CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background Of The Study

Language is consist of some grammatical, such as word, phrase, clause and
sentence. Word is a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing.
Word is used to form a sentence. Word have characteristic and function in form a
sentence. When we write,word is the first key to form a writing. When we speak,
word is the important thing in forming a sentence. So, word in language is
important element and we should learn it and have good undertsanding about
word. Word have to use based on the true principle.
On the other hand, phonology is one of the branch linguistic that learn about
ins and outs syllable. Syllable is counted by looking the amount of vocal sound in
that word. Word and syllable has own function in forming a sentence. So in this
paper, the author will explain about the definition word, types of word, definition
syllabe, syllable and their parts, and syllable types.
1.2 The Problem Of The Study
1. What is the definition of word?
2. What types of word?
3. What is the definition of syllable?
4. What are the part of syllable?
5. What types of syllable?
1.3 The Objective Of The Study
1. To know the definition of word.
2. To find out the types of word.
3. To know the definition of syllable.
4. To find out the part of syllable.
5. To find out the types of syllable.

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 CHAPTER II

WORD AND SYLLABLE

2.1 Definition Of Word

There are some definition about word, such as :

 The term word is used to designate an intermediate structure smaller

than a whole phrase and yet larger than a single sound segment.
 According to L. Bloomfield, word is a minimal free form, which can
occur in isolation and have meaning bt which cannot be analyzed into
elements which can all occur alone and also have meaning.1
 Word is an uninterruptible unit of structure consisting of one or more
morphemes and which typically occurs in the structure of phrases.
 According to Merriem Webster, word is a speech sound or series of
speech sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning usually
without being divisible into smaller units capable of independent use.
 Word is the entire set of linguistic forms produced by combining a
single base with various inflectional elements without change in the
part of speech elements.
 Word is a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds
or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of
meaning.
 Word is the smallest element that can be uttered in isolation with
objective or particular meaning.
 Based on semantic definition, word may be defined as the union of a
particular meaning with a particular complex of sounds capable of a
particular grammatical employment.2

1
Steven. 1999. Words And Rules. New York: Basic Books. Pp 42-43

2
Backley Philip. 2009. Strength Relation In Phonology. New York: Foris
Publications Holland. Pp 81-92

2
  Bases on phonoligical definition, word is a piece of speech which
behaves as a unit of pronunciation according ti criteria which vary
from language to language.
 According Norman C. Stageberg, word is a free morpheme or a
combination of morphmes together from a basic segment of speech.3

2.2 Types Of Word

English words may be classified on the basis of the kinds and combination of
morphemes of which they are composed. Here are the classification of english
words:

 Simple words
Simple word is consist of a single free morpheme. Examples : cat,
short, play, spirit, book.
 Complex words
Complex word is contain as their immediate constituents, either two
bound forms or a bound and a free form. Example : Television,
include, exclude, joyfull, preschool.
 Compound words
Compound words resemble grammatical structures in that they imply,
though they do not state, a grammatical relationship. Compound
words can be distinguished from grammatical structures in three
ways:
1. Compund words cannot be devided by the insertion of intervening
materials between the two parts, but grammatical structures can be
so divided.
Example :
- She is a sweetheart

3
Durand Jacquesh. 2005. Phonology. Britain : Oxford University Express. Page
45.

3
 - She has a sweet heart

2. A member of a compund word cannot participate in a grammatical

structure. 4

COMPARE :

Hard ball and Base ball

Hard ball is consist of modifier and noun, Baseball is compound

word.

There are two types of word according morphology aspect, they are function
word and content word.
 Function word
Function word is a word that does not have clear lexical meaning but
has a grammatical function. Function words are referred to as closed
class words because we can not add new words to these classes.
Function words includes :
1. Articles : The, A, An.
2. Pronouns : He, Him, She, Her, etc.
3. Conjunctions : And, That, When, Although, etc.
4. Interjections : Arghhh, Wow, etc.
5. Modal verbs : Can, Must, Will, Should, Ought to, etc.
6. Auxillary verb : Is, Am, Are, Have, Got, Do.
7. Particles : If, Then, Well, However, etc.
8. Prepositions : Of, In, At, Between, Among, etc.
9. Determiners : That, More, Much, Either, Neither.
 Content word

4
Hans Henrich Hock. 1990. Principles of Word Formation. Berlin : Mouton
Press. Pp 76-79

4
 Content words is the noun, verbs, adjective and adverbs that constitue
the major part of the vocabulary. Content words are reffered to as
open class words because we can add new words to these classes.
Content words includes :
1. Noun : Jenny, Doctor, Room, etc.
2. Full verb : Search, Grow, Have, Hold, etc.
3. Adverb : Really, Very, Enough, Fastly, etc.
4. Numerals : One, Thousand, First, etc.

2.3 Definition Of Syllabel

There are some definition about syllable, such as :
 Syllable is a unit of spoken language consisting of a single
uninterrupted sound.
 Syllable is a unit of pronunciatin having one vowel sound, with or
without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a
word.
 According to Merriam Webster, syllable is a unit of spoken language
that is next bigger than a speech sound and consist of one or more
vowel sounds alone or of either with one or more consonant soundd
preceding or following.
 Syllable is the smallest conceivable expression or unit of something.
 According to Collins, syllable is a part of a word that contains a sigle
vowel sound and that is pronounced as a unit.
 Syllable is a sound segment studied on both the phonetic and
phonological levels of analysis.
 A syllable is a speech unit that can be divided into two parts on set
and rhyme within rhyme there are nucleus ( a vowel) and the coda (
consonant)

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2.4 Part Of Syllable

a. Onset

Onset is the beginning sounds of the syllable; the ones preceding the
nucleus. There are always consonant in English. In the following words, the
onset is in italic: Book, Carpet, Sleep, Trap. If a word contains more than one
syllable, each syllable will have the usual syllable parts : Lap top, Win dow,
Po ta to, By cycle.

b. Rhyme

Rhyme is the rest of the syllable, after the onset. In this following words,
the rhyme is in Bold: Book, Carpet, Trap, Lap top, Win dow.

c. Nucleus

The nucleus, as the term suggests, is the core or essential part of syllable.
A nucleus must be present in order for a syllable to be present. In english
and most other languages, most syllable nuclei are vowels.

Example :

Book = one syllable. Onset ( B), Rhyme ( Uk), Nucleus ( U), Coda (K)

Read = one syllable. Onset (R), Rhyme( Id), Nucleus ( I), Coda ( D).

d. Coda

The coda includes all consonants that follows the peak in a syllable, the
ones preceding the nucleus. 5

2.5 Types Of Syllable

There are six types of syllable, they are :

5
Peter Roach. 1991. English Phonetic and Phonology. Cambridge : Cambridge
University Press. Pp 55-58

6
 a. Closed syllable
This types of syllable has only one vowel, and ends with at least one
consonant ( short vowel sound). Example : cat, chop, jump, crush.
b. Open syllable
This type of syllable ends with a single vowel ( long vowel sound).
Example : I, He, Try, So.
c. V-C-E syllable
This type of syllable has a vowel , followed by a consonant, followed by
“e”. Example : Home, ape, smoke, like, brake.
d. L-E syllable
This type of syllable has a consonat followed by “le” and occurs at the
end of a word. The “e” is silent so only the consonat and “l” are heard.
Example : table, tample, shuttle, little, dribble.
e. R- controlled syllable
This type of syllable has a vowel combined with the letter “r” . the vowel
is neither short nor long and is either like “er” “or” and “ar”. Example :
first, car, nurse, worht, worker.
f. Double – Vowel syllable
This type of syllable has two vowels side by side. The vowel combination
may have one of several different sounds. Example : street, moon, boat,
bean, head, great. 6

6
Steven Pinker. 1999. Words And Rules. New York: Basic Books. Pp 43-47

7
 CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

From the explanation above, we can conclude that Word is a unit of language,
consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that
functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Word has many types. According to
English word, word has classified into three, they are simple word, compund word
and complex word. In morphological aspect, there are two types of word, they are
content word and function word.
Syllable according to Merriam Webster, syllable is a unit of spoken language
that is next bigger than a speech sound and consist of one or more vowel sounds
alone or of either with one or more consonant soundd preceding or following.
There are four part of syllable, they are onset (the beginning sounds of the
syllable; the ones preceding the nucleus), rhyme(rest of the syllable, after the
onset), nucleus(the core or essential part of syllable. A nucleus must be present in
order for a syllable to be present), coda(The coda includes all consonants that
follows the peak in a syllable, the ones preceding the nucleus). There are six
types of syllable, such as Closed syllable, Open syllable, V-C-E syllable , L-E
syllable, R- controlled syllable , Double – Vowel syllable .

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