Open Syllables

I & II NEW CONCEPT. Introduce open syllables, which produce a long-vowel sound. When a syllable ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u), the syllable is referred to as an open syllable. When an open syllable is accented, the vowel in that syllable is pronounced as a long vowel. Knowing this pattern helps us pronounce words that are rich in vowels (have two or more vowels). Notice where the accent occurs in the words ba′ • sin, o′ • pen, re′ • bate, si′ • lent, mu′ • sic, and ty′ • po. In each of these words, the first syllable is open (ends with a vowel) and is accented [′]; therefore, the first syllable is pronounced with a long-vowel sound. A syllable break occurs after each long vowel in these examples.

III LEARN the pattern for words whose open syllables (again, meaning a syllable ending with a vowel) are pronounced with the long-vowel sound, as in judo.

IV LEARN words that have an open long-vowel first syllable and an accented second syllable, as in be • gin′.

V & VI REVIEW words whose first or second syllable is accented. Each of these words has at least one open, long-vowel syllable. Some words in Lesson 61 have more than one open syllable! Prime examples of this are violin |vī′ • ōʹ • lĭn|, solo |sō′ • lō′|, and halo |hā′ • lō’|. Notice that if two vowels are contiguous (side by side) in a word but they fall in different syllables, often both vowels will have a long-vowel sound. We can see this illustrated with the eo in video (|vĭd • ē′ • ō′|), the oa in oasis (|o′ • ā′ • sĭs|), the io in violin (|vī′ • ō′ • lĭn|), and the eo in rodeo (|rō′ • dē′ • ō′|). If the last syllable in a word consists of only the letter o (judo, rodeo, motto), the o will usually be pronounced with the long vowel sound. The definite article the |thē′| follows this long-vowel pattern and is practiced in the Roman numeral V list of words. (The indefinite article the, pronounced |thŭ| or |thә|, will be learned in Lesson 66.)