How to Refer to Syllables?
Depending on the language, different methods are used to refer to a specific syllable in a word. In English, the most useful and common way is to start from the right and count the number of syllables towards the left. For example, for words of two syllables, the syllables would be referred to as the last syllable and the 2nd to the last, rather than the first and the 2nd.
| Syllable | Term for syllables | Linguistic term |
| (X X X X) X X | last syllable | ultimate |
| (X X X X) X X | 2nd from the last syllable | penultimate |
| (X X X) X X X | 3rd from the last syllable | ante-penultimate |
| (X X) X X X X | 4th from the last syllable | preantepenultimate |
| (X) X X X X X | 5Th from the last syllable | quintultimate |
| X X X X X X | 6th from the last syllable | sexultimate |
