Tautosyllabic

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Two or more phones (segments) are tautosyllabic (with each other) if they occur in the same syllable. Take for instance the English word "cat". Since this word is monosyllabic, the three phones /k/, /æ/ and /t/ are tautosyllabic. They can also be described as sharing a 'tautosyllabic distribution'. However, in the French word "être" (meaning "to be", syllabified ê-tre), only the three last phones /t/, /r/ and /e/ are tautosyllabic, all members of the second syllable. Phones which are not tautosyllabic are heterosyllabic. For example, in the English word "mustard", /m/ and /t/ are heterosyllabic, as they are members of different syllables.