Syllable structure

THE STRUCTURE OF A SYLLABLE

The structure of a syllable is made of the following parts; onset, rhyme, nucleus, and coda.

ONSET

RHYME

nucleus

The onset is the consonant sound or sounds at the beginning of a syllable, occurring before the nucleus. Most syllables have an onset. Syllables without an onset may be said to have a zero onset – that is, nothing where the onset would be.

The rhyme of a syllable consists of a nucleus and an optional coda. It is the part of the syllable that is lengthened or stressed when a person elongates or stresses a word in speech. The rhyme is usually the portion of a syllable from the first vowel to the end.

coda

The coda comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus. The sequence of nucleus and coda is called a rhyme.

The nucleus (sometimes called peak) is the central part of the syllable, most commonly a vowel.