I tried to find the formal rule or the formal algorithm on how should I identify whether the word has a closed syllable or an open syllable, but I was unsuccessful.
I thought that to understand which syllables the word consists of, one should use the transcription of the word.
For example, I had the word "garlic" and its transcription [ˈɡɑː.lɪk]. I see that there are two syllables "ɡɑː" and "lɪk". The first syllable does not end with a consonant so according to the definition I know it's an open syllable. But some links on the Internet say that I am wrong and the word garlic does not have an open syllable without a detailed explanation of why. If I use the letters of the word to form the syllables I get "gar" and "lick" and both of them end with the consonant letter so both of these syllables are closed.
So I could not find the formal and concrete answers for what I've been looking for.
- What is the formal definition of a syllable in English language?
- How should I identify the syllables of English word?
- What is the definition of an open syllable in the word? I had the definition "It's a syllable that ends with a vowel sound and does not have a consonant sound immediately following it within the same syllable" but it seems like it has nothing to do with words such as "nine" or "cite" which as I know have the open syllables but both in their transcriptions and their writing have the closed syllable according to my definition.
- What is the definition of a closed syllable? I thought that it could be defined as "A syllable that ends with a consonant sound" but perhaps I've overlooked something.
If the answer is too long, please kindly provide a reference (such as a book) where I can find the answers to such questions. I know that it's better to have one question in one thread but for me these questions are strongly interconnected.
Best Answer
@Maciej Stachowski Wrote:
/ˈɡɑː.lɪk/ is BrE, but AmE pronunciation of the word is /ˈɡɑːr.lɪk/ - that would explain the discrepancy you're seeing. Your definition of closed/open syllables seems right - nine and cite are closed syllable words. Sometimes (particularly when teaching reading and writing) it makes sense to distinguish additional syllable types like VC or vowel-r syllables, since they have their own pronunciation rules, but the base open/closed distinction is as you say.