syllables

1. 9 Strong and weak syllables
Strong vs. weak syllables (i.e. they differ in stress)
(1) !e@9-C? (father)
(2) !gzo-h (happy)
(3) !SzMjit (thank you)
(4) !aPs-k< (bottle)
(5) !Sqds-mÿ (threaten)
/?/, /h/, and /t/ don’t occur in strong syllables, nor do syllabic consonants like / /, / /.
Weak syllables have a small number of possible peaks and they can have no coda.
/?/ is ________, __________, lax vowel (the lips are in neutral position).
It can correspond to many different spellings:
<a>, <ar>, <ate>, <o>, <or>, <e>, <er>, <u>, <ough>, <ou>.
/h/ and /t/ are close front and close back vowels respectively.
It is difficult to distinguish between /h9/ and /H/ and /t9/ and /T/ in unstressed syllables. Still, they are
more like /h9/ and /t9/ when they precede another vowel, less so when they precede a consonant or
pause.
/h/ i) <-y>, <-ey> and in morphological related words (e.g. !gUqhHM)
ii) unstressed <re->, <pre->, <de-> + vowel (e.g. qh!zjs)
iii) <-iate>, <-ious> (e.g. ?!oqh9-Rh-dHs)
iv) he, she, we, me, be, the (+ vowel) (all unstressed)
/t/ i) you, to, into, do (all unstressed and not immediately preceding a consonant)
ii) through, who (all unstressed)
ii) within a word: before another vowel (e.g. H$uzj-it!dH-R?m)
/k</ What is lateral release?
In less common words or more technical words /?k/ can be used instead (e.g. !aPs-k< vs. ?!jvHs-?k)
/m<</ is most common after alveolar plosives and fricatives
/l</ and /M<</ occur only as a result of processes such as assimilation and elision (!hQol,<!aq?TjM<jh9)
/q</ is very common in rhotic accents
Syllabic consonants can be found together: !mQRm<k<
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2. Chapters 10 and 11 (Stress in simple and complex words)
What is stress?
• Stress from a perceptual point of view: prominence
1) loudness
2) length (second most important)
3) pitch (most important; it is the perceptual correlate of the fundamental frequency of vibration of the vocal folds)
4) quality: [@], [i], [u], syllabic consonants
• Stress from a production point of view: muscular energy (e.g. higher subglottal pressure)
• Three levels of stress are usually recognised: primary, secondary, unstressed
?!q`Tmc (unstressed + primary stress)
$e?T-s?!fqze-Hj (secondary stress + unstressed + primary stress + unstressed)
$zms-Sq?!oPk-?-cYh (secondary stress + unstressed + primary stress + unstressed + unstressed)
Is it possible to predict English stress placement?
• Other languages: French (last syllable), Polish (penultimate), Czech (first), Italian…
• Some phonologists argue it is possible to predict stress placement (see Roach 2000: 98-100,
among others, on simple words). To be sure, if a weak vowel is present, it can’t be stressed.
• It is important to distinguish between simple words (e.g. father) and complex words.
Complex words:
1) words derived from a basic form (base) with the addition of an affix
person > personality (suffix)
pleasant > unpleasant (prefix)
impossible > im-bloody-possible (infix)
2) compound words (words usually made of two independent words, e.g. ice-cream, armchair)
Remember that in three-syllable simple words the last syllable is usually quite prominent, so that in
some cases it could be said to have secondary stress.
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3. Derived words
Suffixes
1) stress on the suffix;
2) stress on the last syllable of the stem;
3) stress not affected.
Examples of 1):
-ee: train > trainee (vs. trainer) sqdHm > $sqdH!mh9
-ese: journal > journalese !cY29-m?k > $cY29-m?k!h9y
-ette: cigar > cigarette rH!f@9+r?, > $rHf-?q!ds+!,,,
-esque: picture > picturesque !oHj-sR? > $oHj-sR?q!drj
Examples of 2): (-eous, -graphy, -ial, -ic, -ion, -ious, -ty, -ive)
-eous: advantage > advantageous ?c!u@9m-sHcY > $zc-u?m!sdH-cY?r+,u@9m!,+,uzm!,
-ic: atom > atomic !zs-?l > ?!sPl-Hj
-ious: injure > injurious !Hm-cY? > Hm!cYT?-qh-?r+,!cYN9,
-ive: reflex > reflexive !qh9-ekdjr > qH!ekdj-rHu+q?,
Examples of 3): (-able, -age, -al, -en, -ful, -ing, -ish, -like, -less, -ly, -ment, -ness, -ous, -fy, -wise, -y)
-able: comfort > comfortable !jUlo-e?s > !jUloe-s?-ak<+!jUlo-e?-s?,
-age: block > blockage akPj > !akPj-HcY
-al: refuse (v.), refusal qH!eit9y+q?, > qH!eit9-y?k+q?,
-ance, -ant, -ary: see p.107
One more interesting case (try to think of examples employing the adjectives below):
-ed:
aged »eIdZId (naked »neIkId)
beloved bI»l√vId ragged »rQgId
blessed »blesId rugged »r√gId
crooked »crUkId (sacred »seIkrId)
cursed »kŒ˘sId (wicked »wIkId)
dogged »dogId wretched »retSId
learned »lŒ˘nId one/three/four-legged »legId (e.g. a three- legged stool)
Prefixes and infixes
Same rules as those for words without prefixes.
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4. Compounds
Normally, stress is on the first element:
(1) !sxod$vqhsdq
(2) !b`q,$edqqx
(3) !rtm$qhrd
(4) !rths$b`rd
(5) !sd`,$bto
An interesting contrast:
(6) an !English teacher (a teacher who teaches English)
(7) an English !teacher (a teacher who is English)
(8) a !doll’s house (a kind of house)
(9) my brother’s !house (not a kind of house!)
(10) !goat’s milk (a kind of milk)
(11) the goat’s !tail (not a kind of tail)
but:
(12) a child’s !bicycle (a kind of bicycle)
Some exceptions:
1) the first element is an adjective and the second element ends in –ed:
(13) $a`c,!sdlodqdc
(14) $g`ke,!shladqdc(A half-timbered house is usually old and shows the wooden structure of the building on the outside walls.)
(15) $gd`ux,!g`mcdc
2) the first element is a number:
(16) $rdbnmc,!bk`rr
(17) $ehud,!ehmfdq (e.g. five- finger exercise: on the piano; fig. an easy task)
(18) $sgqdd,!vgddkdq '(BrEng) a car that has three wheels ; (AmEng) a vehicle that has three wheels, especially a
motorcycle, tricycle, or special wheelchair)
3) the first element functions as an adverb:
(19) $gd`c,!ehqrs (e.g. I fell head-first down the stairs)
(20) $mnqsg,!d`rs
(21) $cnvm!rsqd`l (e.g. a boat drifting downstream)
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5. Remember also that we often have alternatives (which may depend on the context the word occurs in).
Consider the following examples (syllable: preferred stress; only BrE shown):
Based on Wells (2000) From Jones (2003)
controversy !jPm-sq?-u29-rh+,u?-rh:j?m!sqPu-?-rh
comparable !jPl-o?q-?-ak<
contribute j?m!sqHa-it9s+!jPm-sqH-ait9s+,i?s
dispute (noun) (the verb is always dispute) cH!roit9s:!cHr-oit9s
distribute cH!rsqHa-it9s:!cHr-sqH-ait9s+,sq?,
exquisite Hj!rjvHy-Hs+dj,:!dj-rjvH-yHs+,y?s
formidable !eN9-lH-c?-ak<:eN9!lHc-?,+e?,
irreparable (___ non-RP) H!qdo-?q-?-ak<
irrevocable H!qdu-?-j?-ak<
kilometre jH!kPl-H-s?+!,?,:!jHk-?T$lh9,
lamentable !kzl-?m-s?-ak<+,Hm,:k?!ldm
necessarily !mdr-?-r?q-?k-h+!,H,+,H-kh:$mdr-?!rdq,+,H!,
preferable (___ non-RP) !oqde-?q-?-ak<
primarily oq`H!ldq-?k-h+,!ld?-q?k,+,H-kh:!oq`H-l?q-?k,+,H-kh
reputable (___ non-RP) !qdo-i?-s?-ak<+,iT
temporarily !sdl-o?q-?q?k-h+,H-kh+,oq?q,
Two-syllable (simple) words with identical spelling belonging to two different word-classes:
Adjectives (A) or Nouns (N) All verbs
abstract !za-rsqzjs'A( za!rsqzjs+?a,
conduct !jPm-cUjs+,c?js (N) j?m!cUjs
contract !jPm-sqzjs (N) j?m!sqzjs
contrast !jPm-sq@9rs(N) j?m!sq@9rs
desert !cdy-?s (N) cH!y29s+c?,
escort !dr-jN9s (N) H!rjN9s+dr!jN9s: but !dr-jN9s also possible
export !dj-roN9s (N) Hj!roN9s+dj,:!dj-roN9s
import !Hl-oN9s (N) Hl!oN9s+$Hl,+but !,, also possible
insult !Hm-rUks (N) Hm!rUks
object !Pa-cYHjs+,cYdjs (N) ?a!cYdjs
perfect !o29-eHjs (A) o?!edjs+o29,
permit !o29-lHs (N) o?!lHs
present !oqdy-?ms(N, A) oqH!ydms+oq?,
produce !oqPc-it9r+!oqPcY-t9r (N) oq?!cit9r+,!cYt9r
protest !oq?T-sdrs (N) oq?T!sdrs
rebel !qda-?k (N) qH!adk+q?,
record !qdj-N9c (note AmE !qdj-‘c) (N) qH!jN9c+q?,
subject !rUa-cYHjs+,cYdjs (N) r?a!cYdjs+rUa,: but !rUa-cYdjs+,cYHjs also
possible
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6. Variation also due to:
1) Connected speech:
(22) a !bad-tempered !teacher
(23) a !half-timbered !house
(24) a !heavy-handed !sentence
2) Idiolectal variation (see also the list on the previous page):
(25) !ice-$cream, $ice-!cream
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