finalsyllable

Finalsyllable is a term used in linguistics to denote the last syllable of a word, stem, or inflected form. It is a basic unit in analyses of syllable structure, phonology, and morphology, since many processes target the end of a word—such as suffixation, vowel reduction, or consonant codas.

Phonological analysis often treats the final syllable as a unit with particular properties, including syllable weight, coda consonants, and vowel quality. The final syllable can influence phonotactics, stress assignment, and the way affixes attach in a language's morphology.

In poetry and prosody, the final syllable of a word or line can affect meter and rhyme. Languages vary in whether the final syllable tends to bear primary stress; for example some languages have fixed stress on the last syllable (oxytone) while others have stress elsewhere.

Examples: in the word unhappiness, the final syllable is "ness"; in banana the final syllable is "na".

Important distinctions: the term is often used interchangeably with "last syllable," but some analyses treat it as highlighting how suffixes attach to the final syllable of a stem.

See also: syllable, final stress, oxytone, paroxytone, rhyme.