Syllable division

Syllable division is the separation of the different syllables that make up a word. A syllable is a small set of phonemes emitted in a single voice utterance.

In Portuguese, the vowel is the nucleus of the syllable. Thus, each vowel corresponds to a syllable, and there are no syllables without vowels.

Syllable division is used in translineation, that is, in the partition of a word so that the line change is made.

Rules for Syllable division

The separation of syllables is mainly done by spelling, but there are several rules for the correct division of the syllables of words. 

It is necessary to understand when some consonant and vowel groups separate and when they remain on the same syllable.

They do not separate, remaining on the same syllable

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS:

• increase ( au -men-to)
• pine tree (pi-nh ei -ro)
• water ( water )
• others ( or -others)
• things (hey -sas )
• equals ( equals )
• Paraguay (Pa-ra- guai )
• any ( whatever )
• halls (sa-guõe s )

DIGRAPHS LH, CH, NH, GU, QU:

• wonder (ma-ra-vi- lh a)
• rain ( rain )
• affection (ca-ri- nh o)
• crane ( gu in-das-te)
• hot ( que en-te)

PURE CONSONANT CLUSTERS (BL, CL, GL, PL, FL, BR, CR, DR, GR, PR, TR, FR, VR):

• block ( bl o-co)
• clarity ( cl a-ri-da-de)
• globule ( gl ó-bu-lo)
• planet ( pl a-ne-ta)
• flamingo ( fl a-min-go)
• Brazil ( Br a-sil)
• carnation ( cr a-vo)
• dragon ( dr a-gão)
• gravity ( gravity )
• practically ( pra -ti-ca-men-te)
• darkness ( tr e-vas)
• French ( French )
• free ( free )

INITIAL CONSONANT GROUPS (PS, MN, PN, GN,…):

• psychologist ( ps i-co-lo-go)
• mnesic ( mn is-si-co)
• pneumatic ( pn eu-má-ti-co)
• Gnostic ( Gnostic )

Break apart into different syllables

GAPS:

• currency (m o -e -da )
• output (s a – í -da)
• health (s a – ú -de)
• poetry (p o -e -sia )
• ship (na-v i – o )
• day (d i – a )

DIGRAPHS RR, SS, SC, SÇ, XC, XS:

• car (ca r – r o)
• bird (pa s – s á-ro)
• be born (na s – c er)
• birth (in s – ç o)
• exception (e x – c e-tion)
• exudative (e x – s u-da-ti-vo)

DISJOINT CONSONANT CLUSTERS:

• lawyer (a d – v o-ga-do)
• cold sore (a f – t a)
• lettuce (a l – f a-ce)
• force (for – ç a )
• magnetic (ma g – n is-ti-co)
• object (o b – j e-to)
• deny (from s – m en-tir)

For aesthetic reasons and clarity in the transmission of the message, it is preferable not to leave just one vowel alone on one side of the translineation, that is, at the end of the line or at the beginning of the next line.

Hyphenation of hyphenated words

The hyphen is the graphic sign used in Syllable division and translineation. When translineation is performed on a word that already has a hyphen, such as a compound word or a pronominal verb, there is a duplication of the hyphen: one hyphen is what indicates the translineation, the other is what is already part of the word.

Examples of translineation of hyphenated words