VOA慢速英语--How to Count Syllables

 

In the English language, spelling and pronunciation have a funny relationship. How we write a word and how we say it often do not agree. There always seem to be exceptions¹ to the rule.

Today our question is related² to pronunciation. It comes from our reader Mastaneh:

Question:

How can we recognize the syllables⁴ in a word? Would you mind explaining the rules? Thank you. – Mastaneh

Answer:

Hi, Mastaneh!

Firstly, other readers may be wondering why they should learn about syllables. Understanding syllables helps a lot with pronunciation. As we speak, if we miss or add a syllable³ to a word, people may not be able to understand us.

When we say a word, the sounds we create naturally divide the word into parts. We call these parts “syllables.” For example, the word “machine” has two parts: ma-chine. The word “important” has three parts: im-por-tant.

The number of syllables in a word is decided⁵ by its number of vowel⁶ sounds. For example, in the word “machine,” there are two vowel sounds: ( ) and (i).

The English language has up to 20 vowel sounds, so we will not talk about all of them today. But an easy way to identify vowels⁷ is that we make them with the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y.

It is important to know that one syllable can have more than one vowel letter. For example, the word “room” has two vowel letters: o and o. But together, they make only one vowel sound: (u:). This explains why “room” has only one syllable. We decide syllables by sound, not spelling.

How to count

Ok, here are two easy methods for counting syllables.

One that I like is the chin method. Here is how to do it: Rest your hand under your chin and say a word slowly. How many times does your chin drop onto your hand? That is the number of syllables.

Another is the clap method. To use it, say the word and clap your hands together each time you hear a vowel sound. For example, take the word "autumn": au-tumn. That’s two vowel sounds, so it’s two syllables even though autumn has three vowel letters: a, u and u.

Now, let’s do something fun. Close your eyes and listen for the number of syllables in the following words. You can use the chin method, the clap method or just listen carefully:

flower

thought

teacher

broadcast

dreamed

vehicle

How many syllables did you get for each word? You can tell us in the comments area.

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

spelling – n. the act of forming words from letters

vowel – n. a letter (such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in English) that makes a specific sound

syllable – n. any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced

chin – n. the part of the face below the mouth and above the neck

clap – n. to hit the palms of your hands together usually more than once

1 exceptions   

例外( exception的名词复数 )； 不包括在内的人（或物）； 规则的例外； 例外的事物

参考例句：

• Most children like sweets, but there are some exceptions. 大多数孩子喜欢吃糖果，但也有一些例外。
• Such exceptions do not invalidate the rule. 这些例外并不证明此规则无效。

2 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

3 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

4 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

7 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册