THE SYLLABLE

A syllable can be defined as a unit potentially larger than the phoneme /’fni:m/ but smaller than the word. Phonemes
can be regarded as the basic phonological element. Above the phoneme, there are units larger in extent, the syllable
and the word.

The structure of a syllable

Syllable
The only obligatory element of the syllable is the nucleus /ˈnjuːkliəs/, a speech
sound which is a vowel or a syllabic consonant. The onset (initial consonant
sequence) is optional as it is the coda /’kd/ (final sequence of consonantal Onset Rhyme
segments).
This tree diagram introduces the possibility of representing a hierarchical
structure for segments. The nucleus and the coda are more closely related to
Nucleus Coda
one another than either of them is to the onset. Nucleus and coda form a single
constituent called rhyme, which plays an important role in verse.

The syllable consists of an obligatory vowel potentially surrounded by consonants. A consonant is a speech sound
which typically occurs at the margins of the syllable.

A syllabic consonant is a consonant that can also act as nucleus of syllables  English /n, m, l, /

The syllabic element formed by a consonant is longer and more prominent than normal. Such consonants are syllabic
consonants, in many cases, alternative pronunciations with // are also possible. In certain types of English (General
America, Scottish and West Country), /r/ can also be syllabic.

[POSSIBLE VOWEL AND CONSONANT STRUCTURES FOR ENGLISH SYLLABLES]

The English syllable can consist of up to 3 consonants in initial position and 4 in final position.

A syllable that ends in 1 or more consonants is a closed syllable. One ending in a vowel is an open syllable. And a
sequence of consonants at the margin of a syllable is a consonant cluster.

In any language, there are constraints on the possible combinations of sounds which occur in consonant clusters.

For instance, English doesn’t permit syllable onsets such as /pn, ps, vw/. In Spanish, clusters with initial /s/ are not
possible, for example, /sp, st, skw, str/, although these are commonly found in English.

En English, there are other constraints for syllable structure:

1. // never occurs in onsets.

2. /h, j, w/ never occur in codas.
3. Lenis fricatives /v, , z, / never occur in onset clusters.
4. In three-element onset clusters, the initial consonant is always /s/.
5. /t, d, / never combine with /l/ in onset clusters.
6. Nasals never combine with stops in onsets.

But languages don’t use all the combinations possible in their ‘inventories /ˈɪnvəntəriz/.

Many words are polysyllabic. In such cases we have to divide the word, before we can attempt a syllable analysis.
English has a complex syllable structure.
(Consonant/vowel distinction)

The syllables which can occur as a syllable nucleus are those which have the most so’nority. The sonority of a sound
is related to its acoustic /’ku:stk/ make-up; sounds composed largely of musical tones, like vowels, are more
sonorous /’snrs/ than those which have more significant acoustic noise elements, like stops and fricatives.

The sonority of a sound is its loudness relative to that of other sounds with the same length, stress and pitch
(frequency of vibration of sound waves; the more frequency, the more pitch).

RELATIVE SONORITY SCALE

Sonority is correlated with degrees of obstruction of the airstream.

CONSONANTS CLASSED ACCORDING TO SONORITY

There are 3 types of sound:

 Vowels: which are typically syllable nucleus;

 Obstruents: which are always at the margins of syllables (onset or coda).
Obstruent: a consonant which involve some kind of physical noise in their production: hissing or exploding
 affricates and plosives.
 And there is an INTERMEDIATE CATEGORY: the sonorant consonants (nasals and approximants) which
can occur at the margins of a syllable or can function as a nucleus, when it is a syllabic consonant.
Sonorants: sounds that give a resonant /’rez nnt/ sort of impression, like vowels sounds, and there is a
complete absence of audible friction or plosion.

The usefulness of these concepts in the syllable lies in the fact that where sonority is greatest we have the centre of a
syllable, whereas /wer’z/ where sonority is lowest we are near the edge of a syllable. This can be deduced from the
fact that vowels are closely associated /’ssietd/ with syllable centres.

These are examples of PROMINENCE IN VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

This phenomenon has led to establish a Sonority Sequencing Generalization or SSG, that says that in any syllable,
there is a segment constituting /’knsttju:t/ a sonority peak that is preceded and/or followed /’fld/ by a sequence
of segments with progressively decreasing sonority values.

Sonority peak: if a segment has a sonority value higher than its adjacent segments, then that segment constitutes a
sonority peak. The number of peaks and syllables coincide /,kn’sad/ exactly.

However, there are some exceptions to this generali’zation /’zen/, such as the words button /’btn/ (2-9-1-5) and
bottle /’btl/ (2-9-1-6). MAKE GRAPHICS

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Clusters permitted:

Onsets Nucleus Coda

English Up to 3 cons. a Up to 4
Spanish Up to 2 cons. aj Up to 2 (non word final): - + /s/
/s/ + cons Only 1 (word final)

Spanish speakers’ difficulties in production of English onsets/codas:

- Addition of //e/ We don’t have plosives in final position.
- Omission of final consonant (plosive) No Spanish words ending in bilabial nasal.
- Substitution of /m/ by /n/