SYLLABIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does syllabic mean? 

• SYLLABIC (adjective)
  The adjective SYLLABIC has 5 senses:

1. of or relating to syllables

2. consisting of or using a syllabary

3. (of verse) having lines based on number of syllables rather than on rhythmical arrangement of stresses or quantities

4. consisting of a syllable or syllables

5. (of speech sounds) forming the nucleus of a syllable

  Familiarity information: SYLLABIC used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYLLABIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to syllables

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

syllabic characters each represent a syllable

Pertainym:

syllable (a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme)

Derivation:

syllabicity (the pattern of syllable formation in a particular language)

syllable (a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consisting of or using a syllabary

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

eskimos of the eastern Arctic have a system of syllabic writing

Pertainym:

syllabary (a writing system whose characters represent syllables)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of verse) having lines based on number of syllables rather than on rhythmical arrangement of stresses or quantities

Antonym:

accentual ((of verse) having a metric system based on stress rather than syllables or quantity)

quantitative ((of verse) having a metric system based on relative duration of syllables)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Consisting of a syllable or syllables

Similar:

disyllabic (having or characterized by or consisting of two syllables)

monosyllabic (having or characterized by or consisting of one syllable)

octosyllabic (having or characterized by or consisting of eight syllables)

pentasyllabic (having or characterized by or consisting of five syllables)

polysyllabic (having or characterized by words of more than three syllables)

decasyllabic (having or characterized by or consisting of ten syllables)

syllabled (pronounced in syllables)

Antonym:

nonsyllabic (not forming a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable; consisting of a consonant sound accompanied in the same syllable by a vowel sound or consisting of a vowel sound dominated by other vowel sounds in a syllable (as the second vowel in a falling diphthong))

Derivation:

syllable (a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(of speech sounds) forming the nucleus of a syllable

Context example:

the syllabic 'nl' in 'riddle'

Antonym:

nonsyllabic ((of speech sounds) not forming or capable of forming the nucleus of a syllable)

 Context examples 

The laugh was repeated in its low, syllabic tone, and terminated in an odd murmur.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)