Syllable counting

The term syllable counting has several meanings in linguistics :

Typology: For a syllable language one is isochronous rhythm characteristic - that a regular time sequence of syllables .
The Akzentologie itself as a syllable-counting language a language in which the position of the word stress is regularly predicted from the count of syllables from the end of a word or the letters from. In some cases, the accent rules apply not only to individual words, but to entire syntagms (a group of words that belong together syntactically ).
As a syllable-counting verse principle, a metrical principle is called in the verse , in which the number of syllables of the verse is decisive.

Examples

Metric syllable counting:
- The Finnish Kalevala epic consists entirely of eight-syllable verses.
Accented syllable-counting language
- Many languages have the accent on the first syllable, on the last syllable or on the penultimate syllable.
  - first syllable: Hungarian, Finnish
  - last syllable: French
  - penultimate syllable: Polish
- mixed systems are also common:
  - the accent position depends on the form or word category
    - New Persian: accent on the last or penultimate syllable
  - the accent depends on phonetic conditions
    - In Armenian, the accent is always on the last syllable if it does not contain the vowel “e”; in this case the accent moves to the penultimate syllable ( anún "name" vs. anúnes "my name")
- the accent rule depends on the number of syllables in a word
  - In Georgian, the accent is on the penultimate syllable for two-syllable words and on the third-last syllable for more than two syllables.
- The syntagmatic application of the accent rule can be found in Czech (initial stress in nád Labem “on the Elbe”).

Helmut Glück (Ed.), With the collaboration of Friederike Schmöe : Metzler Lexikon Sprache. 3rd, revised edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2005, ISBN 3-476-02056-8 .
Th. Vennemann: Recent developments in phonology. 1986.