A simple three-step procedure governs the construction of syllables.
Step a Nucleus formation: Since the syllable nucleus is the only obligatory constituent of a syllable, it is constructed first. Each vowel segment in a word makes up a syllabic nucleus.
To represent this, link a vowel to an N symbol above it by drawing an association line. Above each nucleus symbol, place an R symbol (for rhyme), and above that, place a σ sym- bol (for syllable).
FIGURE 3.7 The first step of syllable building: nucleus formation R N ɛ n t R N r i
Step b Onset formation: The longest permissible sequence of consonants to the left of each nucleus is the onset of the syllable. Link these consonants to an O(nset) symbol and join it to the σ symbol above the vowel to the right (see figure 3.8 ). In the word entry , the first syllable has no onset. The second nucleus is preceded by three consonants, but the longest permissible sequence is just /tr/—recall that English allows three consonants in a row at the beginning of a syllable only if the first one is /s/.
Step c Coda formation: Any remaining unassociated consonants to the right of each nucleus form the coda and are linked to a C(oda) symbol above them. This coda is then associated
with the syllable nucleus, making up the rhyme. A syllable with a coda is called a closed syllable, while a syllable without a coda is called open. As can be seen in figure 3.9 , the
first syllable in entry is closed and the second one is open.
FIGURE 3.8 The second step of syllable building: onset formation O R N ɛ n t R N r i FIGURE 3.9 The third step of syllable building: coda formation O R N C ɛ n t R N r i
3.2.3 Basic syllables
In languages that allow more than one consonant to appear in onsets and codas, two general principles apply. The first principle makes reference to sonority (roughly, a sound’s degree of resonance).
(7) The Sonority Requirement
In basic syllables, sonority rises before the nucleus and declines after the nucleus. A sonority scale is provided in figure 3.10 , with the numbers from 0 to 4 indicating relative sonority levels. (Remember that an obstruent is an oral stop, a fricative, or an affricate.)
FIGURE 3.10 The sonority scale
0 1 2 3 4
Obstruent Nasal Liquid Glide Vowel
The sonority profile of basic syllables can be seen in a monosyllabic word like grant /grænt/. There is rising sonority within the onset and falling sonority within the coda.
FIGURE 3.11 The sonority profile
In contrast, there are no words such as */rgænt/, with falling sonority in the onset. r g æ n t
2 0 4 ↑ ↑ falling sonority in the onset
And there are no words such as gratn , with rising sonority in the coda. g r æ t n
0 2 4 0 1 ↑ ↑
rising sonority in the coda
Don’t be fooled by words such as button /bʌt̩ /. It consists of two syllables: /bʌ.t̩ /, with /t/ in the onset of the second syllable and /̩ / functioning as the nucleus.
TABLE 3.15 Some onsets in English that comply with the Sonority Requirement
Labial + sonorant Alveolar + sonorant Velar + sonorant
/pl/ please /tr/ trade /kl/ clean
/pr/ proud /tw/ twin /kr/ cream
/pj/ pure /sr/ Sri Lanka /kw/ queen
/br/ bring /sl/ slow /kj/ cute
/bl/ blight /dr/ dry /gr/ grow
/fr/ free /gl/ glow
The second major principle with which basic syllables must comply can be stated as follows. (8) The Binarity Requirement
Within basic syllables, each constituent can be at most binary (i.e., branching into two). This means that an onset or coda can’t contain more than two consonants. Thus, a word such as grant , with two consonants in its onset and two in its coda, represents the most complex basic syllable permitted in English.
FIGURE 3.12 The syllable structure
of grant R
O N C æ g r n t
3.2.4 Syllables with a more complex structure
In fact, of course, English permits syllables whose structure is more complex than that of grant —for example, stream has three consonants in its onset, and ranks has three in its coda. Not only do these syllables have too many consonants in their onsets and codas (remember the Binarity Requirement), but they also violate the Sonority Requirement. In stream , the
initial /st/ has a flat rather than rising sonority profile—both segments are voiceless obstru- ents. And in ranks , the final /ks/ is also flat, rather than falling.
s t r i m r æ ŋ k s 0 0 2 1 0 0 ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ flat sonority in the onset flat sonority in the coda
Interestingly, such complex syllables are rare in the world’s language and are subject to special restrictions in languages in which they occur.
■ ‘Extra’ consonants tend to occur at word edges—either at the beginning or the end, as in the case of the /s/ in stream and ranks .
■ In English, only /s/ can serve as an ‘extra’ consonant in onsets, which is why all CCC onsets begin with /s/ ( stream , split , scream , etc.). In coda position, the ‘extra’ consonant is always voiceless and made with the tip of the tongue, such as the /s/ in rank s /ræŋks/, the /t/ in clamped /klæmp t /, and the /θ/ in twelfth /twɛlf θ /. It’s also worth noting that the extra coda consonant in these and many other cases is not an inherent part of the word—it’s added as a grammatical ending (suffi x) to mark past tense, plurality, or some other contrast. When drawing the structure of these more complex syllables, some linguists place consonants that violate the Sonority and/or Binarity Requirements in an ‘appendix’ position, outside the onset or coda of the syllable with which they are associated.
FIGURE 3.13 Appendix consonants R O N C i t s r m R O N C æ s r k (stream) (ranks)
Violations of the Sonority and Binarity Requirements are also common in Russian (to take just one example), which permits the onset sequences illustrated in table 3.16 , among others.
TABLE 3.16 Some onset sequences in Russian [psa] ‘dog’s’
[fslux] ‘aloud’ [mgla] ‘fog’
3.2.5 Stress and syllables
A basic feature of English pronunciation is the use of stress to increase the acoustic promi- nence of particular syllables: the stress falls on the first syllable in Canada , the second syllable in agenda , and so on. Because English vocabulary is so varied, with mixed Germanic and Latinate origins, the location of stress is sometimes unpredictable. Nonetheless, we know that syllable structure affects stress placement in a large number of cases.
Stress placement in English is sensitive to syllable ‘weight’, which is determined by the composition of its rhyme. Whereas the rhyme in a heavy syllable consists of a vowel plus at
least one other element (a glide or a consonant), the rhyme in a light syllable consists of just a
vowel or a syllabic consonant such as [̩ ] or [̩ ]. Thus the syllables bad (vowel plus consonant) and by (vowel plus glide) are heavy, while the syllable bee is light.
The basic stress rule for English verbs (ignoring suffixes, which have effects of their own) can be stated as follows.
(9) Basic stress rule for English verbs with more than one syllable: Stress falls on the fi nal syllable if it is heavy;
otherwise, it falls on the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable.
Table 3.17 presents some examples illustrating the effect of this rule. (Stress in transcrip- tions is marked by the symbol ˈ at the beginning of the syllable.)
TABLE 3.17 Stress in English verbs
Final syllable is heavy (stress falls on that syllable)
Final syllable is light
(stress falls on the penultimate syllable)
arr i ve /ə.ˈrajv/ h u rry /ˈhʌ.ri/ destr oy /də.ˈstroj/ b u tton /ˈbʌ.t̩ / adv i se /əd.ˈvajz/ c a ncel /ˈkæn.s̩ / ins i st /ɪn.ˈsɪst/ st u dy /ˈstʌ.di/
cons u lt /kən.ˈsʌlt/ c a rry /ˈkæ.ri/ or /ˈkɛ.ri/ all ow /ə.ˈlaw/ bel i ttle /bi.ˈlɪ.t̩ /
interr u pt /ɪn.tə.ˈrʌpt/ rec o ver /ri.ˈkʌ.vɚ/
Exceptions include edit, promise, astonish , and embarrass , all with stress on the second-to-last syllable despite the presence of an apparently strong final syllable.
The basic rule for nouns (once again ignoring suffixes) can be stated as follows. (10) Basic stress rule for English nouns with more than one syllable:
Stress falls on the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable.
The effect of this rule can be seen in the pronunciation of words such as English, city, k i dney,
elbow , and effort , all of which have stress on the penultimate syllable. Its effects can also be
seen in the contrasts between noun-verb pairs in table 3.18 , with stress on the second-to-last syllable in the case of nouns and on the final syllable in the case of verbs.
TABLE 3.18 Stress in English noun and verb pairs
Nouns Verbs
a c o nvert to conv e rt someone
a c o nvict to conv i ct someone
a d i scount to disc ou nt something
an i ncrease to incr ea se something
a r e fill to ref i ll something
a p e rmit to perm i t something
A further effect of syllable structure can be seen in nouns that are longer than two syllables. In such cases, we generally find stress on the second-to-last syllable if that syllable is heavy; otherwise, the stress falls on the third-to-last (antepenultimate) syllable.
TABLE 3.19 Stress in English nouns longer than two syllables
Penultimate syllable is heavy (stress on penultimate syllable)
Penultimate syllable is light
(stress on antepenultimate syllable)
horizon /hə.ˈraj.z̩ / Canada /ˈkæ.nə.də/ vacation /və.ˈkej.ʃ̩ / citizen /ˈsɪ.tə.z̩ / aroma /ə.ˈrow.mə/ cinema /ˈsɪ.nə.mə/ potato /pə.ˈtej.to/ America /ə.ˈmɛ.rə.kə/ ver a nda /və.ˈræn.də/ analysis /ə.ˈnæ.lə.səs/ ag e nda /ə.ˈdʒɛn.də/ ar i thmetic /ə.ˈrɪθ.mə.tɪk/
Exceptions to these generalizations include result, gir a ffe, sard i ne, ball e t, and Tennessee , all of which have stress on the final syllable, as well as banana, Alabama, and committee , with stress on a light second-to-last syllable.
It is important not to confuse phonological syllable structure with the breaks that are used when a word won’t fit at the end of a line in writing. These breaks, marked by hyphens, often align with phonological syllable boundaries—as in re-write , un-der , and da-ta . But one case in particular creates serious divergences: in writing, a consonant that occurs between vowels goes with the first vowel if that vowel is lax. Check the words digit and method in your dictionary, and you’ll see that they’re syllabified as dig-it and meth-od , compared to /dɪ.dʒɪt/ and /mɛ.θəd/ in phonology. Which better corresponds to the pronunciation?