What is the unit of pronunciation that is typically larger than a sound but smaller than a word, and can include V, CV, and CVC patterns?

• A. Syllable
• B. Morpheme
• C. Phoneme
• D. Alphabet

Answer: (A)

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that is larger than a single sound but smaller than a word. It centers on a vowel sound (the nucleus) and may have consonants around it—the onset before the vowel and the coda after it. This is why you can have patterns like a lone vowel (V), a consonant plus a vowel (CV), or a consonant–vowel–consonant sequence (CVC). For example, the words "a" (V), "go" (CV), and "cat" (CVC) each illustrate a syllable. Morphemes are meaningful units that can span multiple syllables, phonemes are individual sounds, and the alphabet is a set of letters, not a pronunciation unit.