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Phonetics

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anna.heruk
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Phonetics

Uploaded by

anna.heruk
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SYLLABLES

Prepared by Anna Geruk


Syllable as a phonetic
and phonological unit.

Though the basic phonological elements are


phonemes, speech can be broken into
minimal pronounceable units into which
sounds show tendency to group themselves.
These smallest phonetic groups are generally
given the name of syllables. They form
language units of greater magnitude, i.e.
morphemes, words and phrases.
The syllable may be a single word (ex, chair,
book), a part of a word (ex, mu-sic), a part of
the gram. form of a word (ex, la-ter).
The syllable can be analyzed from the
acoustic, auditory, articulatory and functional
point of view. The syllable may be viewed in
connection with its graphic representation.
Types of syllables
A syllable can be formed by a vowel: (V); by a
vowel and a consonant: (VC); by a consonant
and a sonorant (CS).
V — types of syllable called uncovered open,
oak
VC — uncovered closed, odd
CVC —covered closed, note
CV —covered open, no.
The principle theories of syllable formation
Speech can be broken into minimal pronounceable differ in sonority. For ex, when the Rus. vowels /а, о, э/
units into which sounds show tendency to group are pronounced on one and the same level, their
themselves. These smallest phonetic groups are acoustic intensity, or sonority is different: the strongest
generally given the name of syllables. There are is /a/, then go /о, э/.
different points of view on syllable formation, which
arе the following. O. Jespersen established the scale of sonority of
sounds, that is, the scale of their sonority. According to
- THE MOST ANCIENT THEORY states that there are this scale the most sonorous are back vowels (low, mid,
as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. This high), then go semi-vowels and sonorants, then -
theory is primitive and insuf cient since it does not voiced and voiceless consonants.
take into consideration consonants which also can
form syllables in some languages. And it doesn’t - THE ARC OF LOUDNESS THEORY is based on the
explain the boundary of syllables. Scherba’s statement that the centre of the syl. is the
syl. forming phoneme. Sounds which precede or
- THE EXPIRATORY THEORY states that there are as follow it constitute a chain or an arc which is weak in
many syllables in a word as there are expiration the beginning and in the end and strong in the middle.
(выдох) pulses. The borderline between the syllables
is, according to this theory, the moment of the weakest If a syl. consists of a vowel its strength increases in the
expiration. This theory is inconsistent, because it is beginning, reaches the maximum of loudness and
quite possible to pronounce several syllables in one then gradually decreases.
expiration, e.g. seeing. Scherbs distinguishes the following types of cons-s:
- THE SONORITY THEORY founded by Jespersen. It nally strong (initially weak), they occur at the begin.
states that there are as many syllables in a word as of the syl; nally weak – occur at the end of the closed
there are peaks of sonority. Speech sounds syl.; double peaked (combination of two similar
pronounced with the same force, length and pitch, sounds) – in their articulation the beginning and the
end are energetic and the middle is weak.
fi
fi
fi
Phonotactics
In phonology, phonotactics is the study of the
ways in which phonemes are allowed to
combine in a particular language. (A phoneme
is the smallest unit of sound capable of
conveying a distinct meaning.) Adjective:
phonotactic.

Over time, a language may undergo


phonotactic variation and change. For example,
as Daniel Schreier points out, "Old English
phonotactics admitted a variety of consonantal
sequences that are no longer found in
contemporary varieties" (Consonant Change in
English Worldwide, 2005).
Phonotactic constraints are language speci c. For = consonant, V = vowel). On this basis it is possible to
example, in Japanese, consonant clusters like /st/ are not form rules for which representations of phoneme classes
allowed, although they are in English. Similarly, the may ll the cluster. For instance, English allows at most
sounds /kn/ and /ɡn/ are not permitted at the beginning three consonants in an onset, but among native words
of a word in Modern English but are in German and under standard accents, phonemes in a three-
Dutch. consonantal onset are limited to the following scheme: [1]

Syllables have the following internal segmental structure: /s/ + pulmonic + approximant:
• Onset (optional) • /s/ + /m/ + /j/
• Rime (obligatory, comprises Nucleus and Coda): • /s/ + /t/ + /j ɹ/
◦ Nucleus (obligatory) • /s/ + /p/ + /j ɹ l/
◦ Coda (optional) • /s/ + /k/ + /j ɹ l w/
Both onset and coda may be empty, forming a vowel- This constraint can be observed in the pronunciation of
only syllable, or alternatively, the nucleus can be the word blue: originally, the vowel of blue was identical
occupied by a syllabic consonant. to the vowel of cue, approximately [iw]. In most dialects
of English, [iw] shifted to [juː]. Theoretically, this would
produce **[bljuː]. The cluster [blj], however, infringes the
English phonotactics constraint for three-consonantal onsets in English.
Therefore, the pronunciation has been reduced to [bluː]
The English syllable (and word) twelfths /twɛlfθs/ is by elision of the [j].
divided into the onset /tw/, the nucleus /ɛ/, and the
coda /lfθs/, and it can thus be described as CCVCCCC (C •
fi
fi

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