The syllable

The Syllable
 In English a syllable consists of a phoneme or a
sequence of phonemes. If the syllable receives
word stress it can be associated with meaning
and form what is usually called a word.
 No word in English can consist of anything less
than a syllable and no syllable can consist of
anything less than a vowel.
 Syllable .1
 Syllable: is a unit of pronunciation typically larger than a single sound and smaller than a word.
 Consider the following examples:
 “card” /ka:d/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel

/a:/ and preceding and following consonants /k, d/.

 “car” /ka:/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel

/a:/ and a preceding consonant /k/.

 “is” /ɪz/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel /ɪ/
card /ka:d/ CVC
and a following consonant /z/.
 “are” /a:/ includes one syllable (a minimum syllable) car /ka:/ CV
composed of the vowel /a:/.
 is /ɪz/ VC
Accordingly, syllable s must include a vowel, may have consonants preceding and following that vowel.
 The different possibilities of the structure of a syllable can be represented as follows: (C) V (C)
are :a/ V
,.cont
syllable

onset rhyme
Nucleus coda )optional(
)optional( )not optional(

one or more
consonants vowel one or more
consonants
,.cont
syllables

open syllables closed syllables

Syllables which end syllables which

in a vowel and end in a coda
’no coda ‘consonants
 :Syllable Structure.2
Technically, a syllable:
must have a centre (called peak or nucleus) which is a vowel
 could have an onset (which is the initial part of the syllable) that consists of
either one or more consonants.
 could have a coda (which is the final part of the syllable) that consists of either
one or more consonants.
the nucleus and the coda form the rhyme/ rime.
:Syllable Structure.2
.Provide examples of rhyming words
E.g. see bee me tea
seat
sit
sat
car
horn
cut
ear
hair
tour
buy
pay
boy
 .Provide examples of rhyming words
E.g. see bee me tea
seat, heat eat, feet, beat,
sit, it, fit, hit
sat, at, bat, hat
car, are, bar, tar
horn, torn, morn
cut, hut, butt, but
ear, clear, dear, near, year, fear, beer, tier, pier
hair, chair fair, hair, pair, bare, dare, share, square, hare, bear, pear, there
tour, poor, sure, moor
buy, die, lie, tie, by, dry, cry, my, fly, try, why
pay, day, may, way, hey, weigh, they
boy, joy, toy, buoy
Draw a tree diagram for each of the
following words to show their syllabic
.structures

 Dream
 Cream
 Car
 Card
 It
 Or
 Bright
:Syllable Nature .3
 A syllable can be defined both phonetically and phonologically.

Phonetically : a syllable consists of a centre which has little or no

obstruction of airflow and which sounds loud. Before and after this centre
there might be greater obstruction of air flow and less loud sound.

E.g. - minimum syllables  ‘are’ /a:/ , ‘or’ /ↄ:/  consist of a single

vowel in isolation, preceded and followed by silence.
-syllables with onset + peak  (i.e.) have more than just silence preceding
the centre of the syllable  ‘bar’ /ba:/, ‘key’ /ki:/, ‘more’ /mↄ:/
-syllables with peak + coda  ‘am’ /æm/, ‘ought’ /ↄ:t/, ‘ease’ /i:z/
-syllables with onset +peak + coda  ‘run’ /rᴧn/, ‘sat’ /sæt/, ‘fill’ /fɪl/
:Syllable Nature .3
 Phonologically : a syllable is a unit that involves
possible combinations of English phonemes.
 There are three possibilities of sound patterns :
a- permitted patterns: train
b- impossible patterns: rtain
c- possible/non-existant: tream
 The distribution of sounds in sound patterns is not arbitrary,
but follows some constraints called phonotactics.
 Phonotactics: the set of constraints on the permissible
combination of sounds in a language, which is part of the
speaker’s phonological knowledge.
4. Phonotactics:
In a syllable-initial position:
- it is allowed to begin with a vowel, or with one, two
or three consonants.
- no syllable begins with more than three
consonants.
In a syllable-final position:
- a syllable can end with a vowel, or with one, two,
three or four consonants.
- no syllable ends with more than four consonants.
4. Phonotactics:
The syllable onset:
 If the syllable begins with a vowel, it has a zero onset as in

‘am’ /æm/; ‘ease’ /i:z/.

 If a syllable begins with one consonant, the initial consonant

can be any consonant phoneme except /ŋ/

Examples: ‘key’ /ki:/; ‘kick’ /kɪk/.
 If a syllable begins with two or three consonants, such a

sequence of consonants is called a consonant cluster.

Examples: ‘play, stay, street, split, etc’.
 4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the onset:
 Initial two-consonant clusters are of two types:
1. Composed of (/s/ + one of a small set of consonants)
(pre-initial + initial)
Examples: ‘stay, spoon, skin, small, snow, sleep, swim, etc’.
 4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the onset:
 Initial two-consonant clusters:
2. Composed of (one of a set of fifteen consonants + /l, r, w, j/).
(initial + post- initial)
Examples: ‘fly, green, three, twin, pride, blind, try, quick, swim’.
 4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the onset:
 Initial three-consonant clusters are:
1. Composed of (/s/ + voiceless stop + approximant)
(pre-initial + initial + post-initial)
Examples: ‘splash, spread, string, screen, squeeze, etc’

S +
 4. Phonotactics:
The syllable coda:
 If the syllable ends with a vowel, it has a zero coda as in ‘car’ /ka:/;

‘see’ /si:/.
 If a syllable ends with one consonant, the final consonant can be

any consonant phoneme except /h, r, w, j/. Examples: ‘at’ /æt/;

‘kick’ /kɪk/, ‘catch’ /kæʧ/, ‘seen’ /si:n/. Sing /Siŋ / , fish / fiʃ/
 If a syllable ends with two, three or four consonants, such a

sequence of consonants is called a consonant cluster. There is a

possibility of up to four consonants at the end of the word.
Examples: ‘books, six, bank, banks, p
 rompts, etc’.
4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the coda:
 Final two-consonant clusters:
Examples: ‘help, bank, edge, belt, blind, books, six etc’.

 In final two consonant clusters: (pre-final, final, )

1-Pre-final + final Kamp
m, n , ŋ, l, s d, v, z, p , t ,etc rhyme
( camp, sent, brings, build, ask ) onset amp
camp - / Kamp / initial
k Peak coda
a pre- final final
m p
2. Final + post final

Final = all consonant sounds

Post final = / s , z , t , d , ɵ /

Examples : smokes , lives , pushed , cleaned , fifth

/ smƆ:ks /
Onset / sm /
Preinitial / s/ + initial / m /
Rhyme / Ɔ:ks /
Peak / Ɔ: /
Coda / ks /
/ k / = final
/ s/ = post final
 4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the coda:
 Final three-consonant clusters:
Examples: ‘helped, seconds, fifths, etc’.
 4. Phonotactics:
Consonant clusters in the coda:
 Final four-consonant clusters:
Examples: ‘prompts, sixths, etc’.
 Thus, the English syllable has the maximum
phonological structure:
 5. Syllabification
- A word consisting of one syllable (like tip) is referred to as a monosyllable.
- A word consisting of two syllables (like monkey) is called a disyllable.
- A word consisting of three syllables (such as interpret) is called a
trisyllable.
- A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as intelligence) is
called a polysyllable.
- The term ‘polysyllable’ is often used to describe words of two syllables or
more. So, the words, “monkey, interpret, intelligence” can be called
polysyllabic.
- Sometimes syllables are marked off from each other by a period [.].
E.g. /tæp/ /m.ki/ /n.t:.prt/
- Sometimes the symbols C and V (standing for Consonant and Vowel,
respectively) are used to show syllabic structure.
E.g. "interpret " /n.t:.prt/ is VC.CV.CCVC.
Strong and Weak Syllables .6
 Polysyllabic English words include strong and weak
syllables.
 Let’s consider the word “father” /f:./; “happy”
/h.pi/. Strong syllables can be distinguished from
weak syllables in terms of three aspects:

1. Phonetic characteristics
2. Stress
3. The peak of the syllable
Strong and Weak Syllables .6
1. Phonetic characteristics
The vowel in a weak syllable is short.
E.g. in the word ‘father’ /f :. /: the second syllable, which is
weak, includes the vowel // which is shorter and less loud
than /:/ in the first (and strong) syllable.

2. Stress
Strong syllables are stressed and weak syllables are
unstressed.
E.g. in the word ‘father’ /f :. /: the first syllable /f :/ is
stressed while the second syllable is unstressed /  /.
3. The peak of the syllable
The peak of the syllable determines if the syllable is weak or
strong.
Weak syllables include:
 // with or without a coda, E.g. ‘father’ /f:.  / ‘sharpen’
/:.pn/
 /i/ and /u/ with no coda, E.g. ‘happy’ /h.pi/ ‘carry’ /k.ri/
 or syllabic consonants like /l, n/ (with no vowels). E.g.
‘bottle’ [b.tļ]; ‘button’ [b.tņ],
Syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or **
is the nucleus of a syllable. Nasals and laterals are syllabic at the end of a word
when come immediately after an obstruent (stops, fricatives, and affricates)
Underline the weak syllables in the
:following words
1. Intimate /n.t.mt/
2. Panel /p.nļ/
3. Molar /m.l/
4. Carrot /k.rt/
5. Potato /p.te.t/
6. Catty /k.ti/
7. Happen /h.pn/
Underline the weak syllables in the
:following words
1. Intimate / n.t.mt/
2. Panel /p.nl/
3. Molar /m.l/
4. Carrot /k.rt/
5. Potato /p.te.t /
6. Catty /k.ti/
7. Happen /h.pn/
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