What Are Some Examples of Open Syllable Words?
Some common open syllable words are “paper,” “apron,” “baby” and “April.” Furthermore, “cedar,” “equal,” “gravy,” “maybe,” “total,” “rival,” “table” and “radio” also contain open syllables. A word contains an open syllable when the syllable ends with a vowel, as opposed to closed syllables, which always end with one or more consonants.
An open syllable is one of six kinds of syllables in the English language. It always contains either a single stand-alone vowel or a vowel at the end of a group of letters. Examples of the former include “even,” “overt,” “apex,” “echo,” “unit,” “eclipse” and “acorn.” Some open syllables of the second type are in “piano,” “oboe,” “mania,” “echo,” “menu,” “motor,” “hero,” “female” and “ladle.” An open syllable has a long and distinctive vowel sound, and its pronunciation is usually like the sound or name of the vowel itself.
An open syllable can occur in the beginning, middle or end of a word. English has several single-syllable words that are also open syllables, such as “me,” “I,” “she,” “go,” “to,” “no,” “we,” “hi,” “be” and “the.”
Although many open syllable words exist, they are not as common as closed syllable words. A good way to improve spelling and pronunciation is to understand open syllables and their characteristics.