syllabication
(sɪˌlæbɪˈkeɪʃən)
[ad. med.L. sill-, syllabicātio, -ōnem, n. of action f. syllabicāre, f. syllaba syllable.]
a. = syllabification.
Tending to give way to syllabification.—R.W.B.
| 1631 [Mabbe] Celestina xviii. 180, I sweare unto thee by the crisse-crosse row, by the whole Alphabet, and Sillabication of the letters. 1654 Brooksbank (title) Plain, brief, and pertinent Rules for the..Syllabication of all English Words. 1754 Goodall Exam. Lett. Mary Q. Scots I. v. 110 The syllabication of the Scottish word nouther..had been changed, after the English orthography, into neither. 1791 Burns Let. Wks. (Globe) 496 Thou faithful recorder of barbarous idiom: thou persecutor of syllabication. 1863 Nuttall Standard Dict. Pref., Orthography..comprehends the correct spelling and syllabication of words. 1933 L. Bloomfield Language vii. 121 The ups and downs of syllabication play an important part in the phonetic structure of all languages. 1971 Language XLVII. 138 The rule for the devoicing of liquids follows syllabication. |
b. The action of making syllabic; pronunciation as a distinct syllable.
| 1857 Craik English of Shaks., Jul. C. i. i. (1869) 73 The distinct syllabication of the final ed. |