This document discusses the concept of syllables, outlining their phonetic definition as a unit of sound with varying airflow obstructiveness. It explains different types of syllable structures, including onset and coda, as well as examples of consonant clusters in both initial and final positions. The document also highlights recent phonological analyses that separate the vowel and coda into distinct parts known as the rhyme.

1. Phonology (2)
Lecture (2)
The Syllable

2. What is syllable?
The syllable is a very important unit. Most people, even if they cannot define
what a syllable is, can count how many syllables there are in a word. They
often tap their fingers as they count, which shows the importance of syllables
in rhythm of speech.
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3. Phonetic definition of syllables
Phonetically (in relation to the way we produce them and the way they sound),
a syllable is described as consisting a center which has little or no air obstruction
which sounds loud. Before and after this center, there will be greater obstruction
of the airflow. Consider the following examples:
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4. Let’s examine some examples:
1. What we may call a minimum syllable would be a single vowel in isolation as
the words / /
ɑː and / /.
ɔː These are preceded and followed by silence.
2. Some syllables have an onset (they have more than just silence preceding the
center): /ki / /m / /b r/
ː ɔː ɑː
3. Syllables may have no onset but have a coda: /æm/ / t/ /i z/
ɔ ː
4. Some syllables have onset and coda: /r n/ /sæt/ /f l/
ʌ ɪ
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5. Phonological definition of
syllables
The phonological definition looks at the possible combinations of phonemes in
the onset and coda of the syllable.
Let’s look in detail at the syllable onset. If the first syllable of a word starts with
a vowel (any vowel may occur), we say that this initial syllable has a zero onset.
If the syllable begins with one consonant, that initial consonant may be any
consonant except / / and / /.
ʒ ŋ
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6. If the syllable begins with two or more consonants, we call them consonant
cluster.
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, as in /st / sting, /swe /
ɪŋ ɪ
sway, /sm k/ smok The /s/ in these clusters is called the pre-initial consonant,
əʊ
and the other consonant is called the initial consonant.
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7. 7

8. The other sort begins with one of a set about fifteen consonants followed by one
of /l, r, w, j/, as in /ple / /tra / /kw k/ /fju /.
ɪ ɪ ɪ ː We call the first consonant in
these clusters as the initial consonant, and the second consonant as the post-
initial consonant. There are some restrictions on which consonants can occur
together as shown in the following table:
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10. If we look at three-consonant clusters, we can recognize a clear relationship
between them and two-consonant clusters. Examples are /spl t/ /stri m/
ɪ ː
/skwe r/. The /s/ in these clsuters is called the pre-initial consonant; the /p
ə /,
/k/, /t/ that follow the /s/ is called the initial consonant; the /l/, /r/, /w/ are post
initial. In fact, the number of possible three-consonant clusters is quite small
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11. Now we have a similar task with final consonant clusters. We find the possibility
of up to four consonants at the end of a word. If there is no final consonant, we
say that there is a zero coda. When there is only one consonant, it is called the
final consonant. Any consonant may be a final consonant except /h/, /r/, /w/, /j/.
There are two sorts of two-consonant final clusters; one being a final consonant
preceded by a pre-final consonant, and the other a final consonant followed by a
post-final consonant. The pre-final consonants form a small set /m/, /n/, /s/, /l/
and / /. We can see this in such words as / /b mp/ /bent/ /bæ k/ /belt/ / sk/.
ŋ ʌ ŋ ɑː
The post-final consonants form a small set, too: /s, z, t, d, θ/. We can see thisin
such words as /bets/ /bedz/ /bækt/ /bægd/. The post-final consonants can
often be identified as separate morphemes.
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12. There are two types of final three-consonant clusters; the first is pre-final
+final+ post-final
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13. The second type shows that more than one post-final can occur in a final
cluster: final +post-final 1+ post-final 2.
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14. Most four-consonant clusters can be analyzed as consisting of a final consonant
preceded by a pre-final and followed by post-final 1 and post-final 2
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15. To sum up, we can describe the
English syllable as having the
following maximum phonological
structure
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16. Recent work on phonology makes use of a more refined analysis of the syllable
in which the vowel and the coda are known as the rhyme. The rhyme is divided
into the peak and the coda.
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