phonology syllables
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Syllables Most of us have an intuitive feeling
about syllables
No doubt about the number of
syllables in the majority of words. However, there is no agreed upon
definition for the term syllable.
Difficult to state an objectivephonetic procedure for locating thenumber of syllables in a word or aphrase.
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Syllables
So what can we agree on? We can agree that a syllable is
made up of three parts:
One: The Nucleus, which is the “core” of the syllable.
It‟s the vowel if there is one.Otherwise, the nucleus is madeup of a syllabic consonant.
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Syllables
All syllables have a nucleus, butmay or may not have otherconstituents.
Two: The Onset , which is madeup of all of the consonantsbefore the nucleus.
Three: The Coda, which iseverything after the nucleus.
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Syllables
Another thing that we canagree on is the differencebetween open vs. closed syllables.
Closed syllables end in a
consonant.Open syllables end in vowel.
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Syllables
Currently, the most popularapproach to defining thesyllable is in terms of thePhonological Approach,which appeals to the notion
of PhonotacticConstraints.
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Syllables
In every language, there arerestrictions on the kinds ofsounds and sound sequences
possible in different positionsin words (particularly at the
beginning and the end ofwords).
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Syllables
These restrictions can beformulated in terms of rulesstating which sound sequences
are possible in a language andwhich are not.
Languages generally prefer CV,
but some languages allow asyllable to begin with more thanone consonant.
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Syllables
English has a wide variety ofsyllable types:
V oh
VC at
VCC ask
VCCC asked
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Syllables
CV noCVC not
CVCC rampCVCCC ramps
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Syllables
CCV flewCCVC flute
CCVCC flutesCCVCCC crafts
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Syllables
CCCV spreeCCCVC spleen
CCCVCC strengthCCCVCCC strengths
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Syllables
Other languages don‟t havesuch a large number ofsyllable structures.
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Syllables
HebrewCV
CVCCVCC (only at end of word)
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Syllables
JapaneseV
CVCVC
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Syllables
HawaiianV
CV
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Syllables
IndonesianV
VCCV
CVC
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Syllables
English allows any consonant tooccur word-initial, except for []and [ŋ] (except in borrowed words,
such as „Jacques‟ or „Nguyen‟; nonative English word begins withthem).
A large number of two consonantcombinations occur, with a stop or africative being followed by a liquid orglide:
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Syllables
[br] bring[gl] glean
[my] music[kw] quick
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Syllables
[r] three[fl] fly
[hy] humor[sw] sweet
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Syllables
In addition, [s] can also be followedby voiceless and nasal stops (stay,small) and by [f] and [v] in a smallnumber of borrowed words (sphere,svelte).
[] (esh) can be followed by a nasalstop or a liquid, but only [r] (esh r)
is a cluster native to English(shrink).
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Suprasegmental Features
So far we have studied thecharacteristics of thesegments of speech
But speech sounds may alsohave suprasegmental features
“Riding on the top of othersegmental features”
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Suprasegmental Features
For example:“You got an A on the test”
You can make this sentencesound like a statement -
Or a question.
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Suprasegmental Features
Intonation also helps markthe boundaries of a syntacticunit.
For example:“You got an A on the test, a C
on the homework, and a B onthe quiz”
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Suprasegmental Features
ToneIn many languages, the pitchat which the syllables in a
word are pronounced canmake a difference in theword‟s meaning.
Such languages are calledtone languages.
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Suprasegmental Features
Languages include: Thai,Chinese dialects, Vietnamese,the Bantu languages of Africasuch as Zulu, Luganda, andShona, other African languageslike Yoruba and Igbo, and Northand South American Indian
languages like Apache, Navajo,Kiowa, and Mazotec.
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Suprasegmental Features
So:mā (high level) „mother‟
má (low rising) „hemp‟ mă (low falling rising) „horse‟
mà (high falling) „scold‟
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Suprasegmental Features
Two types of tonal languages:Register tone languages
Contain only register, or level,
tones such as high, mid, low.
Contour tone languages
Contain gliding tones as well asregister tones.
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Suprasegmental Features
StressProperty of syllables, notindividual segments.
Stressed syllable moreprominent than an
unstressed syllable.But this is relative.
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Suprasegmental Features
What is important is that thestressed syllable is perceived to be produced with greater
effort.
English uses several stress
levels, as illustrated by theword photography .
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Suprasegmental Features
In this word, the secondsyllable is most prominent – primary stress.
The final syllable is nextmost prominent – secondarystress.
The other syllables areunstressed – tertiary stress.
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Suprasegmental Features
Suprasegmental features aredifficult to transcribe becausethey are „superimposed‟ on
the other features.