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sílaba

syllable

noun SEE-lah-bah Rare

Origin: Greek syllabē (a taking together)

Usage Note

Sílaba is stressed on the first syllable — a proparoxytone (esdrújula) — so it always carries a written accent. Spanish phonology divides every word into syllables, and knowing where stress falls (acento) is essential for spelling rules: words ending in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the penultimate syllable unless accented otherwise.

Examples

"La palabra 'música' tiene tres sílabas."

Natural Translation

The word 'música' has three syllables.

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