formatting only one syllabe in a word - please help

[Janek Warchoł]

Hi,

probably this is quite basic, but i'm in a hurry and can't find it in manuals...
I want only one syllabe in a word be formatted, for example i'd like
to have syllabe "ma" in word "malicious" bold and underlined.
Unfortunately the code \markup { {\bold \underline ma} licious }
produces two words: ma licious.
How should it be done?

cheers,
Jan