How can the word, "prism" have two syllables and only one vowel?

Question

Is m a vowel in this case? is there another way to spell "prism"?

Answer 1

Pri-sm has two syllables because it has two nuclei. A nucleus is a sound that is at the heart of a syllable. In this case, the "m" sound is at the heart of a syllable, even though it is not considered a vowel. We linguists call this "syllabic m". Examples of other consonants that are sometimes syllablic are "l" as at the end of "little" or "n" as at the end of "sadden".

Please note that the spelling of words does not necessarily represent the way they are spelled. It is true that vowel sounds are sometimes represented by letters that we call "consonants", such as the vowel sound in "rhythm" (hey, that's another syllabic-m word!). Please don't get confused between the spelling and the sound. In order to avoid this problem, linguists use an alphabet called the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which has a one-to-one relationship between the sound and the symbol used to represent that sound. You can find it easily by searching, if you like.

Answer 2

it's a vocal stop (can't remember the proper name). it's made because of how the letters make the word sound. try to say it with one syllable, you can't. you have to take a pause for your mouth to adjust from the s to the m. tho technically it's pri-z(i)m, not pris-m