syllabary
Americannoun
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syllabaries
plural
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a list or catalog of syllables.
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a set of written symbols, each of which represents a syllable, used to write a given language.
the Japanese syllabary.
noun
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a table or list of syllables
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a set of symbols used in certain writing systems, such as one used for Japanese, in which each symbol represents a spoken syllable
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of syllabary
From the New Latin word syllabārium, dating back to 1580–90. See syllable, -ary
Vocabulary lists containing syllabary
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mattel spokesperson Devin Tucker said the company is aware of the problem with the syllabary and is “discussing options.”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
In the early 1800s Cherokee polymath Sequoyah invented the Cherokee syllabary of written characters.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 10, 2023
Hill placed a Cherokee syllabary character above each column to spread awareness of the lyrical language.
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2022
Or, going back to the beginning of this chapter and Sequoyah’s syllabary, you may choose to take inspiration from something linguistic, an expression or a way of talking that is associated with your culture.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
The brush whirls on the canvas, the syllabary elegant and smooth.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
In addition, Japanese papers use flashy modern trappings such as airplanes, walkie-talkies and monotypes that can set some 2,200 Japanese syllabaries and Chinese ideographs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Most such tailor-made systems modify existing alphabets, though some instead design syllabaries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Thus, the developmental sequence of uses for alphabetic writing was the reverse of that for the earlier systems of logograms and syllabaries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Some syllabaries persist today, the most important being the kana syllabary that the Japanese use for telegrams, bank statements, and texts for blind readers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The German savants, mostly attributing them to the Sabá tribes, who immigrated from Yemen about our first century, tried the Himyaritic syllabaries and failed.
From The Land of Midian — Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
