The syllable

The nature of the syllable

Phonetically, syllables are usually described as consisting of a centre which has little

or no obstruction to air flow and which sounds are comparatively loud; before and after

this centre ( that is, at the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be greater

obstruction to air flow and / or less loud sound. Consider the following examples:

1.Minimum syllable is a single sound in isolation, e.g. are /a:/, or /o:/, err/ə:/.These are

preceded and followed by silence . Isolated sounds such as /m/which is used to indicate

agreement or /ʃ/ to ask for silence, must be regarded as syllables.

2. Onset is the consonant that precedes the centre of the syllable such as:

bar /ba:/, key /ki:/, more /mo:/.

3. Coda is the consonant that follows the centre of the syllable such as am /æm/,

ought/o:t/, ease /i:z/.

4. Some syllables have onset and coda such as run/rΛn/, sat/sæt/, fill/fil/.

Phonologically, this involves looking at the possible phoneme combinations of a

language which is referred to as phonotactics. It is found that a word can begin with a

vowel, or one, two or three consonants. No word begins with more than three

consonants. Similarly, a word can end with a vowel or with one, two, three or four

consonants. No English word ends with more than four consonanmts.

The structure of the syllable

If the first syllable of the word begins with a vowel, this initial syllable has a zero onset.

If such a syllable begins with a consonant, this consonant is called an onset. When the

syllable begins with two or more consonants together we call them a consonant cluster.

Initial two – consonant clusters

Initial two – consonant clusters are of two types. One of such types is composed of /s/ +

/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /m/, /n/:

Spoon/spu:n/, stay/stei/, scope/skəup/, sphere/sfiə/.

It is possible for /s/ to be followed by /l, w, j/ and /r/:

Sleep/sli:p/, swim/ swim/, sewer/sjuə/, syringe/srinʤ/. The /s/ in such clusters is called

the pre initial consonant and the following consonant is called the initial consonant. The

other type begins with one of a set of about fifteen consonants, followed by one of a set

of consonants such as /l, r, w, j/: play /plei/, try/trai/, quick/kwik/, few/fju:/. The fist

consonant in such clusters is called the initial consonant. The second consonant is

referred to as the post – initial consonant.

Initial three – consonant cluster

English words can begin with /s/ followed by two consonants as illustrated in the

following examples:

split/split/, stream/stri:m/, square/skweə/.

The /s/ in such clusters is called the pre – initial consonant. The /p/, /t/ and /k/ are called

the initial consonants. the /l/, /r/ and /w/ are called the post initial consonants. Consider

the following diagram:

Post initial

/l/ /r/ /w/ /j/

/p/ splay spray spew

/s/ + initial /t/ string stew

/k/ sclerosis screen squeak skewer

Final consonant clusters

Four consonants can occur at the end of English words. If there is no final consonant, it

is said that there is a zero coda. If there is only one consonant it is called the final

consonant. There are two types of two – consonant final cluster. The first one is as

follows:

Pre – final + final: bump /bΛmp/, bent /bent/, bank /bæŋk/, belt /belt/, ask /a:sk/.

In such clusters, the consonants /m, n, ŋ, l, s/ are called pre – final consonants. The

consonants /p, t, k, t, k/ are called final consonants.

The second type is as follows:

Final + post – final : bets /bets/, beds /bedz/, backed /bækt/, bagged /bægd/, eighth

/eitϴ/. In such clusters, the consonants /t, d, k, g, t/ are called final consonants. The

consonants /s, z, t, d, ϴ/ are called post – final consonants. Consider the following

tables:
 Pre – final final post – final

Helped he l p t

Banks bæ ŋ k s

Bonds bo n d z

Twelfth twe l f ϴ

Pre – final final post – final 1 postfinal2

Fifths fi f ϴ s

Next ne k s t

Pre – final final post – final1 postfinal2

Twelfths twe l f ϴ s

Prompts pro m p t sr

A small number of cases seem to require different analysis as consisting of a final

consonant with no pre – final but three post – finals as illustrated in the following

diagram:

Pre – final final post – final1 postfinal2 postfinal3

Sixths si k s ϴ s

Texts te k s t s
Recent work in phonology makes use of a rather refined analysis of the syllable in

which the vowel and the coda are known as the rhyme. The rhyme is divided into the

peak( normally the vowel) and the coda (but this is optional. The rhyme may have no

coda, as in me.