noun

syllable

SIL-uh-bul/ˈsɪləbl/

A unit of speech organized around a single vowel sound.

Each clap marks one syllable in the word 'apple.'

A teacher claps twice while teaching the word apple, with exactly two separated sound blocks marked ap and ple.

Etymology

“Together” and “take” express the image of gathering sounds or letters into one unit. A syllable is that grouping understood as a single effort of pronunciation.

In context

English literature for Arab learners9:57

we have the vowel sounds o and i because they are successive and they occur inside the same syllable so we consider them one sound

Meter of Poetry

More examples

Clap once for each syllable in your name.
The stress falls on the first syllable of table.
She breaks the unfamiliar word into syllables.

Forms

syllable · syllables

syllabic adjective — Relating to syllables or their structure.

syllabification noun — The division of words into syllables.