Coda

Coda is the name of a syllabic constituent, which contains the consonant(s) following the nucleus. Unlike the other two syllabic constituents, the onset and the nucleus, the coda is not universal: some languages (Hua, Cayuvava, Hawaiian (Blevins 1995, Piggott 1999)) do not have a coda at all, that is, all syllables are open, others (Yapese (Piggott 1999)) only have it word finally, yet others (Italian) only word medially, but not word finally.

The nucleus and the coda together make up the rhyme.

References

• Blevins, Juliette (1995) The syllable in phonological theory, in: John A. Goldsmith (ed.) The Handbook of Phonological Theory, Cambridge, Mass. & Oxford: Blackwell. 206–244.
• Piggott, Glyne L. (1999) At the right edge of words, The Linguistic Review 16: 143–185.