Phonology (2) Lecture _2_ (1).pptx and English

Phonology

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. 2

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: 3

4. Let’s examine some examples: 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. Some syllables have an onset (they have more than just silence preceding the center): /kiː/ / mɔ ː/ / bɑːr / Syllables may have no onset but have a coda: / æm / / ɔt / / iːz / Some syllables have onset and coda: / rʌn / / sæt / / fɪl / 4

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 /ʒ/ and /ŋ/. 5

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 / stɪŋ / sting, / sweɪ / sway, / sməʊk / smok The /s/ in these clusters is called the pre-initial consonant, and the other consonant is called the initial consonant. 6

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8. The other sort begins with one of a set about fifteen consonants followed by one of /l, r, w, j/, as in / pleɪ / / traɪ / / kwɪk / / fju 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: 8

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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 / splɪt / / striːm / / skweər /. The /s/ in these clsuters is called the pre-initial consonant; the /p / , /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 10

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 /ŋ/. We can see this in such words as / / bʌmp / /bent/ / bæŋk / /belt/ / ɑːsk /. 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. 11

12. There are two types of final three-consonant clusters; the first is pre-final +final+ post-final 12

13. The second type shows that more than one post-final can occur in a final cluster: final +post-final 1+ post-final 2. 13

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 14

15. To sum up, we can describe the English syllable as having the following maximum phonological structure 15

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. 16