Spanish Conversation · Level 65
60 words
Spanish word
sílaba
Pronunciation
IPA/ˈsilaβa/
Meaning
- feminine nounsyllable
Example
La palabra tiene tres sílabas.
The word has three syllables.
More examples
La tilde marca la sílaba tónica.
The accent mark indicates the stressed syllable.
Core concept
A single vocal beat centered on one vowel sound.
Common phrases
acentuar la sílaba
stress the syllable
tilde en la sílaba
accent on the syllable
última sílaba
final syllable
Similar words
palabra: Single lexical item that names or expresses meaning and stands alone.
vocal: Vowel-like sound produced by opening the mouth and voicing.
sonido: General audible sound or noise detected by the ear.
Definition in Spanish
Segmento de palabra formado por sonidos que se pronuncian como una sola emisión, habitualmente con una vocal.
Word origin
From Greek συλλαβή (syllabē) 'taken together', from a verb meaning 'to take together', describing a group of sounds pronounced as one unit.
Usage tips
- In connected speech adjacent vowels can merge (sinalefa) or form diphthongs, so the number of spoken sílabas often differs from simply counting written vowels.
Related words
- silábicosyllabicadjective
- silábicamentesyllabicallyadverb