szótagmagot

A szótagmag, also known as a syllabic nucleus or syllable nucleus, is the core of a syllable. It is the part of the syllable that carries the most prominence and is typically a vowel or a diphthong. In many languages, a syllable cannot exist without a nucleus. For example, in the English word "cat," the nucleus is the vowel sound /æ/. In the Hungarian word "ház," the nucleus is the vowel /aː/.

While vowels are the most common type of syllabic nucleus, some languages allow for sonorant consonants, such as liquids (/l/, /r/) or nasals (/m/, /n/), to function as the nucleus. This phenomenon is known as syllabic consonants. An example in English is the word "button," where the "n" sound at the end can form a syllable on its own, acting as the nucleus. Similarly, the word "bottle" has a syllabic "l" sound.

The concept of the szótagmag is crucial in phonology and linguistics for understanding syllable structure and sound patterns within languages. It helps explain why certain sounds can form the peak of a syllable while others cannot. The precise definition and presence of syllabic nuclei can vary significantly between different languages, reflecting the diverse ways human languages organize sound into syllables.