syllabify-it

A JavaScript library to split Italian words into syllables.

Installation

npm install syllabify-it

Usage

const { syllabify } = require("syllabify-it");

console.log(syllabify("parola"));     // ["pa", "ro", "la"]
console.log(syllabify("preghiera"));  // ["pre", "ghie", "ra"]
console.log(syllabify("ostacolo"));   // ["o", "sta", "co", "lo"]
console.log(syllabify("tetto"));      // ["tet", "to"]
console.log(syllabify("tecnico"));    // ["tec", "ni", "co"]
console.log(syllabify("lingua"));     // ["lin", "gua"]
console.log(syllabify("buoi"));       // ["buoi"]
console.log(syllabify("maiale"));     // ["ma", "ia", "le"]
console.log(syllabify("zio"));        // ["zi", "o"]

Features

• Handles common Italian syllabification rules
• Supports digraphs (ch, gh) and consonant clusters (pr, tr, gl, etc.)
• Basic handling of diphthongs and triphthongs

Limitations & Future Work

This library is a rule-based implementation of Italian syllabification,
following the guidelines provided by the
Accademia della Crusca.

Since Italian syllabification can involve ambiguous cases (for example, whether a vowel sequence forms a diphthong or a hiatus), the library applies a set of general rules without relying on a dictionary of exceptions.
This means that in some edge cases the output may vary depending on context or pronunciation, but for the vast majority of words it reflects the normative division in syllables.

Planned improvements

• Strict mode to force syllable breaks in all ambiguous hiatus cases.
• Exception dictionary for special words where general rules are not enough.
• Sentence support: ability to split not only single words but entire sentences, keeping punctuation and spacing intact.

License