When I look up Syllable on Wikipedia, the first thing I
notice is that the entry is incapable of defining what a syllable is. The
best they can do is give a single example. Almost the entire article (especially the section after the introduction) is completely incomprehensible.
The article on syllabification states
I remember being in grade school and having to do assignments were I would mark the syllables in words. It was an impossible task.
Take "syllable" itself, for example.
Sill A Bul? Silla Bul? Sill A Bul? Sil la Bul?
I would go back and forth pronoucing a word different ways, never knowing what way was right. Sil La Bul actually makes more sense to me, but the dictionary tells me it's supposed to be Silla bul. (Edit: I think I may have misunderstood the dictionary's code, and it is in fact three syllables.)
When I was in junior high, someone (a student, not a teacher) finally told me a definition of what a syllable was. A syllable is a word fragment that is said with one opening and closing movement of the jaw.
In that case, Silla Bull is right, because I only open and close my jaw twice.
However, opening and closing the jaw isn't the only thing that offsets word sounds. The reason I was confused about Sill A Bull is because I open and close my jaw on Sill, and then, with my jaw still closed, shoot out the La with my tongue.
Another one is "Prowl". FO insists "Prowl" is one syllable, pronounced almost like growling. (In fact, I guess "growl", as one syllable, is an onomatopoeia) I think it has too much sound to confine to one syllable. I guess it comes out of my mouth more like "prowel". Even in that case, the "prow" is one open and closing of the mouth, then the "L" sound is added at the end, with my tongue, with the jaw closed.
Dreamt is another example. After saying "dream" with one jaw open-shut, the final t is added by harshly exhaling air out the mouth.
I am calling any sound at the end of a syllable which is made after the jaw is closed a tumor syllable. I'm calling it that because it's like a little bit of a syllable that's just kind of hanging there. Or it's like a syllable, but malformed and shrunken.
(What's especially confusing about that to a child is that you often could, as an alternate pronunciation, open and close your mouth again on the tumor syllable, especially if you normally pronounce words naturally but are now trying to do it self-consciously)
It seems like it should be something poetry should take acknowledge. A tumor syllable can affect word rhythm as much as an unstressed syllable, I think.
The article on syllabification states
[M]ost even native English speakers are unable to syllabify (or spell) words with any degree of accuracy without consulting a dictionary or using a word processor. The process is, in fact, so complicated that even schools usually do not provide much more advice on the topic than to consult a dictionary. Even the Internet does not seem to provide any general syllabification guide, explanation, or discussion not meant for experts. In addition, there are differences between British and US syllabification and even between dictionaries of the same kind of English.
I remember being in grade school and having to do assignments were I would mark the syllables in words. It was an impossible task.
Take "syllable" itself, for example.
Sill A Bul? Silla Bul? Sill A Bul? Sil la Bul?
I would go back and forth pronoucing a word different ways, never knowing what way was right. Sil La Bul actually makes more sense to me, but the dictionary tells me it's supposed to be Silla bul. (Edit: I think I may have misunderstood the dictionary's code, and it is in fact three syllables.)
When I was in junior high, someone (a student, not a teacher) finally told me a definition of what a syllable was. A syllable is a word fragment that is said with one opening and closing movement of the jaw.
In that case, Silla Bull is right, because I only open and close my jaw twice.
However, opening and closing the jaw isn't the only thing that offsets word sounds. The reason I was confused about Sill A Bull is because I open and close my jaw on Sill, and then, with my jaw still closed, shoot out the La with my tongue.
Another one is "Prowl". FO insists "Prowl" is one syllable, pronounced almost like growling. (In fact, I guess "growl", as one syllable, is an onomatopoeia) I think it has too much sound to confine to one syllable. I guess it comes out of my mouth more like "prowel". Even in that case, the "prow" is one open and closing of the mouth, then the "L" sound is added at the end, with my tongue, with the jaw closed.
Dreamt is another example. After saying "dream" with one jaw open-shut, the final t is added by harshly exhaling air out the mouth.
I am calling any sound at the end of a syllable which is made after the jaw is closed a tumor syllable. I'm calling it that because it's like a little bit of a syllable that's just kind of hanging there. Or it's like a syllable, but malformed and shrunken.
(What's especially confusing about that to a child is that you often could, as an alternate pronunciation, open and close your mouth again on the tumor syllable, especially if you normally pronounce words naturally but are now trying to do it self-consciously)
It seems like it should be something poetry should take acknowledge. A tumor syllable can affect word rhythm as much as an unstressed syllable, I think.
