It is generally known that speech is a continuum.

However it
can be broken into minimal pronounceable units into which sounds
show a tendency to cluster or group. These smallest phonetic
groups are given the names of syllables. Being the smallest
pronounceable units, the syllables are capable of forming language
units of greater magnitude: morphemes, words and phrases. The
study of the syllable has for a long time occupied an important
place in linguistics as a field of theoretical investigation. A
considerable body of experimental work has been done but we have
to admit that the problem of the syllable is still an open question in
linguistics and phonetics.
Syllable formation in English is based on the phonological
opposition vowel-consonant. Vowels are usually syllabic while
consonants are not with the exceptions of [l], [m], [n], which
become syllabic in a final position preceded by a consonant or
between two final consonants: bottle [|btl], bottom [|btm], button
[|btn]. Many English words may be pronounced with a neutral
vowel before the final sonorant, in which case the latter becomes
non-syllabic.
Cf.
['ravl]and
['ravl]arrival,
['spel]and
['spel]special. These are only words which are spelt with a vowel
letter before the final sonorant. Compare radical which may be
pronounced ['rdkl] or ['rdkl], with miracle which has only one
pronunciation, namely ['mrkl]. However, there are many words in
English which are spelt with a vowel letter before the final sonorant
and yet have only one pronunciation that with a syllabic final
sonorant, e. g. capital [.pitl], garden [..dn], 'pardon [
dn], eaten ['i:tn], button ['b...tn], lesson ['lesn], season ['si:zn].
Since no rules can be formulated as to which words spelt with a
vowel letter before the final sonorant may be pronounced with a
neutral vowel sound in the last syllable, the learner of English is
recommended to make the final sonorant always syllabic in such
words.
The first attempts to examine syllables were made before our era by Ancient
Greeks in connection with their interest in the problems of rhetoric and versification.
Experimental investigations of the problems of the nature of the syllable, its
structure, the division of words into syllables appeared at the beginning of the 20th
century due to the first laboratories of experimental phonetics opened in Paris, St.
Petersburg and other countries and cities of the world.
Various theories of syllable formation and syllable division exist. One of the
first was the so-called expiratory theory, according to which each syllable is
accompanied by an uninterrupted act of exhalation (Silvers E.). The experimental
data showed that several syllables might be pronounced within one act of exhalation
and the expiratory theory considered to be wrong because it was experimentally
proved that in many cases two or more syllables were pronounced within one act of
exhalation.
Rather spread was sonority theory, according to which the main feature of the

syllable is sonority, the stressed syllable forms a peak of sonority (Esperson A.). The
variations of the sonority of the vowels in different in the word made it difficult to
define the boundaries between the syllables.
The theory of muscular tension was elaborated by P. Roudet, M. Grammont
and others and completed by L.V. Shcherba, according to whom sounds in connected
speech are pronounced with alternative intensification of intensification and
slackening of muscular tension. Each peak of intensification forms a syllable. L.V.
Shcherbas concept about the three forms of the syllables helped to solve the problem
of the syllable division.
One of the latest theories of syllabic formation is the energetic theory.
According to this theory a syllable was defined as a single portion of energy (Finkin
N.I.), as a minimal portion of energy (Stepanov U.S.). The energetic theory does not
deny the theory of muscular tension. There exists a direct connection between the
muscle tension of the organs of speech impulses of energy as any nerve and muscular
process causes energetic process. The energetic theory is rather widespread and
acknowledged by numerous linguists, but still the nature of the syllable impulse was
not quite clear and required further investigations.
The main principles of syllable formation and division are universal, i. e.
similar in all the syllabic languages but the rules of syllable formation and the
division of words into syllables may be different in different languages. At present
experimental investigations of the nature and structure of the syllable continued with
the help of modern acoustic devices and special computer programmes.
Every syllable has a definite structure, or form, depending on
the kind of speech-sound it ends in. There are two types of syllables
distinguished from this point of view. (1) A syllable which ends in a
vowel sound is called an open syllable, e.g. [ai] /, [hi:] he, [..ei]
they. (2) A syllable which ends in a consonant sound is called a
closed syllable, e.g. [it] it, [mn] man. The open and closed
syllables referred to here are phonetic syllables, i.e. syllables
consisting of actually pronounced speech-sounds. Inseparably
connected with syllable formation is the second aspect of the
syllabic structure of words, namely syllable division, or syllable
separation, i.e. the division of words into syllables. The linguistic
importance of syllable division in different languages is in finding
typology of syllables and syllable structure of meaningful units of a
language, i. e. morphemes and words. It is the syllable division that
determines the syllable structure of the language, its syllable
typology. Syllabic structure of a language is patterned like its
phonemic structure, which means that the sounds of a language
can be grouped into syllables according to certain rules. The part of
phonetics that deals with this aspect of a language is called
phonotactics. Phonotactic possibilities of a language determine
the rules of syllable division.
Syllable division:
1. Checked vowels (short, under stress, before a voiceless consonant)

a) If we have only 1 consonant after the short, stressed vowel, the boundary
() goes within () this consonant:
siti
b) If we have 2 consonants after the short, stressed vowel, the boundary goes
between them
2. Unchecked vowels (long, diphthongs, short unstressed)
a) If there is only 1 consonant after the unchecked vowel, the boundary goes
before it
b) If there are 2 consonants after the unchecked vowel, there are 2
possibilities:
If there are words beginning with this cluster, the boundary goes before it
If there are no such words, the boundary goes between these 2 consonants
c) If we have more than 2 consonants after the vowel, the boundary should go
maximally close to the vowel
d) If we have triphthongs, the boundary goes between the diphthong and the
neutral sound
vowel

intersyllabic

boundary

examples

sounds
I.
Short a)
single within the
stressed
consonant
consonant [ le

notes

n]

[ r m]
b) consonant between
cluster
the
consonant
s

[ ek1|s2|t3|r]
[ wn|d]
[ r|kl]

II.
Short a)
single before the [ mel|d]
unstressed,
consonant
consonant
long,
[ k :|n]
diphthong
[ le|bl]
b) consonant maximally
[| dres]
cluster
close
to
[k| spektd]
the vowel
[ f:|st]

In
case
of
intervocalic clusters
we
use
the
distributional
criterion:
the
combination
of
consonants
belongs
to
the
following syllable, if
such combinations
are
typical
of
English.

[ pe|trn]

! The so-called thriphthongs in English are disyllabic combinations, because they

contain two vowel phonemes:[ f aI |].
The first is constitutive function. It lies in its ability to be a
part of a word itself. The syllables form language units of greater
magnitude that is words, morphemes, and utterances. It this
respect two things should be emphasized. First, the syllable is the
unit within which the relations between distinctive features of
phonemes and their acoustic correlates are revealed. Second,
within a syllable (or syllables) prosodic characteristics of speech are
realized, which form the stress pattern of a word and the intonation
structure of an utterance. In sum, the syllable is a specific minimal
structure of both segmental and suprasegmental features.
In forming words and utterances the syllable performs the
delimitative function which is inseparable from the constitutive
function. Some syllables can occur only word-initially and others
only word-finally: thus marking the boundaries between words. For
instance, the syllables /dn/, /zl/, /stl/ cannot occur at the beginning
of English words, and can only occur at the end or in the middle of
words /g:-dn/, /pou-stl/
The other function is distinctive one. In this respect the
syllable is characterized by its ability to differentiate words and
word-forms. One minimal pare has been found in English to
illustrate the word distinctive function in the syllabic: nitrate
night-rate. There analogical distinction between word combinations
can be illustrated by many more examples: an aim - a name; an ice
house - a nice house, etc. Sometimes the difference in syllable
division may be the basic ground for differentiation in such pairs as
/naItreIt/ nitrate - /naItreIt/ night-rate, / neIm/ a name /n
eIm/ an aim, /wIloun/ well own /wI loun/ we loan, /aI skri:m/ I
scream /aIs kri:m/ ice-cream, /naIs haus/ a nice house
/naIshaus/ an ice house, /aIs:hr aIz/ I saw her eyes /aI
s:hr aIz / I saw her rise.
By way ofconclusion we could enumerate the following peculiarities
of the syllabic structure ofEnglish which are relevant for learners of
English:
1) syllabic boundary is inside intervocalic consonant preceded by a
short checked vowel;
2) the sonorants [1], [m], [n] are syllabic, if they are preceded by
noise consonants: little, blossom, sudden;

3) the typical and most fundamental syllable structure is of

(C)CVCtype. Russian learners of English should be aware of the
regularities governing the structure of monosyllabic and polysyllabic
words. Wrong syllable division on the articulatory level may lead to
inadequate perception of
phrases and consequently to
misunderstanding.