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English Syllable Structure 2022

The document outlines the structure of English syllables, detailing the components of onset, nucleus, and coda, along with their phonological restrictions. It explains the permissible combinations of consonants in onsets and codas, highlighting that English has a vast number of possible syllables, though only a fraction are commonly used. Exercises are provided for analyzing and transcribing syllable structures and determining permissible syllables.

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K61 VŨ THU TRANG
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8 views

English Syllable Structure 2022

The document outlines the structure of English syllables, detailing the components of onset, nucleus, and coda, along with their phonological restrictions. It explains the permissible combinations of consonants in onsets and codas, highlighting that English has a vast number of possible syllables, though only a fraction are commonly used. Exercises are provided for analyzing and transcribing syllable structures and determining permissible syllables.

Uploaded by

K61 VŨ THU TRANG
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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English Syllable Structure

Conventionally syllables are divided into elements: onset, rhyme, nucleus and coda, as shown in
the diagram below. The justification for this is that many restrictions occur as to what
phonological elements can occur within these elements, but few restrictions occur across elements.

Onsets. In English the onset can consist of zero, one, two or three consonants. For example,
"a" /eɪ/, "ray" /reɪ/, "pray" /preɪ/, "spray" /spreɪ/. In onsets with three consonants, the first
consonant must be /s/. Also approximant sounds can only occur in the last position next to the
vowel, so we get /njuː/ but never /jnuː/, or /fli:/ but never /lfi:/. If the syllable begins with /s/+ a
plosive, then there is never a distinction between voiced and voiceless plosives, that is if there is a
word /sp-/ then there is not a word /sb-/. The sound /ŋ/ does not occur in onsets.

Nucleus. In English the nucleus is usually a single vowel, whether that is a long or a short
monophthong or a diphthong. Under certain limited situations, other sonorants can take the place
of the vowel, for example "puddle" as /pʌdl̩/. We write a syllable mark underneath the consonant
in transcription to indicate that it is acting as a syllable nucleus.

Coda. In English the coda can consist of zero, one, two, three or four consonants. For example:
"lee" /liː/, "lean" /liːn/, "link" /lɪŋk/, "length" /leŋkθ/, "lengths" /leŋkθs/. In four consonant codas,
the last consonant can only be /s/ (in fact it can only be the plural morpheme -s or the possessive
marker 's). The only approximant sound that can occur in a coda is /l/ (except for rhotic accents,
which also allow /r/). As in onsets, approximant sounds in the coda are always found adjacent to
the vowel. The sound /h/ does not occur in codas.
There are about 50 different onsets, 25 different nucleii and 80 different codas in English, which
gives about 100,000 possible syllables. However only about 15,000 of these actually occur in
English words, and only about 10,000 of these occur as mono-syllabic words. In contrast,
Japanese is said to have only 100-200 syllables.

Sources: https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/courses/pals0009/week7.php

1
The structure of the ONSET
1. The maximum number of consonants within the onset is three:
ONSET: (pre-initial) - (initial) - (post-initial)
2. The first consonant in the onset is called pre-initial; the pre-initial consonant is always /s/.
The second consonant in the onset is called initial; this can basically be any English
consonant, especially if the onset only consists of this initial consonant
The third consonant in the onset is called post-initial; only 4 approximants /l/, /r/, /w/
and /j/ can be post-initials.
3. The onset without consonant is called zero onset.
4. Some combinations of consonants are not possible in English: *sʒw *mr *hl *vw
(see course book: page 58)

The structure of the CODA:


1. The maximum number of the consonants within the coda part is four
CODA: (pre-final) - (final) - (post-final 1) - (post-final 2) - (post-final 3)
2. Pre-final consonants can only be one of the following: /s/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/
Final consonants can be basically any English consonant except /h/, /r/, /w/, /j/
Post-final consonants can only be one of the following: /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /θ/.
3. There are two types of two-consonant final clusters:
Pre-final + final (E.g. bank)
Final + Post-final (E.g. bags)
4. There are two types of final three-consonant clusters:
Pre-final + final + post-final (E.g. helped)
Final + post final 1+ post final 2 (E.g. lapsed)
5. Most final four-consonant clusters have the following structures:
Pre-final + Final + post-final 1+ post final 2 (E.g. twelfths)
Final + post-final 1 + post final 2 + post final 3 ( sixths)

2
Exercises

I. Transcribe and analyze the syllable structures of the following words:

Pre- Initial Post- Peak Pre- final Post- Post- Post-


initial initial final final 1 final 2 final 3

pFifth d
s

next

Twelf
ths

Texts

II. Which of these are permissible syllables in English? Explain why.

1. sprɑ:θs 7. drɑ:w
2. vwɑ:ks 8. frɑ:lts
3. gwɑ:mz 9. skwɑ:ksθs
4. krɑ:h 10. trɑ:vz
5. ŋɑ:s 11. dlɑ:mg
6. knɑ:j 12. âʒrɑ:nk

3
III. Divide the following words into syllables, and explain the basis on which the
syllabication is made.
- Expansion
- Singing
- Hanger
- Language
- Develop
- Hardware
- Village
- Walking
- Driving license
Draw the structure of the first and last syllable of “driving license”

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