CHAPTER V - THE SYLLABLE

Native speakers tend to recognize a unit intermediate between the segment and the word, that is,
the syllable. The functions of the syllable appear to be threefold: a-to carry the phonetic
manifestations of the suprasegmentals, b-to be the chief domain of patterns of arrangement of
phonemes, or phonotatics, and c- and to act as a unit of organization in the process of speech
production.
Perhaps the most likely theory is that the syllable arises from the alternating opening and closing
of the vocal tract during speech, resulting in an alternation of vowel-like and consonant-like
articulations. The consonantal articulations, especially plosives, are often signaled phonetically as
modifications to the vowel-like ones, and this results in the typical structure of the syllable-
consonants grouped around a vowel. All languages have syllables of the form CV, in addition,
many languages have patterns of greater complexity, with CVC being the most frequent.
The central position of the syllable, occupied by the V(owel) element, is normally referred to as
the “peak” (sometimes the “nucleus”). Most of consonants are marginal. The sound which forms
the peak or the center of a syllable is called syllabic sound. All vowels and some of the consonants
are syllabic. Most of the consonants are non-syllabic.
1. Definition:
The syllable may be defined as one or more speech sounds forming a word or part of a word,
containing one vowel sound, with or without a consonant or consonants, and uttered at a single
effort, e.g. man, mor-ning.
2. Syllable Formation.
2.1. The internal structure of a syllable
e.g. spring /sprɪŋ/
S

Onset (O) Rhyme (R)

Nucleus (N) Coda (C)

/spr/ /ɪ/ /ŋ/
A complete description of a syllable requires four sub-syllabic units. The nucleus (N) is the
syllable‟s only obligatory member. It is a vocalic segment that forms the core of a syllable. The
coda (C) consists of those segments that follow the nucleus in the same syllable. The rhyme (R) is
made up of the nucleus and coda. The onset (O) is made up of those segments that precede the
rhyme in the same syllable.
2.1.1. Onset: 4 cases
a. Zero onset: Any vowel may occur at the initial position, though /ʊ/ is rare.
b. One consonant: Any consonant may occur, except /ŋ/, and /ʒ/ is rare.
c. Two consonants (called consonant cluster):

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 Pre-Initial Initial
s p, t, k, f, m, n, l, w, j
e.g. spin /spɪn/, stand /stænd/, skin /skɪn/, sphere /sfɪə/, smell /smel/,
snake /sneɪk/, slow /sləʊ/, sweat /swet/, suit /sju:t/.

Initial Post-Initial

p, t, k, b, d, g, f, v, ∫, θ, h, m, n l, r, w, j

- /p, b, f/ + /l, r, j/: play /pleɪ/, pray /preɪ/, pure /pjʊə/, black /blæk/, bring /brɪŋ/,
beauty /'bju:ti/, fly /flaɪ/, fry / fraɪ /, few /fju:/
- /t, d/ + /r, w, j/: tray /treɪ/, twin /twɪn/, tune /tju:n/, drip /drɪp/, dwell /dwel/, dew /dju:/
- /k/ + /l, r, w, j/: clay /kleɪ/, cry /kraɪ/, quick /kwɪk/, cue /kju:/
- /g/ + /l, r/: glue /glu:/, green /gri:n/
- /θ/ + /r, w/: through /θru:/, thwart /θwɔ:t/

- /∫/ + /r/: shrewd /∫ru:d/, shriek /∫ri:k/

- /h, v, m, n/ + /j/: huge /hju:dʒ/, view /vju:/, music /'mju:zɪk/, new /nju:/
d. Three consonants:
Post-Initial
Pre-Initial Initial
l r w j
p splay spray * spew
s t * string * stew
k sclerosis screen squeak skewer
2.1.2 Coda: 3 cases
a. Zero: no consonant at the end of a syllable.
b. One consonant: any consonant may be a final consonant, except /h, r, w, j/.
c. Consonant cluster: where two, three or four consonants at the end of a syllable.
 - pre-final /m, n, ŋ, l, s/ + final: bump, bent, bank, belt, ask, etc.
- final + post-final /s, z, t, d, θ/: bets, beds, backed, bagged, eighth, etc.
 - pre-final + final + post-final: helped, banks, bonds, twelfth, etc.
- final + post-final 1 + post-final 2: fifths, next, lapsed, etc.
 - pre-final + final + post-final 1 + post-final 2: twelfths, prompts, etc.
- final + post-final 1 + post-final 2 + post-final 3: sixths, texts, etc.

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To sum up, we may describe the English syllable as having the following maximum phonological
structure:
Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Post- Post-
Initial VOWEL Final
Initial Initial final final 1 final 2 final 3
e.g. blouse, spring, texts
blouse /blaʊz/ Syllable

Onset Rhyme

Initial Post-Initial Nucleus Coda

/b/ /l/ /aʊ/ /z/
2.2. Syllable formation
The sequences of sounds that can make up a syllable differ from language to language and are
strictly limited within each language. In the case of the English language there is a wide variety of
syllable types, the two main types of which are C + V + C and C + syllabic C. In the first type
there must be a vowel as the center of the syllable, it is the syllabic sound. In the second, there is a
syllabic consonant as the syllabic sound. Thus, in English, the syllable can be formed by:
a- any vowel (V), e.g. or, are, I.
b- one vowel proceeded by one consonant (CV), e.g. core, car.
c- one vowel followed by one consonant (VC), e.g. ought, art.
d- one vowel sound both preceded and followed by one consonant (CVC),e.g. hit, man.
e- a word-final syllabic lateral /l/ or nasal /m, n/ immediately preceded by a consonant, e.g. /pl/
in people, /dn/ in garden.
Not every language allows so wide a variety of syllable types as English does. In fact, the preferred
syllable type among the world‟s languages is CV, then CVC and V. Different languages have
different preferred structures of the syllable.
The rules that characterize permissible syllable structures in a language are called phonotactic
constraints, and they determine what constitutes a possible syllable.
3. Closed and Open Syllables
A syllable which ends in a vowel is called an open syllable, e.g. he, writer.
A syllable which ends in a consonant is called a closed syllable, e.g. it, man.
4. Strong and Weak Syllables
What do we mean by strong and weak syllables? In the present context, we are using these terms to
refer to phonetic characteristics of syllables. The most important thing to note at present is that any
strong syllable will have as its center one of the vowel phonemes (or possibly a trithong), but not
/ə/. Weak syllables, on the other hand, as they are being defined here, can only have four types of
center:
a - the vowel /ə/ (schwa)
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 b - /i/ (or /ɪ/) (a close front unrounded vowel in the general area of /i:/ and /ɪ/)
c - /u/ (or /ʊ/) (a close back rounded vowel in the general area of /u:/ and /ʊ/)
d - a syllabic consonant.
When we compare weak syllables containing vowels with strong syllables, we find the vowel in a
weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower intensity and different in quality. For example, in the
word father /'fɑ:ðə/, the second syllable is shorter than the first, less loud, and has a vowel that can
not occur in strong syllables.
4.1. The /ə/ vowel (“schwa”)
The most frequently occurring vowel in English is / ə/, which is always associated with
weak syllables. Following are some spellings that are pronounced / ə/ in weak syllables:
- Spelt with “a” : attend /ə'tend/, character /'kærəktə/
- Spelt with “ar” : particular /pə'tɪkjʊlə/, molar /'məʊlə/, monarchy /'mɒnəki/
- Adjectival endings spelt “ate” : intimate /'ɪntɪmət/, accurate /'ækjərət/
(though there are some exceptions: private /'praɪvɪt/)
- Spelt with “o” : tomorrow /tə'mɒrəʊ/, potato /pə'teɪtəʊ/
- Spelt with “or” : forget /fə'get/, ambassador /æm'bæsədə/
- Spelt with “e” : violet /'vaɪələt/, postmen /'pəʊstmən/
- Spelt with “er” : perhaps /pə'hæps/, stronger /'strɒŋgə/
- Spelt with “u” : autumn /'ɔ:təm/, support /sə'pɔ:t/
- Spelt with “ough” : thorough /'θʌrə/, borough /'bʌrə/

- Spelt with “ous” : gracious /'greɪ∫əs/, callous /'kæləs/

4.2. Close front vowel i/
We find i/ɪ occurring in the following cases:
- Spelt with “y” or “ey” at the end of a word or a morpheme”: happy /'hæpi/, valley /'væli/,
hurrying /'hʌriɪŋ/, etc.
- In prefixes such as “re”, “pre”, “de” which precede a vowel and are unstressed: react /ri'ækt/,
preoccupied /pri'ɒkjʊpaɪd/, deactivate /di'æktɪveɪt/, etc.

- In suffixes spelt “iate”, “ious” when they have 2 syllables: appreciate /ə'pri:∫ieɪt/, hilarious
/hɪ'leəriəs/, etc.
- In the following words when unstressed: “he”, “she”, “we”, “me”, “be”, and “the” when it
precedes a vowel.
It can be seen that this vowel is most often represented in spelling by the letters “i” and “e”.
4.3. Close back vowel u/
We find u/ʊ in the following cases:

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- In the words “you”, “to”, “into”, “do”, when they are unstressed and not immediately preceding
a consonant.
- In the words “through” and “who” in all positions when they are unstressed.

- Usually u/ʊ is found with a preceding /j/, as in “computation” /kɒmpjʊ'teɪ∫n/, and often with
another vowel following, for example, “evacuation” /ɪvækjʊ'eɪ∫n/. An example of such vowel
without a preceding /j/ is “influenza” /ɪnflʊ'enzə/.
4.4. Syllabic consonants:
Most English syllables contain one vowel. However, there are syllables in which no vowel is
found. In these cases, a consonant, either /l/, /r/ or a nasal, stands as the center of the syllable
instead of the vowel. It is usual to indicate that a consonant is syllabic by means of a small vertical
mark (,) put under the consonant, for example: cattle ['kætl]. Words containing syllabic consonants
are bottle, muddle, garden, happen, thicken, history ... The syllabic consonants are l, m, n, ŋ, r.

Recommended Reading:
Roach (1987: 53 -71); Vassilyev ( 1980 : 86 - 88)
ASSIGNMENT 5
Questions for discussions:
1- How is the syllable defined?
2- What is the internal structure of an English syllable?
3- What is an English syllable formed by?
4- What syllable is called phonetically open syllable? Closed syllable?
5- What is the difference between weak and strong syllables?
II-T /F: Decide whether the following statements are true or false:
1- The syllable may be defined as one or more speech sounds, forming a word or part of a word,
containing one vowel sound, with or without a consonant or consonants, and uttered at a single
effort.
2- The full internal structure of a phoneme consists of onset and coda.
3- In the word spring, /i:/ is the nucleus.
4- Sun is a word of two syllables.
5- The syllable structure of learn is CVC.
6- Voiceless is a word with the point of syllable division after the sound /s /.
7- A weak syllable is the one which might end in a syllabic consonant.
8- Or is a syllable made up of one phoneme.
9- A syllable which ends in a vowel is called a closed syllable.
10- Correct syllable division is very important in communication.
III- Multiple Choice: Choose the best answer
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1- … may be defined as one or more speech sounds forming a word or part of a word, containing
one vowel sound, with or without a consonant (or consonants), and uttered at a single effort.
A- The syllable B- The phoneme C- The intonation D- The morpheme
2- Which syllable is formed by a vowel?
A- sky B- seem C- or D- hit
3- Which syllable is formed by a vowel + a consonant?
A- she B- eat C- sit D- or
4- Which syllable is formed by a consonant + a vowel?
A- she B- eat C- it D- eye
5- Which syllable is formed by a consonant + a vowel + a consonant?
A- he B- eat C- sit D- eye
6- Which word contains a syllabic consonant?
A- meat B- seat C- run D- little
7- In English, a syllable is generally not formed by .....
A- a vowel B- one consonant + one vowel
C- one vowel + one consonant D- two stops
8- How many syllables are there in the word garden?
A- 1 B- 2 C- 3 D- 4
9- Which of the following syllable is an open syllable?
A- she B- it C- at D- eat
10- Which of the following syllable has the structure of V?
A- talk B- learn C- or D- at
11- Which of the following syllable has the structure of CV?
A- learn B- sea C- sit D- at
12- Which of the following syllable has the full structure of onset-nucleus-coda?
A- sit B- are C- or D- I
13- Which consonant cluster is the coda in the word streets?
A- /sr/ B- /tr/ C- /str/ D- /ts/
14- How many syllables are there in the word ordinarily?
A- 2 B- 3 C- 4 D- 5
15- Which of the following words contains a syllable of the type C + syllabic C?
A- little B- read C- can D- eye
16- Which of the following syllables is an open syllable?
A- meet B- reach C- do D- sit
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17- Which of the following syllables is a closed syllable?
A- me B- hear C- oh D- sit
IV- Analyze the structure of the following one-syllable English words
1. squealed 2. eighths 3. splash 4. texts

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