SYLLABLE

● /rɛd/

● /ɒ.rɪndʒ/

● /ɪn.dɪ.ɡəʊ/

● /æ.kwə.mə.rin/
The vowel-like centre of the syllable is the only obligatory part
Þthere are syllables made up entirely of vowels which contain no
consonants at all, such as the words ‘eye’ /aɪ/ and ‘are’ /ɑ/ (for non-
rhotic speakers).

Þobligatory vowel-like part: the nucleus.

● The portion of a syllable that contains consonants before the
nucleus in a syllable is called the onset

● The portion that contains consonants after the nucleus is called the
coda
The nature of the syllable

Syllables: consisting of a centre which has little or no obstruction to

airflow and which sounds comparatively loud.
Before and after this centre, there will be greater obstruction to
airflow and/or less loud sound.
i) What we will call a minimum syllable is a single vowel in
isolation
e.g.
● are /a:/
● or /o:/
● Err /3:/
ii) Some syllables have an onset - that is, instead of silence, they
have one or more consonants preceding the centre of the
syllable:
● bar /ba:/
● Key /ki:/
● More /mo:/
iii) Syllables may have no onset but have a coda - that is, they
end with one or more consonants
● Am /æm/
● ought /ɔːt/
● Ease /i:z/
iv) Some syllables have both onset and coda:
● ran /ræn/
● sat /sæt/
● fill /fɪl/
 PHONOTACTICS

the study of the possible phoneme combinations of a

language
The structure of
the English
syllable
1. If the first syllable of the word in question begins
with a vowel we say that this initial syllable has a
zero onset.

2. If the syllable begins with one consonant, that

initial consonant may be any consonant phoneme
except ŋ; ʒ is rare.
1. When we have two or more consonants together
we call them a consonant cluster.

2. Initial two-consonant clusters are of two sorts in

English.
One sort is composed of s followed by one of a small set of
consonants (sting, sway, smoke).

1. s: pre-initial consonant
2. The other consonant (t, w, m): the initial consonant.
The other sort begins with one of a set of about fifteen consonants, followed by one of
the set l, r, w, j

play /pleɪ/

try /traɪ/

quick /kwɪk/

few /fju:/

1. The first consonant: the initial consonant

2. The second consonant: the post-initial
three-consonant clusters
Split
/splɪt/

s: pre-initial consonant
p: initial consonant
l: post-initial.
 final consonant clusters
1. If there is no final consonant we say that there is a zero
coda.

2. When there is one consonant only, this is called the final

consonant.
 final consonant clusters
3. Any consonant may be a final consonant except h, w, j.

4. The consonant r is a special case: it doesn’t occur as a

final consonant in BBC pronunciation, but there are many
rhotic accents of English in which syllables may end with
this consonant.
 Two sorts of two-consonant final cluster

1. a final consonant preceded by a pre-final

consonant (m, n, ŋ, l, s)

2. a final consonant followed by a post-final

consonant (s, z, t, d, θ)
two types of final three-consonant cluster

● pre-final + final + post-final

 two types of final three-consonant cluster

● more than one post-final consonant can occur in a final cluster

(final plus post-final 1 plus post-final 2. Post-final 2 is again one of s, z, t, d, θ)

 four-consonant clusters
 a final consonant preceded by a pre-final and followed by post-final

1 and post-final 2
 four-consonant clusters
 consisting of a final consonant with no pre-final but three post-final consonants
English syllable
A selection of possible vowel and consonant structures for English syllables
 Syllable division
maximal onsets principle

where two syllables are to be divided, any

consonants between them should be attached to the
right-hand syllable, not the left, as far as
possible within the restrictions governing syllable
onsets and codas.
better /betə/

carry /kæri/
 ● consonants in between vowels

Þintervocalic consonants

● the consonant belongs to both syllables

ÞAmbisyllabic
The indefinite article is ‘a’ before consonant phonemes and ‘an’ before vowel
phonemes.
1 jar
2 order
3 yard
4 exit
5 uniform
6 hour
The definite article is pronounced ðə before a consonant phoneme
and ði before a vowel phoneme.
1 way
2 opening
3 house
4 oyster
5 use
6 whale
The velar nasal ŋ occurs in all the words in the following list. In some of them
the ŋ is followed by g in BBC pronunciation, while in others there is no g.
Choose ‘with g’ or ‘without g’ as appropriate.
1 angle
2 singer
3 strongest
4 linger
5 willingness
6 springy
“Clear l” and “dark l” have their own appropriate contexts of
occurrence in BBC pronunciation. In the words below, use the
drop-down menus to choose “clear” or “dark” for the correct
allophone of l.
1 full
2 help
3 alive
4 leak
5 building
I. The production of speech sounds
II. Voicing and consonant
III. Voicing and consonant
Write the consonant
IV. Syllable
IV. Syllable