Chapter 8: THE SYLLABLE 8.1.

Phonetical and phonological definitions of the syllable

8.2. The structure of the English syllable 8.2.1. The initial segment 8.2.2. The final segment 8.2.3. The intervocalic segment

8.1. Phonetical and phonological definitions of the syllable

A. Phonetically (i.e. in relation to the way we produce it and the way it sounds), a syllable = a unit of pronunciation consisting of a centre which has little or no obstruction to the airflow and which sounds comparatively loud; before and after this centre (i.e. at the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be greater obstruction to the airflow and/or less loud sound. Phonetically, the syllable is defined at all levels: articulatory, auditory and acoustic.
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a) articulatory point of view: the syllable = a puff of air forced upward through the vocal channel by a compression of the inter-costal muscles.
the syllable is a problem of chest pulse 3 stages: -onset (release), -nucleus (culmination) the most important element, primarily represented by vowel sounds and also some consonants [m, n, , l, r] -coda (arrest).

b) Acoustically, syllables marked by increases in intensity corresponding to syllable nuclei.

c) In auditory terms, one can decode the number of syllables on the basis of the prominence of certain sounds in the continuous flow of speech. - sonority differences are determined by a number of factors: vocal cords vibration (voicing), the amount of air expelled from the lungs, the duration and resonance quality of sounds in passing through the vocal tract. Syllable = a segment of speech containing a peak of sonority or as a stretch of speech between two valleys of sonority.


m n t

e s

Types of syllables

a) a minimum syllable is a single vowel/diphthong in isolation, e.g. the words are [a:], or [:], err [:], eye [ai]. b) Some syllables have and onset: e.g. bar [ba:], key [ki:], more [m:]. c) Syllables may have no onset, but may have a coda, e.g. am [m], ought [:t], ease [i:z]. d) Some syllables have onset and coda, e.g. run [rn], sat [st], fill [fil].
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B. Phonologically syllable analysed in terms of the possible combinations of English phonemes a syllable = the lowest phonological construction into which phonemes are combined.

8.2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE 8.2.1. The initial segment - zero onset - if the first syllable of the word begins with a vowel (any vowel except [u]) - -If the syllable begins with one consonant, the initial consonant may be any consonant except []. - consonant clusters - when the initial syllable begins with two or three consonants Initial two-consonant clusters are of two sorts in English: a. [s] + one of a set of about 11 consonants [p, t, k, f, m, n], where [s] is called the pre-initial consonant, and the other the initial consonant. e.g. sting, sway, smoke, snow, skin, sphynx
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b. one of a set of 13 consonants + one of the set [l, r, w, j], where the consonant belonging to the first set will be the initial consonant, and the consonant belonging to the second set is called the postinitial consonant. e.g. plan, trail, twin, cue
Initial three-consonant clusters are quite few : split, stream, scream, and squeak. The [s] is the pre-initial consonant, the [p], [t], [k] that follow [s] are the initial consonants and the [l, [r], [w] are post-initial.
Post initial r spring stream

S+ initial cons.

p t k

l splash sclerosis scream

w -

j spew stew

squirrel skew

8.2.2. The final segment (max. 4 cons.) -zero coda - if the syllable does not end in a consonant, e.g. sky [skai], -When the nucleus is followed by one consonant only, this is called the final consonant. Any consonant may be a final consonant, except [h, r, w, j]. e.g. cub, hat, man, girl, king, kiss -A syllable may end in two or more consonants - consonant clusters:
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Two-consonant clusters - two types: a. pre-final consonant [m, n, , l, s] + final consonant e.g. lump [lmp], tent [tent], tank [tk], belt [belt], task [ta:sk] b. final consonant + post-final consonant [s, z, t, d, ] e.g. cats [kts], heads [hedz], packed [pkt], loved [lvd], fifth [fif].

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 Final three-consonant clusters - two types: a. pre-final + final + post-final consonant. Pre-final + final + post-final milked [mi l k t] thanked [ k t] golfs [ g l f s] twelfth [twe l f ]

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b. final consonant + two post-final consonants:

final fifths [fi widths [wi lapsed [l f d p + post-final1 + post-final2 s s] s] t]

The second post-final consonant is again one of [s, z, t, d, ].

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 Four-consonant clusters - two types: a) final consonant preceded by a pre-final consonant and followed by post-final1 and post-final2: pre-final final post-final1 post-final2 attempts [te m p t s] instincts [insti k t s] prompts [pr m p t s] b) final consonant with no pre-final but three post-finals:
pre-fin. fin. sixths [si k post-fin.1 s post-fin.2 post-fin.3 s]

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Summary

PreInitial

initial

postinitial

VOWEL

prefinal

final

postfinal1

postfinal2 CODA

(postfinal3)

ONSET

NUCLEUS

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New structure of the syllable

SYLLALBE

Rhyme

Onset
peak coda

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8.2.3. The intervocalic segment

- one consonant between two vowels: the consonant = onset of the second syllable: VCV = V CV, e.g. bakery [bei - k - ri].
-two consonants : VCCV = VC + VC, action [k - ()n], picture [pik -t]. - three intervocalic consonants will be divided as follows: VCCCV = VC CCV: pilgrim [pil grim] = VCC CV: anxious [k - s] (Chitoran, 1978:272) -four consonant medial clusters: VCCCCV = VCC CCV: exclaim [iks klaim]; = VC CCV: extreme [ik stri:m]
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