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    Syllabic Consonants

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    Juan Devoto
    This document discusses syllabic consonants, which are consonants that form syllables without a vowel. It provides examples of syllabic /l/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, and /r/ in English words. Syllabic /l/ can be found word-internally before consonants or in words spelled with consonant+al/el. Syllabic /n/ occurs in weak syllables and after alveolar sounds. Syllabic /m/ and /ŋ/ are found in words like "happen" and "thicken." There are minimal pairs like "Hungary" vs. "hungry" where meaning depends on a syllab

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    Syllabic Consonants

    Uploaded by

    Juan Devoto
    3K views3 pages
    This document discusses syllabic consonants, which are consonants that form syllables without a vowel. It provides examples of syllabic /l/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, and /r/ in English words. Syllabic /l/ can be found word-internally before consonants or in words spelled with consonant+al/el. Syllabic /n/ occurs in weak syllables and after alveolar sounds. Syllabic /m/ and /ŋ/ are found in words like "happen" and "thicken." There are minimal pairs like "Hungary" vs. "hungry" where meaning depends on a syllab

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    Syllabic Consonants

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    This document discusses syllabic consonants, which are consonants that form syllables without a vowel. It provides examples of syllabic /l/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, and /r/ in English words. Syllabic /l/ can be found word-internally before consonants or in words spelled with consonant+al/el. Syllabic /n/ occurs in weak syllables and after alveolar sounds. Syllabic /m/ and /ŋ/ are found in words like "happen" and "thicken." There are minimal pairs like "Hungary" vs. "hungry" where meaning depends on a syllab

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    3K views3 pages

    Syllabic Consonants

    Uploaded by

    Juan Devoto
    This document discusses syllabic consonants, which are consonants that form syllables without a vowel. It provides examples of syllabic /l/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, and /r/ in English words. Syllabic /l/ can be found word-internally before consonants or in words spelled with consonant+al/el. Syllabic /n/ occurs in weak syllables and after alveolar sounds. Syllabic /m/ and /ŋ/ are found in words like "happen" and "thicken." There are minimal pairs like "Hungary" vs. "hungry" where meaning depends on a syllab

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    Syllabic consonants

    Syllabic consonants are the consonants that make syllables without vowels. Such

    consonants are /l, r, n, m, /:

    Syllabic /l/

    This sound can occur:

    1. With alveolar consonant precediong: cattle /ktl/, bottle /botl/, muddle /mdl/,

    tunnel /tnl/

    2. With non- alveolar consonant preceding: couple /kpl/, trouble /trbl/, struggle

    /strgl/, knuckle /nkl/. Such words usually lose their final letter (e) when a

    syllable beginning with a vowel is attached, but /l/ remains syllabic:

    bottle /botl/ , bottling /botli/.

    Similar words not derived in this way do not have the syllabic /l/ consider the following

    words:

    Coddle /kodl/, coddling /kodli/ ( this is v ing and it has syllabic /l/.

    Cod (n) + diminutive ling = codling /kodli/ ( /l/ is not syllabic).

    Syllabic /l/ can be found in wordsspelt with one or more consonant letters followed by

    al or el as in: panel /pnl/, petal /petl/, kernel /k:nl/, pedal /pedl/, papal/ peipl/, parcel

    /pa:sl/, babel/ beibl/, ducal/dju:kl/.

    Syllabic /n/

    Syllabic /n/ can occur in final and medial weak syllables. threaten / retn/, threatening/

    retni/. Syllabic /n/ is most common after alveolar plosives and fricatives: eaten /i:tn/.
    Syllabic /n/ is not found after /l/, // and //:

    Sullen /sln/, Christian /krisn/, pigeon /pin/. Syllabic /n/ after non alveolar

    consonants is not so widespread. In words where the syllable following a velar consonant is

    spelt an or on as in: toboggan / tbogn/, wagon /wgn/. After bilabial consonants both

    syllabic and non syllabic consonants /n/ can occur:

    happen / hpn/, /hpn/, /hpm/.

    Happening /hpni/, /hpni/, /hpni/.

    Ribbon /ribn/, /ribn/, /ribm/.

    After velar consonants in words like thiken, waken, syllabic and non- syllabic /n/ can

    occur: thicken /ikn/ /ikn/. waken /weikn/ /weikn/.

    After /f/ or /v/, syllabic /n/ is commonly used:

    Seven /sevn/, heaven /hevn/, often / ofn/. If n is preceded by /l/ and a plosive as in wilton,

    the pronunciation /wiltn/ is possible, but / wiltn/ is also found regularly. If /s/ precedes /t/

    as in boston, syllabic /n/ is less frequent. Clusters formed by nasal + plosive + syllabic

    nasal are very unusual:

    Thus, minton, lantern, London, abandon will have // in the last syllable and be

    pronounced: /mintn/, /lntn/, /lndn/, /bndn/.

    Syllabic /m/ and //

    Syllabic /m/ can occur in words like happen which can be pronounced /hpm/, /hpn/,

    /hpn/, uppermost/ pmust/, /pmust/.

    // is found in thicken /ik/, /ikn/, /ikn/, broken key /bruk ki:/.


    Syllabic /r/

    There are a few pairs of words ( minimal pairs) in which a difference in meaning depends

    on whether a particular /r/ is syllabic or not as in:

    Hungary /hgri/, hungry /hgri/. Hungary can be pronounced /hgri/.

    Combinations of syllabic consonants

    It is possible to find two syllabic consonants together as in: national /nnl/, literal /litrl/,

    visionary /vinri/, veteran /vetrn/.

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