Counting Syllables
Syllable counting is one of those things that poets are supposed to know how to do. Why? Well there are a lot of reasons. Having the same amount of syllables in multiple lines can help the flow of the lines and provide a reader with expectations for how long the next lines are going to be giving us a chance for surprise. The reason we can't just do this with length is because syllables often vary in length on the page. For instance, "strength" is a single syllable.
The methods we usually have for learning this are pretty straightforward for some of the population that is more hearing-oriented, but no matter who you are, you can learn to identify syllables. You don't have to be able to hear them.
That being said, the other methods of learning them, listed below, are somewhat complex ideas, so I need to over some basics first.
Linguistics is the study of language in general. It's a descriptive study of language, meaning linguistics attempts to describe what is already going on in language, not create rules for people to follow as a whole. They have a way to think about syllables which I can pretty much guarantee, you've never run into before. It's good stuff.
In Linguistics, there is an International Phonetic Alphabet which linguists use to indicate sounds without catering to a specific language. This IPA is used to indicate the difference between things like a hard I and a soft I or the difference between th and t, or z, and s. It's broken up into sections according to where the sound is made, and covers all possible sounds humans as a species could conceivably make with the equipment we're provided.
After that, I have a more prescriptive way outlined for those of us who just want to get right to the rules of what to do. This won't always work however, because language is fluid. However, it will give you a place to start.
To start, I'm going to re-explain what you've probably already been frustrated with about how to count syllables and then we'll move into the linguistics, then the rules.
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