The syllable

The syllable is a unit of the phonological structure of any language, usually smaller than a
phoneme and smaller than the morpheme. The syllable consists of a center which has little to no
obstruction to the flow; before or after the center there will be greater obstruction. It is a complex
unit made up of NUCLEAR elements - vowels, those that are syllabic, and MARGINAL
elements - consonants, those that are non-syllabic.
There are three major groups which classify the syllable:
1. physiological - phonetic
2. perceptual - phonetic
3. phonological
There are several theories which explain the syllable, though not all are reliable.
The pulse theory - the syllable corresponds to the increase of air pressure, the number of
syllables is associated with the number of chest pulses, however, not a good approach when there
are two vowels one after another
The prominence theory - based on auditory judgement; the number of syllables determines the
peaks of prominence, but it doesn't give clear answers for syllable divison. Some phonemes are
more sonorous than other, yet are not syllabic.
Phonological approach - the emphasis is placed on the manner in which phonemes combine into
larger units and there is a connection to morphology here. If a combination of sounds is known to
be going together then that sequence will be divided so that one part belongs to one syllable and
the rest to the other.
Maximal onset principle - an approach in which as many consonants as possible are placed at
beginning of a syllable to the right; the consonants which are left in the preceding syllable are
there so it wouldn't end in short stressed vowels /ɪ e æ ʌ ʊ ɒ ə/. Unstressed short vowels are also
prevented at the end of the syllable. /ɪ ʊ/ may occur in final position in unstressed syllables.
Words containing one syllable are monosyllabic, if they contain more than one they are
polysyllabic. A syllable ending in a vowel is an open syllable, ending in a consonant is a closed
syllable.
The structure of the English syllable
The syllable is marked with a sigma (σ) and it consists of two elements - they are IMMEDIATE
CONSTITUENTS
the onset - consonants which precede the nucleus
the rhyme - the vowel and any consonant that follows, it is made up of three elements - PEAK -
vowel, CODA - consonant
onset and coda are optional elements, but the peak is obligatory
Phonotactics - study of the ways in which phonemes are allowed to combine in a particular
language
You can have as many as 3 consonants in initial position of a syllable, /s/ always first
You can have as many as 4 consonants in final position of a syllable
Morphological criterion
- partially overlaps with the divison into morphemes
Accentual-quantative criterion
- a consonant makes a syllable withe the preceding short and stressed vowel; ex letter /let.ə/
- if a consonant is preceded by an unstressed or a long vowel, the consonant will be attached to
the vowel in the latter syllable; ex beagle /'bi:.gl/
- two consonats are separated; ex difficulty /'dɪf.ɪ.kəl.ti/
Confusable cases
- the morphological criterion is often superior so there can be some confusion on how to divide
the word into syllables; ex sweeter /'swi:t.ə/, less frequent /'swi:.tə/
Ortographic syllabification
- ortography has its own specific rules and can be different from phonetic division
- divide between double letters fitting - fit/ting, however filling - fill/ing, so only of the word
exists to which you add the suffix
- morphology reader - read/er
- if the letters are pronounced as one sound DO NOT divide them (th, ch, tion, etc)
Sonority
- principle which accounts which sequences are acceptable as syllables
SONORITY - relative openness of the vocal tract, which corresponds directly to the relative
loudness of a sound
- the most sonorous = LOW VOWELS, the mouth is wide open and the sound flows freely out
- the least sonorous = PLOSIVES
- the speech stream is organized into peaks and valleys of sonority
SONORITY SCALE
1. low vowels
2. mid vowels
3. high vowels and glides
4. rhotics
5. laterals
6. nasals
7. fricatives
8. plosives
sonority sequencing constraint - sonority must rise through the onset to the nucleus and then
fall from the nucleus through the coda
- lower sonority sounds preceding the nucleus are grouped into the onset, and those following the
nucleus are the coda
Accent
suprasegmentals - stretch over more than a single segment = STRESS, RHYTHM,
INTONATION
- the accentual pattern of English words is fixed - meaning that the primary accent always falls on
a particular syllable
- accent is a relative prominence in a syllable of a word, a group of words or an utterance
owing to stress and/or pitch
There are several factors - loudness, pitch, quality, quantity
Loudness (intensity)
- stress is the degree of force used for the pronunciation of a syllable, the increase of stress is
perceived as greater loudness
- there are two types of stress - strong, weak; those that contain strong stress are stressed, the
ones with weak stress are unstressed
Pitch (height of the tone)
- higher or lower frequency of vibration
- the final pitch is usually the most prominent
pitch variation - the most important single factor in determening accent in English;
HIGHER PITCH = STRONGER STRESS
- pitch changes may make prominent more than one syllable
Quality and quantity
- long vowels and diphthongs are more prominent than short vowels
- /ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/ - the least prominent when unaccented; they are reduced vowels, meaning that they
have a high frequency of appearing in unaccented syllables
- syllabic consonants and /ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/ are the least prominent due to their shortness and little space
between the tongue and the palate, and the small opening between the lips
- vowels are shorter in unaccented syllables; ex /sɑˈkæstɪk/
Quality
central vowels = "fuzzy"
peripheral vowels = on the edges of the vowel diagram
Degrees of prominence
1. primary accent - marked by the last major pitch change
2. secondary accent - marked by a non-final pitch change
3. tertiary accent - no pitch change, minor prominence produced by the accent of a full
vowel /ə/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/
4. non-prominent syllable containing no change in pitch
- change of pitch direction - rising, falling (primary)
- pitch level - high, low (secondary)
- tertiary acc. syllables consist solely of strong stress, no changes in the pitch
- the articulatory force is concentrated on stressed syllables
- long and low vowels are dominant in stressed syllables
- primary and secondary accent always entail a strong stress
Word accent
- the primary acc. may be preceded, but NOT folloowed by secondary acc; it can be followed by
the teritary acc.
- the secondary acc. must be at some sort of distance from the primary acc. - there must be at
least one unaccented syllable between these
- the secondary accent may occur on a syllable immediatly preceding the primary in some
derivatives; ex unspoilt /ˌʌnˈspɔɪlt/
Word accent shift
- the place of the accent may change depending on the context in which its used
a. when a word is used attributavely
- the primary acc is on the latter word
- avoid two primary accents one after another
- words which have a varying of their primary stress are called double stress words
b. in some recent tendencies
- tendency to shift the acc. from the fourth syllable from the end to the third one in
four/five-syllable words
c. when the part of speech is changed
- pair of words such as nouns and adjectives, nouns and verbs; verbs tend to have the acc. on the
last syllable
d. when a word occurs as a part of certain derivatives
The accent of derivatives
suffixes - stress-imposing, stress-neutral
Stress-imposing
1. auto-stressed - take primary accent
-ADE, -EE, -EER, -ELLE, -ENNE, -EOUS, -ESE, -ESQUE, -ESSE, - ESCE, ETTE, -IER,
-ISE/IZE, -ITIS, -OCRACY, -OON, -TEEN
2. pre-stressed - acc. is assigned to a syllable a certain number of syllables before the one with
the suffix
pre-stressed 1 - acc falls on the syllable immediately preceding the the suffix
-ATE, -ETY, -IA, -IAC, -IAN, -IC, -ICAL, -ICLE, -IFY, -IO, -ION, -IOR, -IOUS, -ITY,
-IUM
pre-stressed 2 - acc is two syllables before the suffix
-ANT, -ATE (verbs 2+ syllables), -ENCE, -GRAPH, -GRAPHY, -IZE. -TUDE
Stress neutral
- it cannot affect the acc shift, they are only added to free stems
-ABLE, -ACY, -AGE, -ANCE, -ARY, -ATORY, -DOM, -ENCE, -ENT, -ER, -ERY, -FUL,
-IBLE, -ISE/IZE, -ISH, -ISM, -IST, -IVE, -LESS, -LY, -MENT, -NESS, -OID, -OR, -ORY,
-SOME, -TH, -TY, -WARD, -WAYS, -WISE, -Y
Secondary accent
- if there are 2 or more syllables before the primary accent the first will receive the secondary acc
- when there are 2+ syllables, the secondary acc will fall 2 or 3 syllables back according to the
presence of a full vowel
The accent of compounds
- a compound is a word which consists of two elements, each occurring also as a separate word, it
behaves as an inseparable whole
1. compounds with the primary acc on the first el.
front or early accent
- there are no important tonic changes after the primary stress
ex. 'shopˌkeeper - tertiary acc on the second word because there are two syllables, not marked
when it's a monosyllabic word
2. compounds with the primary acc on the final el.
back or late accent
ex ˌapple'pie
- if the final el takes the prmary accent there must be a secondary acc marked on the first el, no
matter how many syllables in that word
Semantic criteria
COMPOUNDS WITH THE FRONT ACC
1. representing metonymic and other non-metaphoric figures of speech; ex 'daughter-in-law
2. compounds that can be paraphrased with 'used for' - ex 'summerhouse, 'face-cream
3. first el categorizes the second el - ex 'boyfriend, 'glassware, 'oak tree
most compounds which are spelled as one word have the early accent
COMPOUNDS WITH THE BACK ACCENT
1. metaphors or sth that expresses similarity (comparison) - ex ˌpea'green, ˌknee'deep
2. when the first el doesn't categorize the second el - ex ˌwoman'writer, ˌprince'consort
Syntactic criteria
1. compounds functioning as nouns
a) noun+noun - primary acc on the first el
1. exceptions are manmade items - ˌapple'pie
2. when 1 one is a proper name ˌLondon'Road
3. however anything with 'street' has primary accent on the first element - 'Church Street
4. where both elements are equally referential - ˌacid'rain, ˌjunk'food
5. when the first el is a value - ˌdollar'bill
b) 'adj+n, 'n's+n, 'n+v, 'v+n, 'n+ing, 'ing+n
'faintheart, 'bull's eye, 'land fill, 'pickˌpocket, 'windˌsurfing, 'dressing gown
c) phrasal and prep verbs as nouns
'burn-out, 'lay-offs
past part + noun - late acc, ˌlost'property
Adjectives and verbs
a) adjectives
early acc - 'n+adj
late accent - ˌadj+'past part, ˌn+'adj when the noun modifies the adj, ˌadj+'ing, ˌadj+'n, adv/adj +
ing, self as the first part (ˌself'confident)
2. compounds functioning as adjs. and verbs
- usually have the early accent
- adv/adj + v - final el acc; ˌout'number, ˌover'sleep
The manufacturer's rule
- late accent or final el accent
- includes a material sth is made out of; ex ˌleather'jacket
Location rule
- final el stress
- if the first el is a name of a country, region, river, place, street, bridge, tunnel, park, public
building, sports clubs; ex ˌHyde'Park
- parts of a building tend to have FES; exceptions are 'living room, 'drawing room
- FES applies when there is any kind of position; ex ˌleft'winged
- FES for time location; ex ˌafternoon'tea
- most foods have FES unless they are a part of a living animal or a plant; ex 'chickenˌliver (as
the organ)
- exceptions are those that contain bread, cake, juice, paste; they have the early acc. ex 'orange
juice
- names of newspapers/magazines have FES
Rhythm
- sentence stress is the basis of rhythm
- it is the systematic organization of prominent and less prominent speech units in time
speech units - syllables, vocalic intervals
prominence - higher duration, higher intensity, higher fundamental frequency
isochrony - stressed syllables occur at roughly equal intervals of time, the unstressed
syllables are unimportant; the time between the stressed syllables
- rhythmic groups (feet)
- stress-group
Stress-timed rhythm
- takes the same amount of time to pronounce the sentence
- similar to morse code
- the vowels are longer in monosyllabic words and shorter in polysyllabic words because you
have the same amount of time for more syllables
- English is a stress-timed language
stress-timed languages - German, Danish, Dutch
Syllable-timing rhythm
- syllable-timing - equal time for each syllable
- machine gun rhythm
syllable-timed languages - French, Italian, Spanish
Intonation
- pitch variations in speech
- part of the vocal code - distinct language system, it includes voice quality, tempo, loudness
- the vocal code is never realized independently of the verbal system
- suprasegmentals - units of the vocal code, aspects of a sound that do not seem to be the
properties of individual segments
Acquring intonation
pre-linguistic babbling - babies use falls for naming things, but rises for requesting
- the fall-rises are learned very early, full-mastery at the age of 10 or older
- acquired at a subconscious level
Anatomy of the English intonation
- the most important accent in an IP is the nucleus which has 2 characteristics - PITCH LEVEL
AND PITCH DIRECTION
- it carries the primary acc and is the obligatory element in an IP
- there are 7 different types of nuclei
- the tone movement begins on this syllable
- focus of information
head - comes before the nucleus, can be high or low (pitch level); it may have a number of
tertiary acc. syllables. High Head marked by ' Low Head marked by ˌ
high head - said on a pitch above the mid level but not on a very high, doesn't combine with the
fall-rise
falling head - starts fairly high and then falls incrementally, syllable by syllable
rising head - starts fully low in pitch and rises incrementally, syllable by syllable
low head - produced throughout at a fully low pitch and typically followed by a low rise
prehead - syllables before the head, includes non-accented syllables, can bear the tertiary accent;
low prehead, high prehead (rare)
low prehead - said on a below mid level pitch, unmarked prehead
high prehead - said on a pitch that is on the same pitch as the high fall tone, marked prehead,
line above the word
tail - syllables after the nucleus, can bear the tertiary acc.
falling tone + low level tail
mid level tone + mid level tail
rising tone + rising tail
tune - the combination of the nucleus and other accompanying elements, it is equivalent to major
constituents of a sentence; the number depends on the speaker's attitude
Types of tones
high fall - from the highest to the lowest pitch
low fall - from the mid pitch to the lowest
low rise - from the low to mid
high rise - from mid to high
rise fall - fro mid to high to low
fall rise - from high to low to mid
level - at a mid level

- statements usually have a falling tone

- some questions may have a rise, but also a fall; WH- questions have a fall
default tone - unmarked, neutral
- fall for statements, exclamations, wh- qs, commands
- a rise for yes/no qs (closed interrogative)
- when there are 2 IPS - fall on the main part, a non-fall on the subordinate part
open lists - use a rise, show incompleteness
closed lits - use a fall, show completeness
Meanings of different tones
high fall - lively and engaged attitude
low fall - lack of interest or boredom
rise-fall - assertiveness, authorativeness, humor, argumentative
level tone - incompleteness, vagueness
high rise - casual, tentative
low rise - disbelief, criticizing, reassuring or encouraging (on the context)
fall-rise - polite contradiction or correction, unsure attitude
emphatic heads
stepping head - when each stressed syllable within the head is a step lower than the preceding
one, the unstressed syllables are on the same level as the stressed ones; EMPHATIC HIGH
HEAD
sliding head - when each stressed syllable within the head is a step lower than the preceding one,
the pitch of the unstressed syllables after each stressed one gradually decreases; EMPHATIC
FALLING HEAD
climbing head - when each successive stressed syllable begins a little higher than the preceding
one, the pitch of the unstressed syllables after each stressed syllable gradually rises;
EMPHATIC RISING HEAD
TYPICAL COMBINATIONS OF HEAD + TONE
low head + low rise
high head + any tone except the FALL-RISE!!!
falling head + fall-rise
rising head + high fall
climbing head + high fall
sliding head + fall-rise
stepping head + high fall or high rise

PRE-NUCLEAR PATTERN
1. the nuclear tone
2. the head + the nuclear tone
3. the prehead + the nuclear tone
4. the prehead + the head + the nuclear tone

MIN AND MAX NUMBER OF SYLLABLES FOR COMPLETION OF TONES

high fall - min 1, max 2
low fall - min 1, max 2
rise-fall - min 1, max 3
low rise - min 1, max however many
high rise - min 1, max however many
fall-rise - min 1, max

In IPs the new information is always accented, however, if the already mentioned information is
repeated in the second IP, the old information is unaccented, but the new is accented.

The three T's - John Wells

tone - pitch movement
tonicity - choosing the place of the nucleus depending on the info in an utterance - LOCATION
OF THE NUCLEUS
tonality - choosing pitch movement to express one's attitude, chunking -
nucleus - last stressed syllable in an IP that is also an accent, every IP has just ONE nucleus. It
draws attention to new information given in any IP.
In an IP there may appear other accents than just the nuclear, and if so the nucleus is the last
accent in an IP. Any accents that come before it are called prenuclear, and the first one is called
the onset, the part extending from the onset to the last syllable before the nucleus is the head, the
part before the onset is the prehead
The nucleus is the last content word in an IP
FOCUS
The part of the IP that is placed in focus is called the focus domain. The nucleus marks the
end of a focus domain.
broad focus - the focus domain is the whole IP
narrow focus - only part of what the speaker says is brought into focus, concentrating focus on
the relevant part and not something that is old news or being repeated
contrastive focus - a type of narrow focus, any word can bear the nucleus aka be accented

end focus - puttting the nucleus on the last content word of the IP and often regarded as the
unmarked form, the whole group is said to be in focus when there is the end focus
If the nucleus is the last accent in an IP anything that comes after is deaccented - and it is known
as old information. Everything before and up to the nucleus (including it) is new information.

RULES FOR LOCATING THE NUCLEUS

1. pragmatically controled locations
- when all information is new, the nucleus will be on the last content word in an IP
- if the last content word contains new information, then the nucleus will be located on the
stressed syllable of the last content word of an IP
- if the last content word doesn't contain new information, the nucleus will be located on the
stressed syllable of the nearest preceding content word containing new information
- a repeated item is considered to be old/given information
- deaccenting happens when the repetition takes the form of a synonym
- words which have a broader meaning than a previously used word are also deaccented
- when a word has a molre specific or narrower meaning than one that has just been used, then it
attracts the nucleus
ex Would you like a fruit smoothie?
I'll have a strawberry mango, thank you
2. gramatically controlled locations
- affirming and denying - nucleus on the aux. verb when affirming, nucleus on the negative
particle when denying
- vocatives - when you call someone by name it is deaccented
- vocatives are accented when they are an IP by themselves
- final vocatives are not accented, they are part of the previous IP, they serve as the tail

empty categories - they never attract the nucleus, such as one, place, thing, matter, business,
affair, each other, one another

Intransitive, "event" sentence - lack a grammatical object, if the subject is lexicalized then the
nucleus is on the subject, but if it's a pronoun then it's on the verb

Noun phrase objects - a fully lexicalized NP object often attracts the nucleus even though it is
not in the final position

Final adverbials in broad focus in IPs - when the focus is broad, final adverbs and adv phrases
are often deaccented