5/1/2021

Syllable

Erika Agustiana, M.Hum.

English Education Department
Indraprasta University
Jakarta

Syllable Definitions
• A syllable is a group of one or more
sounds.
• In English a syllable consists of a
phoneme or a sequence of phonemes.
• No word in English can consist of
anything less than a syllable and no
syllable can consist of anything less
than a vowel.

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We can divide a word into one or more syllables.

How many syllables are there in the following

words?
tent 1 syllable
little 2 syllables
pity 2 syllables
peter 2 syllables
syllable 3 syllables
determine 3 syllables
phonology 4 syllables
phonological 5 syllables

Syllable
Consider the following examples:
 “card” /kʌ:d/ includes one syllable
composed of a vowel /a:/ and preceding
consonants /k/ and following consonants
/d/.
 “car” /kʌ:/ includes one syllable
composed of a vowel /a:/ and a
preceding consonant /k/.

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Syllable
 “is” /Iz/ includes one syllable composed
of a vowel /I/ and a following consonant
/z/.
 “are” /ʌ:/ includes one syllable (a
minimum syllable) composed of the
vowel /ʌ:/.

Syllable
CVC /kʌ:d/ card
CV /kʌ:/ car
VC /Iz/ is
V /ʌ:/ are

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Syllables and their parts

• The parts are onset and rhyme; within
the rhyme we find the nucleus and
coda.
• Not all syllables have all parts; the
smallest possible syllable contains a
nucleus only.
• A syllable may or may not have an
onset and a coda.

Syllables have three sub-parts:

Onset Together, the

(all consonants or nucleus and
clusters that precede a
vowel) coda form the
rhyme

Syllable Nucleus
(typically a vowel)
Rhyme
(the nucleus and
Coda coda)
(single consonants or
clusters that follow
nucleus of syllable)

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Structure of a syllable:

Syllable (σ)

Rhyme (R)

Onset (O) Nucleus (N) Coda (C)

Consonant(s) Vowel Consonant(s)

Structure of a syllable:

(σ)

(R)

(O) (N) (C)

Consonant(s) Vowel Consonant(s)

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The Core Syllable

• The core syllable is made up of a Nucleus
preceded by an Onset:


O(nset) N(ucleus)

C V

Structure of a syllable:

For example:
Bland [blænd]

[æ] high
sonority

[l] [n]

low sonority
[b] [d]

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Structure of a syllable:
For example:
Bland [blænd] sonority peak

[æ] high
sonority

[l] [n]

low sonority
[b] [d]

 The nucleus of the syllable.

Nucleus

[æ] high
sonority
[l] [n]

[b] [d]
low sonority

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 The nucleus of the syllable.

 The sounds that precede the nucleus form the
syllable onset.

Onset
[æ] high
sonority
[l] [n]

[b] [d]
low sonority

 The nucleus of the syllable.

 The sounds that precede the nucleus form the
syllable onset.
 The sounds that follow the nucleus form the
syllable coda.

Coda
[æ] high
sonority
[l] [n]

[b] [d]
low sonority

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 The nucleus of the syllable.

 The sounds that precede the nucleus form the
syllable onset.
 The sounds that follow the nucleus form the
syllable coda.
 Together, the nucleus and coda form the
syllable rhyme.
rhyme
[æ] high
sonority
[l] [n]

[b] [d]
low sonority

Onset consonant cluster can consist of three

elements.
For example: spray [spreI]

Onset eI
r
p
Nucleus
s
(peak)

 Is there any codas ?

 Is there a rhyme ?
 How many syllables is that ?

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• be [bI]
[b I ]
Rhyme

Onset Nucleus

Be [bI] : has an onset and nucleus but no coda

(zero coda)

• eat [It]

[It]
Rhyme

Nucleus Coda

Eat [It] : has a nucleus and coda but no onset

(zero onset)

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• beat [bi:t] has both.

[ b i: t ]
Rhyme

Onset Nucleus Coda

beat [ bi:t] : has an onset, nucleus and coda

Closed Syllable

If a syllable has the coda, it is called as

closed syllable
Example :
• Cap
• Sit
• Man
• Where
• have

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Open Syllable
If a syllable doesn’t have the coda it is
called as open syllable.
Example :
• He
• She
• Me
• Yellow
• Blue

Minimum Syllable

• minimum syllables  consist of a single

vowel in isolation, preceded and followed
by silence.
• Examples:
• ‘are’ /ʌ:/
• ‘or’ /ɔ:/

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Zero Onset

 If the syllable begins with a vowel, it has a

zero onset.
 Examples:
 ‘am’ /æm/
 ‘ease’ /i:z/.

Zero Coda

 If the syllable ends with a vowel, it has a

zero coda.
 Examples:
 ‘car’ /kʌ:/
 ‘see’ /si:/.

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Consonant Cluster
• If a syllable begins with two or three consonants,
such a sequence of consonants is called a
consonant cluster.
• Examples: ‘play, stay, street, split, etc’.
• If a syllable ends with two, three or four
consonants, such a sequence of consonants is
called a consonant cluster. There is a possibility
of up to four consonants at the end of the word.
Examples: ‘books, bank, banks, prompts, etc’.

Consonant clusters
Consonant cluster in Consonant cluster in
onsets codas
splay /splei/ bets /bets/
spray /sprei/ nest /nets/
spew /spju:/ bathes /bʌðz/
straw /strɔ:/ banks /beŋks/
stew /stju:/ helped /helpt/
sclerosis /sklerɔ:izis/ belts /belts/
screw /skru/ twelfths /twelfθs/
squeez /skwi:z/ sixths /siksθs/
skew /skju:/ texts /teksts/

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Rhyme (R)
• Rhyme (or rime): the rest of the
syllable, after the onset (the underlined
portions of the words above). The
rhyme can also be divided up:

Rhyme = nucleus + coda

Structure of a syllable:
Internal structure of a with a complex onset and a
complex coda:

Sprint is a monosyllabic (consisting of a single

syllable) word with a complex onset and a complex
coda  CCCVCC

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Structure of a syllable:

The internal structure of word “rabbit‟ is shown

below.

Rabbit is a bisyllabic (consisting of 2 syllables)

word that has an open and a closed syllable 
CV.CVC

Structure of a syllable:
Happy /hæpi/

σ σ

O R O R

N N

h æ p i

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Structure of a syllable:
Rhythm
σ σ

O R O R

N N C

r i ð ə m

I /aɪ/

o r

n c

Ø aɪ Ø

Minimum syllable

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eggs /gz/

o r

n c

Ø  gz

Zero onset

spree /spri/

o r
Consonant
clusters
n c

spr i Ø

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foe /fo/

o r

n c

f o Ø

Sounds /saʊndz/

o r

n c

s aʊ ndz

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bumped /bʌmpt/

o r

n c

b ʌ mpt

plants /plænts/

o r

n c

pl æ nts

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blamed /blemd/

o r

n c

bl e md

Scrooge /skruʤ/

o r

n c

skr u ʤ

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Structure of a syllable:

How many syllables of word “amerika” ?

   

N O N O N O N

[ʌ m ɛ r ɪ k ʌ]
• Then identify any potential onsets to each syllable
• = consonants preceding the nuclei

 

N C O N C “arcade”

[a r k e j d]
Note 1: both halves of a diphthong combine
into one nucleus
Note 2: [rk] is not a possible onset!
The [r] has to form the coda of the preceding
syllable
So, Step 3 = remaining consonants go into
codas.

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Structure of a syllable:
Exercise:
Draw the internal structure of words:
 bathes /bʌðz/
 straw /strɔ:/
 falter /fʌltə/

bathes /bʌðz/

O R

N C

[ b ʌ ð z ]

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straw /strɔ:/

O N

[ s t r ɔ: ]

falter /fʌltə/

σ σ

R R

O N C O N

[ f ʌ l t ə ]

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Syllabification
- A word consisting of one syllable (like tip) is
referred to as a monosyllable.
- A word consisting of two syllables (like
monkey) is called a disyllable.
- A word consisting of three syllables (such
as interpret) is called a trisyllable.
- A word consisting of more than three
syllables (such as intelligence) is called a
polysyllable.

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Syllabification
- The term ‘polysyllable’ is often used to
describe words of two syllables or more. So,
the words, “monkey, interpret, intelligence” can
be called polysyllabic.
• Sometimes syllables are marked off from each
other by a period [.].
• E.g. /tIp/ ; /mæn.ki/ ; /In.tə:.prIt/
- Sometimes the symbols C and V (standing for
Consonant and Vowel, respectively) are used
to show syllabic structure.
• E.g. "interpret " / In.tə:.prIt / is VC.CV.CCVC.

Onset Maximalism

Where there is a choice, always assign

as many consonants as possible to the
onset, and as few as possible to the
coda. However, remember that every
word must also consist of a sequence of
well formed syllables.

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Leader /li:də(ɹ)/ Leader /li:də(ɹ)/

σ σ σ σ

O R O R O R O R

N C N C N C N C

l i: d ɸ ə (ɹ) l i: ɸ d ə (ɹ)

the medial /d/ must belong to the second

syllable, where it can be located in the onset

A permissible analysis :

• both [li:] and [də(ɹ)] are well-formed

syllables of English.

• [li:] is possible for lea, or Lee.

• [də(ɹ)] for the first syllable of dirty, or

Derwent.

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Exercises:
Draw a tree diagram for each of the
following words to show their syllabic
structures.

1. Dream 6. random
2. Cream 7. Bright
3. Close 8. Speedy
4. Book 9. Yellow
5. Teacher 10.Beast

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