Syllabifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a word or phrase into its component syllables for proper pronunciation
2. The process of breaking down sounds in speech into individual syllable units for clearer understanding
3. Dividing a spoken or written expression into distinct syllabic parts to facilitate correct verbal articulation

Etymology: "Syllabifies" is the third-person singular form of "syllabify", so its history is the history of that verb. "Syllabify" was first recorded between 1799 and 1802, and it was formed by working backwards from "syllabification", the noun for the process. Speakers took the longer noun, saw a verb-like ending in it, and trimmed that ending off to create a new verb. This kind of reversal, called back-formation, is a common way English gains verbs. The noun itself goes back to the Latin "syllaba", borrowed from Greek "syllabē", which meant a group of letters held together or a unit of spoken sound. Old French had a related verb, "sillabifier", which shows the same idea was already being expressed in medieval French. English speakers therefore did not invent the concept, only the specific English verb.

Synonyms: divides, segments