7.1. Syllable
7.2. Kinds of Syllables
7.3. Syllable structure
Syllable nucleus
syllable onset
Syllable coda
7.4. Syllables and Phonotactic constraints
.4.1. Types of Syllables
7.5. Syllabic consonants
Syllabic /n/ and /l/
7.6. Comparison of Syllabic Structure of Arabic and English
Exercises -
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. It is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants).
Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter, its stress patterns, etc.
A word that consists of a single syllable (like ‘cat’ in English) is called a monosyllable (such a word is monosyllabic), while a word consisting of two syllables (like monkey) is called a disyllable (such a word is disyllabic). A word consisting of three syllables (such as indigent) is called a trisyllable (the adjective form is trisyllabic). A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as intelligence) is called a polysyllable (and could be described as polysyllabic), although this term is often used to describe words of two syllables or more.
There are four ways to split up a word into its syllables :
1- Divide between two middle consonants .For example : hap-pen and bas-ket .
The exceptions are th ,ph, sh, ch and wh .
2- Usually divide before a single middle consonant .When there is only one syllable, you usually
divide in front of it , as in : o-pen and i-tem .
3-Divide before the consonant before le syllable .For example : a-ble and rub-ble . The only
exception is ckle words such as tickle .
4-Divid off any compound words , prefixes , suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds . Spilt off the parts of the compound words such as sports–car . Divide off prefix such as un–happy. Also divide off suffixes as in farm-er .
To find the number of syllables in a word ,use the following steps :
1- Count the vowels in the word.
2- Subtract any silent vowels ,(like the silent e at the end of the a word , or the second vowel
when two vowels are together in a syllable ).
3- Subtract one vowel from every diphthong (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound).
4- The number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables.
7.2. Kinds of Syllables
There are six different kinds of syllables in English:
1- Closed Syllables has one and only one vowel, and it ends in a consonant (in ,ask, sock)
2- Open Syllables has one and only one vowel, and that vowel occurs at the end of the syllable
(no, she)
3- Silent e Syllable ends in e , and has one and only one consonant before that e , and has one and only one vowel before that consonant (ate ,ice ,these).
4- Vowel combination Syllables has a cluster of two vowels (rain, day, see, toy, true).
5- Vowel –r syllable is one which includes one and only one vowel followed by r ,or one vowel followed by /r/ which is followed by a silent e or a vowel combination followed by /r/ (car, or, care, air).
6- Consonant – le Syllable : In these syllables , a consonant is followed by le . The vowel sound in these syllables is schwa l (ble, cle, dle, fle) (see syllabic consonant)
7.3. Syllable structure
The general structure of a syllable consists of the following segments:
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Onset (obligatory in some languages, optional in others)
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Rime
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Nucleus (obligatory in all languages)
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Coda (optional in some languages, highly restricted or prohibited in others)
tree representation of a CVC syllable
In some theories of phonology, these syllable structures are displayed as tree diagrams (similar to the trees found in some types of syntax).
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Syllable nucleus
The syllable nucleus is typically a sonorant, usually a vowel sound, in the form of a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong, but sometimes sonorant consonants like [l] or [r].
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syllable onset
The syllable onset is the sound or sounds occurring before the nucleus.
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Syllable coda
(literally 'tail') is the sound or sounds that follow the nucleus. The term rime covers the nucleus plus coda. In the one-syllable English word cat, the nucleus is a, the onset c, the coda t, and the rime at. This syllable can be abstracted as a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable, abbreviated CVC.
Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus. Onsets are extremely common, and some languages require all syllables to have an onset. (That is, a CVC syllable like cat is possible, but a VC syllable such as at is not.)
We may describe the English syllable as having the following maximum phonological structure.
Pre- initial post-initial vowel pre- final post- post- post-
Initial final final1 final2 final3
Onset nucleus Coda
This is an analysis of the word ‘cramped’
initial post-initial vowel pre-final final post-final
k r æ m p t
Onset nucleus Coda
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