant L-E syllable is combined with an open syllable. In "table," the open syllable is the first two letters and the consonant L-E syllable is the last three letters. In "rifle," the open syllable is the first two letters and the consonant L-E syllable is the last three. In this type of structure, there is no doubling of the consonant. When the consonant L-E syllable is combined with a closed syllable the consonant is doubled. Examples of this include: bubble, topple and puzzle. In each of these words the first syllable is a closed syllable resulting in the double consonant.

Simple vs. Complex

Say "late." This is a simple syllable. A simple syllable has no consonant clusters or combinations. Say "slate." This is a complex syllable because it has a consonant cluster of S+L. Thus "mack" is a simple syllable whereas "smack" is complex.