singlesyllable

A singlesyllable, more commonly called a monosyllable, refers to a word that contains exactly one syllable. In phonology, a syllable is typically organized around a nucleus (usually a vowel) with optional onset (consonants before the nucleus) and coda (consonants after). A monosyllabic form therefore has a single syllabic nucleus and does not require additional syllable units.

In English, many common words are monosyllabic, such as cat, drive, street, and strength. By contrast, words like printer or planet are multisyllabic. The syllable count of a word depends on pronunciation and can vary with dialect, speech rate, and elision in connected speech. Syllable division can be complicated by silent letters, digraphs, and vowel reductions; for example, bread has one syllable despite the ea digraph, while science is typically two syllables in many varieties. Monosyllabic words are often prevalent in poetry and prose and frequently influence rhythm and meter, contributing to brisk tempo and certain stress patterns.

Across languages, the concept of a monosyllable exists, but syllable structure and counting rules differ. Some languages permit longer consonant clusters and more complex syllables, while others favor shorter, simpler units. In linguistic research and lexicography, tagging words by syllable count (monosyllabic vs multisyllabic) aids analyses of phonotactics, rhythm, and prosody.