First attested in 1764; a regular Anglicisation (see-fication) of a hypothetical etymon of the form*syllabificātiō,*syllabificātiōn-, formed regularly on the base of theLatinsyllabificō, itself fromsyllaba(“syllable”).
syllabification (countable anduncountable,pluralsyllabifications)
- Thedivision of a word intosyllables.
- 1764 September, Tobias George Smollett [ed.],The Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature, volume 18, article 23: “Review of William Johnſton’sA Pronouncing and Spelling Dictionary, &c.”,page 237
- Our author has eſtabliſhed clear practicable rules for articulation, and conſequently for facilitating to foreigners the pronouncing andſyllabification of the Engliſh language; and that upon principles which are in common to all languages.
- 1926,Henry Watson Fowler,A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (first edition, Oxford at the Clarendon Press), page 590, column 2, “syllabize &c.”
- syllabize &c. A verb & a noun are clearly sometimes needed for the notion of dividing words into syllables. The possible pairs seem to be the following (the number after each word means — 1, that it is in fairly common use; 2, that it is on record; 3, that it is not given in OED): —
syllabate 3 syllabation 2
syllabicate 2 syllabication 1
syllabify 2 syllabification 1
syllabize 1 syllabization 3
One first-class verb, two first-class nouns, but neither of those nouns belonging to that verb. It is absurd enough, & any of several ways out would do; that indeed is why none of them is taken. The best thing would be to accept the most recognized verbsyllabize, give it the now non-existent nounsyllabization, & relegate all the rest to theSuperfluous words; but there is no authority both willing & able to issue such decrees.
1999, Ingo Plag,Morphological Productivity: Structural Constraints in English Derivation,§ 7.1.2,page 203:Syllábify is a back-formation fromsyllabification, which in turn seems to be coined directly on the basis of Latinsyllabificare.
division of a word into syllables
- Bulgarian:разделяне на срички n(razdeljane na srički),сричкоделение n(sričkodelenie)
- Catalan:sil·labificació (ca) f
- Dutch:syllabeverdeling f,syllabificatie f,lettergreepverdeling f
- Finnish:tavutus (fi)
- French:syllabation (fr) f
- German:Worttrennung (de) f,Silbentrennung (de) f
- Greek:συλλαβισμός (el)(syllavismós),συλλαβοποίηση (el) f(syllavopoíisi)
- Hungarian:szótagolás (hu),szótagokrabontás
- Indonesian:pemenggalan kata (id),silabifikasi
- Italian:sillabazione (it) f
- Macedonian:силабизација f(silabizacija)
- Malay:penyukuan kata
- Polish:sylabifikacja f
- Portuguese:silabação (pt) f
- Russian:слогоделе́ние (ru) n(slogodelénije)
- Spanish:silabación (es) f
- Tagalog:pagpapantig (tl),palapantigan (tl),silabasyon (tl)
- Turkish:heceleniş,heceleme (tr)
- Volapük:silabam
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- “Syllabification” listed on page 357 of volume IX, part II (Su–Th) ofA New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
Syllabification (silæ:bifikēi·ʃən). [n. of action f. med.L.syllabificāre, f.syllabaSyllable: see-fication.] Formation or construction of syllables; the action or method of dividing words into syllables. [¶] 1838GuestEngl. Rhythms I. 23 The early systems of syllabification. 1843PoePremature Burial Wks. 1864 I. 330 What he said was unintelligible; but..the syllabification was distinct. 1862J. AngusHand-bk. Engl. Tongue 495 Rules of syllabification. [¶; subentry for “Syllabify”] - “syllabification” listed in theOxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
