Everything you ever wanted to know about syllables...

This is for Leslie (if you haven't read her blog, you need to go now and read away...it is a great place!!)- typed up from my notes...

What is a syllable and what must every syllable have? - At least 1 vowel sound

There are 6 kinds of syllables:

1. Closed - any syllable that is closed by a consonant, these are almost always short sounds (cat)

2. Open - any syllable that ends with a vowel, these are almost always long sounds (cry)

3. Silent 'e' - silent e at the end of the word makes the vowel long (time)

4. Diphthongs - (not underwear...) - I didn't really get this one a whole lot, but I wrote down the diphthongs that smarter moms knew and I didn't know... - ou, oi, ai, eau, aw...when the vowels are together it is one sound not more than one, so it is one syllable (oil, out, aw/ful)

5. Consonant -le - always stands by itself as a syllable (un/cle - un is one syllable and cle is one syllable)

6. R-combination - r combined with a vowel changes the sound (pap/er - the r changes the sound of the e)

Oh yeah, the letter Y, when it is anywhere but the beginning of the word is a vowel sound.

So, I am not a pro at figuring this out just yet, but think that I can wager a guess at the word 'celery' (Leslie said that her and her hubby have an ongoing argument about this word, is it 2 or 3 syllables) then you can all tell me what you think too...let's help out Leslie everyone.

To me, the word ce/le/ry has 3 syllables, because there are 3 vowel sounds - the 'ce', the 'le' and the 'ry' - tell me if I am right and if I just made an argument worse...don't throw the hard tomatoes, make sure they are soft...