Syllables have three possible parts - an onset, nucleus, and coda. The onset is a consonant or consonant cluster at the start of a syllable. The nucleus forms the core and is usually a vowel or vowel combination. The coda is a consonant or consonant cluster at the end. In the word "cat", [c] is the onset, [a] is the nucleus, and [t] is the coda. The nucleus and any coda together form the rhyme of a syllable. Even in English, consonants like [á1ƒ] can be syllable nuclei.

1. Syllables & Syllable structure
By: Ibrahim muneer

2. Syllables
• The syllable is a constant feature in every spoken
language in the world and most people have an
intuitive sense of what a syllable is. Each
language has its own rules about what kinds of
syllables are allowed, and what kinds aren’t - but
the general structure is the same everywhere.

3. Syllable structure
• A syllable can have as many as three parts: onset,
nucleus, and coda. The onset and the coda are
consonants, or consonant clusters, that appear at the
beginning and the end of the syllable respectively. The
nucleus forms the core of the syllable; it is most often a
vowel, or a combination of vowels - but there are
exceptions to that.

4. Syllable structure
• In the word “cat” for example, [c] is the syllable onset, [a]
is the nucleus, and [t] the coda. A syllable does not
necessarily have to have an onset or a coda - depending
on the language - but a nucleus is always present. If a
coda is present in a syllable, the nucleus and the coda
form a single unit called a rhyme; otherwise the nucleus
makes up the rhyme by itself. Looking at “cat” again, [at]
forms the rhyme.

5. Syllable structure
• Even in English, syllable nuclei are not restricted to
vowels. For example, in the monosyllabic word, “hmm”,
the syllable nucleus is the nasal consonant [ṃ]. The small
dot underneath the character ṃ indicates that the sound
represented is a syllabic consonant, which is any
consonant that forms a syllable nucleus. Vowels are not
marked with the same diacritic because they are always
considered to be syllabic.