Debi Bober: Hello, my name is Debi Bober.

A lot of people read my name and want to say, BOB-ER. So here's a quick phonology lesson to help you say my name. It's all about the closed and open syllables. The closed syllable is the most common spelling unit in English. When the vowel of a syllable is short, the syllable gets closed off by a consonant. When you connect the closed syllable to another syllable that begins with a consonant, you double the consonant between the syllables. So Bobber would have double Bs. But when a syllable is open, like the Bo in Bober, it ends with a long vowel. When you combine another syllable with an open syllable, you do not double the consonant. Since Bober has one B in the middle, it begins with an open syllable, which means it is pronounced with the long vowel sound O: Bober.