Na Avh Udn LS6

LESSON 6: SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
Glossary
beat nhịp đánh

cluster tổ hợp âm, chuổi âm
coda (âm, phần) cuối
component thành phần, phần hợp thành
constraint sự kiềm chế
core cái cốt (lỏi)
function chức năng
illustrate minh hoạ
internal ở trong, bên trong
linguist nhà ngôn ngữ học
nucleus nhân, âm chính
obligatory bắt buộc
onset (âm) đầu
optional tuỳ ý, không bắt buộc
peak đỉnh (thường là nguyên âm của âm tiết)
phonotactic (thuộc) phương thức kết âm, kết âm học
resonant (âm) vang, hưởng âm
rhyme vần
sonorant âm vang
sonority độ vang của âm, tính vang âm
syllable âm tiết
syllable structure cấu trúc âm tiết
tree branch nhánh hình cây
tree diagram sơ đồ hình cây
vertical line đường thẳng đứng
Syllables and their parts
A syllable is a unit of sound composed of a central peak of sonority (usually a

vowel), and the consonants that cluster around this central peak. Words can be
cut up into units called syllables. Humans seem to need syllables as a way of
segmenting the stream of speech and giving it a rhythm of strong and weak
beats, as we hear in music. Syllables don't serve any meaning-signalling
function in language; they exist only to make speech easier for the brain to
process. A word contains at least one syllable.
Most speakers of English have no trouble dividing a word up into its component
syllables. Sometimes how a particular word is divided might vary from one
individual to another, but a division is always easy and always possible. Here
are some words divided into their component syllables (a period is used to mark
the end of a syllable):
- tomato = to.ma.to
- window = win.dow
- supercalifragilisticexpialidocious = su.per.ca.li.fra.gi.lis.ti.cex.pi.a.li.do.cious
(some people might put some of the periods in different places in this word).
Syllables have internal structure: they can be divided into 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.
Onset: the beginning sounds of the syllable; the ones preceding the nucleus.
These are always consonants in English. The nucleus is a vowel in most cases,
although the consonants [ r ], [ l ], [ m ], [ n ], and the velar nasal (the 'ng' sound)
can also be the nucleus of a syllable. In the following words, the onset is in bold;
the rest underlined.
read
flop
strap
If a word contains more than one syllable, each syllable will have the usual
syllable parts:
win.dow
to.ma.to
pre.pos.te.rous
fun.da.men.tal
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
The nucleus, as the term suggests, is the core or essential part of a syllable. A
nucleus must be present in order for a syllable to be present. Syllable nuclei are
most often highly 'sonorant' or resonant sounds, that can be relatively loud and
carry a clear pitch level. In English and most other languages, most syllable
nuclei are vowels. In English, in certain cases, the liquids [ l r ] and nasals [ m n
] and the velar nasal usually spelled 'ng' can also be syllable nuclei.
Parts Description Optionality

Onset Initial segment of a syllable Optional
Rhyme Core of a syllable, consisting of a nucleus and codaObligatory
(see below)
– Nucleus Central segment of a syllable Obligatory
– Coda Closing segment of a syllable Optional
The syllable structure analysis of the words 'read', 'flop', 'strap' and 'window' are
as follows (IPA symbols are used to show the sounds in the word/syllable):
read = one syllable
Onset = [ r ]
Rhyme = [ id ] (within the rhyme:)
- Nucleus = [ i ]
- Coda = [ d ]
flop = one syllable
Onset = [ f l ]
Rhyme = [ a p ]
- Nucleus = [ a ]
- Coda = [ p ]
window = 2 syllables
First syllable: [wIn]

Onset = [ w ]
Rhyme = [ I n ]
- Nucleus = [ I ]
- Coda = [ n ]
Second syllable: [ d o ]
Onset = [ d ]
Rhyme = [ o ]
- Nucleus = [ o ]
- (This syllable has no coda)
Linguists often use tree diagrams to illustrate syllable structure.
'Flop', for example, would look like this (the word appears in IPA symbols, not
English spelling). 'σ' = 'syllable'; 'O' = 'onset'; 'R' = 'rhyme'; 'N' = 'nucleus'; 'C' =
'coda'. The syllable node at the top of the tree branches into Onset and Rhyme;
the Onset node branches because it contains two consonants, [ f ] and [ l ]. The
Rhyme node branches because this syllable has both a nucleus and a coda.
O R
N C
f l O p
Liquids and nasals as syllable nuclei
The English liquids [ R l ] and the nasals [ m n ] can be the nuclei of syllables
under certain conditions. [ l ] can be a nucleus as easily as a vowel. For
example, the words 'table', 'little', both have [ l ] as the nucleus; in other words,
there is no vowel in the pronunciation of these syllables.
When one of these sounds is a syllable nucleus, this is shown in transcription by

putting a very short vertical line under the IPA symbol:
[ r lmn
]
' ' ' '
In terms of consonants and vowels, the following words represent the following
structures:
VC CV CCV CCCV
up my pry screw
an hoe grow spray
in so free stray
VCC VCCC CVCCC CVCCCC

old Olds test thirsts
and ants tenths texts
ink amps lunged worlds
CVC CCVC CVCC CCVCC

bed bred bald brand
set dread sand trains
cap stone hunt swings
CCCVC CCCVCC CCVCCC CCCVCCC

strut struts slurps scrimps
squat squats prints sprints
sprain sprained flirts squelched
Phonotactic constraints
All languages except sign languages use sequences of phones to make words.
No languages allow sounds to combine freely. That is, there are always
constraints on what phones any particular phone can precede and follow. These
constraints are called phonotactic constraints. The sum total of all the
phonotactic constraints of a language is called its phonotactics.
In any syllable-internal sequence of a nasal and a stop, the nasal and the stop
must have the same place of articulation:
Actual Impossible Possible
hand *hamd hant
taunt *taumt taund
punk *pumk pung
In any 2-consonant onset, the second consonant must be a sonorant.
Actual Impossible
please *ptease
proud *psoud
pure *pshure
twin *tdin
trust *tpust
queen *ksean
clean *cshean
cream *cteam
In any 3-consonant cluster in an onset, the first consonant must be [s]: splash,
strong, spew .
In any 3-consonant cluster in an onset, the second consonant must be a
voiceless stop [p,t,k]: splash, strong, spew , extreme.
Initial consonant clusters in English containing a voiceless stop

Labial + sonorant Coronal + sonorant Velar + sonorant
[pl] please [tl] ____ [kl] clean
[pr] proud [tr] trade [kr] cream
[pw] ____ [tw] twin [kw] queen
[pj] pure [tj] tune [kj] cute
[spl] splat [stl] ____ [skl] sclerosis
[spr] spring [str] strip [skr] scrap
[spw] ____ [stw] ____ [skw] squeak
[spj] spew [stj] stew [skj] skewer

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LESSON 6: SYLLABLE STRUCTURE

beat nhịp đánh

A syllable is a unit of sound composed of a central peak of sonority (usually a

Parts Description Optionality

read = one syllable

Rhyme = [ id ] (within the rhyme:)

flop = one syllable

First syllable: [wIn]

Linguists often use tree diagrams to illustrate syllable structure.

Liquids and nasals as syllable nuclei

When one of these sounds is a syllable nucleus, this is shown in transcription by

VCC VCCC CVCCC CVCCCC

CVC CCVC CVCC CCVCC

CCCVC CCCVCC CCVCCC CCCVCCC

Initial consonant clusters in English containing a voiceless stop

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