heavy syllable
- noun
- Specialized
:
sílaba pesada
- In many languages, stress tends to fall on a heavy syllable within a word.
Examples
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A heavy syllable can change the meaning of a word.
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Children often find it easier to clap out words that have at least one heavy syllable.
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The word 'lamp' contains a heavy syllable because it ends in two consonants.
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In the word 'cat', the heavy syllable carries the stress.
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In linguistics, a heavy syllable is characterized by a long vowel sound, like in the word 'moon.'
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The word 'table' has a heavy syllable because it ends with multiple consonants after a short vowel.
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When teaching English pronunciation, it's important to highlight heavy syllables to help students with stress patterns.
Antonyms
How Heavy
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase applies a metaphorical sense of 'heavy' to an abstract unit 'syllable', so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it means a syllable that is 'more weighty' — for example longer or carrying extra sounds. However, the technical criteria (long vowel, diphthong, or coda) are specialized phonological details not predictable from the constituents alone, so the term is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Heavy syllable comes from the image of a syllable that is heavy, like a beat with extra weight because it has a long vowel or extra sounds at the end. So languages often put the main 'stress' on a heavy syllable because it stands out when you say it.
