syllabique

Syllabique is a French adjective related to syllables. In linguistics and the study of writing systems, it describes phenomena, systems, or scripts that are organized around syllables rather than individual phonemes. The term is commonly used to refer to syllabic writing, or syllabaries, where each character typically encodes a syllable, such as a consonant–vowel combination (CV) or a vowel alone.

In orthography, a syllabique writing system contrasts with an alphabetic system, in which signs represent phonemes, and with abugidas, where signs mainly encode consonants with inherent or modifying vowels. Syllabic scripts aim to balance expressive coverage of syllables with a manageable inventory of signs. Well-known examples of syllabaries include the Japanese kana (hiragana and katakana) and the Cherokee syllabary. Other historical or lesser-known syllabaries have existed in different languages and regions, illustrating the diversity of syllabic approaches to writing.

In phonology, syllabique can describe features of spoken language related to syllable structure. For instance, some languages allow syllabic consonants that can serve as the nucleus of a syllable, a phenomenon often discussed in contrast with vowel-centered syllables. The term is used in linguistic descriptions to differentiate syllabic organization from strictly alphabetical phoneme inventories.

Etymology: from Latin syllabicus, via Greek syllabikos, meaning relacionadas with a syllable. See also syllable, syllabary, alphabet, syllabic writing.