What is the smallest group of sounds in a word consisting of a vowel and consonants pronounced together?

The correct response is a syllable because it represents a unit of pronunciation that includes a vowel sound and may include consonant sounds before or after it. A syllable serves as the building block of words, allowing us to identify and pronounce them correctly. For example, the word "cat" has one syllable, consisting of the vowel sound 'a' and the consonant sounds 'c' and 't.'

In contrast, a word is a complete unit of meaning and can consist of one or more syllables, but it is not specifically defined by a combination of consonants and vowels in articulation. A phoneme refers to the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish words from one another, such as the sounds 'b' and 'p' in 'bat' and 'pat.' A morpheme is the smallest meaning-bearing unit in a word, which may consist of a single syllable or sound, but is not limited to the structural representation of a syllable. Therefore, while words, phonemes, and morphemes are all vital linguistic elements, a syllable specifically denotes the combination of a vowel with consonants in pronunciation.