Chapter 8: THE SYLLABLE

8.1. Phonetical and phonological definitions of the

syllable
8.2. The structure of the English syllable
8.2.1. The initial segment
8.2.2. The final segment
8.2.3. The intervocalic segment

8.1. Phonetical and phonological definitions of the

syllable

A. Phonetically (i.e. in relation to the way we produce it

and the way it sounds), a syllable = a unit of
pronunciation consisting of a centre which has little or
no obstruction to the airflow and which sounds
comparatively loud; before and after this centre (i.e. at
the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be
greater obstruction to the airflow and/or less loud sound.

Phonetically, the syllable is defined at all levels: articulatory,

auditory and acoustic.
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a) articulatory point of view: the syllable = a puff of air

forced upward through the vocal channel by a
compression of the inter-costal muscles.
-

the syllable is a problem of chest pulse 3 stages:

-onset (release),
-nucleus (culmination) the most important element,
primarily represented by vowel sounds and also some
consonants [m, n, , l, r]
-coda (arrest).

b) Acoustically, syllables marked by increases in intensity

corresponding to syllable nuclei.
c) In auditory terms, one can decode the number of syllables on the
basis of the prominence of certain sounds in the continuous flow of
speech.
- sonority differences are determined by a number of factors: vocal
cords vibration (voicing), the amount of air expelled from the lungs,
the duration and resonance quality of sounds in passing through the
vocal tract.
-

Syllable = a segment of speech containing a peak of sonority or as

a stretch of speech between two valleys of sonority.

Types of syllables

a) a minimum syllable is a single

vowel/diphthong in isolation, e.g. the
words are [a:], or [:], err [:], eye [ai].
b) Some syllables have and onset: e.g. bar
[ba:], key [ki:], more [m:].
c) Syllables may have no onset, but may
have a coda, e.g. am [m], ought [:t],
ease [i:z].
d) Some syllables have onset and coda, e.g.
run [rn], sat [st], fill [fil].
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B. Phonologically syllable analysed in

terms of the possible combinations of
English phonemes
a syllable = the
lowest phonological construction into
which phonemes are combined.

8.2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE

8.2.1. The initial segment
- zero onset - if the first syllable of the word begins with a
vowel (any vowel except [u])
- -If the syllable begins with one consonant, the initial
consonant may be any consonant except [].
- consonant clusters - when the initial syllable begins with
two or three consonants
Initial two-consonant clusters are of two sorts in
English:
a. [s] + one of a set of about 11 consonants [p, t, k, f,
m, n], where [s] is called the pre-initial consonant, and
the other the initial consonant.
e.g. sting, sway, smoke, snow, skin, sphynx
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b. one of a set of 13 consonants + one of the set [l, r, w, j], where the
consonant belonging to the first set will be the initial consonant,
and the consonant belonging to the second set is called the postinitial consonant.
e.g. plan, trail, twin, cue
Initial three-consonant clusters are quite few : split, stream, scream,
and squeak. The [s] is the pre-initial consonant, the [p], [t], [k] that
follow [s] are the initial consonants and the [l, [r], [w] are post-initial.

S+ initial cons.

p
t

l
splash
-

sclerosis scream

Post initial
r
spring
stream

w
-

j
spew
stew

squirrel skew

8.2.2. The final segment (max. 4 cons.)

-zero coda - if the syllable does not end in a
consonant, e.g. sky [skai],
-When the nucleus is followed by one
consonant only, this is called the final
consonant. Any consonant may be a final
consonant, except [h, r, w, j].
e.g. cub, hat, man, girl, king, kiss
-A syllable may end in two or more
consonants - consonant clusters:
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Two-consonant clusters - two types:

a. pre-final consonant [m, n, , l, s] +
final consonant
e.g. lump [lmp], tent [tent], tank [tk],
belt [belt], task [ta:sk]
b. final consonant + post-final
consonant [s, z, t, d, ]
e.g. cats [kts], heads [hedz], packed
[pkt], loved [lvd], fifth [fif].

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 Final three-consonant clusters - two

types:
a. pre-final + final + post-final consonant.
Pre-final + final
+ post-final
milked [mi
l
k
t]
thanked [

k
t]
golfs [ g
l
f
s]
twelfth [twe l
f
]

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b. final consonant + two post-final

consonants:
final
fifths [fi
widths [wi
lapsed [l

f
d
p

+ post-final1 + post-final2

s]
s]
t]

The second post-final consonant is again one of [s, z, t, d, ].

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 Four-consonant clusters - two types:

a) final consonant preceded by a pre-final consonant and followed by
post-final1 and post-final2:
pre-final
final
post-final1
post-final2
attempts [te
m
p
t
s]
instincts [insti
k
t
s]
prompts [pr
m
p
t
s]
b) final consonant with no pre-final but three post-finals:
pre-fin. fin.
sixths [si k

post-fin.1
s

post-fin.2

post-fin.3
s]

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Summary

PreInitial

initial

ONSET

postinitial

VOWEL

NUCLEUS

prefinal

final

postfinal1

postfinal2

(postfinal3)

CODA

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New structure of the syllable

SYLLALBE

Rhyme
Onset
peak

coda

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8.2.3. The intervocalic segment

- one consonant between two vowels: the consonant =

onset of the second syllable: VCV = V CV, e.g. bakery
[bei - k - ri].
-two consonants : VCCV = VC + VC, action [k - ()n],
picture [pik -t].
- three intervocalic consonants will be divided as follows:
VCCCV = VC CCV: pilgrim [pil grim]
= VCC CV: anxious [k - s] (Chitoran, 1978:272)
-four consonant medial clusters:
VCCCCV = VCC CCV: exclaim [iks klaim];
= VC CCV: extreme [ik stri:m]
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