In computing, a syllable is a
unit of information that describes the size of data for some digital
hardware from the 1960s and 1970s. The size of the unit varies by hardware design in much the same way that
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...
does. The term is not used for modern hardware; standardized terms, such as
byte
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
, are used instead.
Examples:
* 3-bit: some experimental
CISC designs
*
8-bit:
English Electric KDF9 (represented as
syllabic octals and also called
slob-octals
or
slobs in this context)
and
Burroughs large systems (see also:
Burroughs B6x00-7x00 instruction set)
*
12-bit
Before the widespread adoption of ASCII in the late 1960s, six-bit character codes were common and a 12-bit word, which could hold two characters, was a convenient size. This also made it useful for storing a single decimal digit along with a si ...
: NCR computers such as the
NCR 315 (also called
slabs in this context)
and
Burroughs large systems
* 13-bit:
Saturn Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC)
and
Gemini Spacecraft On-Board Computer (OBC)
See also
*
*
*
*
* (in linguistics)
References
Computing terminology
Data unit
Units of information
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