Lesson 15

Topic- 082: Syllable and Division of Words into Syllables

Syllable

1. A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that consists of a vowel

sound with or without surrounding consonants. Each word is
made up of one or more syllables. For example, the word "apple"
has two syllables: ap-ple.
2. Syllable can be defined both phonetically and phonologically
3. Before vowel is onset vowel nucleus and constant is code
4. Phonetically A center with no obstruction of air before and after
there is greater obstruction to airflow, for example, cat
5. Phonetically, it consists of a center with no obstruction of air,
while before and after there is greater obstruction to airflow. For
example, in the word "cat," represented as /kæt/, the center or
nucleus /æ/ allows unobstructed airflow, whereas the initial /k/
and final /t/ t/consonants create more obstruction.
6. Phonologically, it is looking at the possible phoneme
combination called phonotactics.
7. Syllables are often considered the phonological ‘building blocks’
of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its
prosody, its poetic meter, and its stress patterns.
8. A word may have no consonant or up to three consonants.
9. No word end with more than four consonants

Topic- 083: The Structure of the Syllable

1. An ideal syllable consists of CVC (Consonant Vowel Consonant),

2. A minimum syllable has no onset or coda,
3. Zero Onset: If the first syllable of a word begins with a vowel, it
can be any vowel except /ʊ/ which is rare.
4. Initial consonant of a word may be any except /ŋ/.
5. Consonant clusters; there are certain possibilities of Consonant
clusters being used in onset similarly certain possibilities of
Consonant clusters being used as final consonants of a syllable

Topic- 084: Syllabic Consonants

1. A syllabic consonant happens when a consonant sound takes
the place of a vowel to form a syllable. This means the
consonant is heard more clearly than any vowel in that syllable.
For example, the "n" in "button" acts as the main sound of the last
syllable instead of a vowel.

Topic- 085: Types of the Syllable

1. Every word is made from syllables.
2. An open syllable has only one vowel. And the vowel has a long
sound
3. A closed syllable has only one vowel. The vowel has a short
sound
4. If the word is only 2 letters, it must end with a consonant, for
example: in, on, of, at, and it
5. If the word is 3+ letters, a closed syllable has 1 consonant before
and 1+ consonants after the vowel. For examples: cat, catch, net,
nest, web, man, roll, and bark.
6. a word has 2 closed syllables next to each other, there will be
two consonants between the vowels, for example: win-ter,
sum-mer, com-mon, and tem-per.
7. If two letters in any word are pronounced once
8. An r-controlled syllable is a vowel, diphthong, or triphthong with
an ‘r’ or a ‘re’ after it. For example: deer, whis-per, worth, care, and
fire.
9. er, ur, and ir vowels sound like the er in per, fur, her, birth, shirt,
and hurt.
10. Some are vowels that sound like the ar in ‘far’, for example,
par, far, car, and star. Other ar vowels sound like the ar in ‘share’,
pair, hare, hair, and stare or vowels sound like the ‘or’ in for or,
floor, and door.
11. A vowel team syllable is a group of 2-4 letters, usually vowels,
which make a 1 vowel sound. If a vowel team is made of 2
vowels, usually only the first vowel is pronounced,for example:
rain, fail, suit, and clean.
12. The silent-e syllable is also called VCe, which stands for
Vowel-Consonant-e. It consists of a vowel, followed by a
consonant, followed by an ‘e’ that is silent. The vowel has a long
sound (like the ‘i’ in line), for example, take, cake, theme, line,
tone, tune, and ex-ile.
13. The C-le syllable is also called the Consonant-le. It consists
of a consonant followed by an ‘le’ It is usually the last syllable in
a root word, for example, tack-le, freck-le, tick-le, and buck-le.

Topic- 086: Consonant Clusters

1. A syllable may begin with any consonant except /ŋ/

Types of Consonant Clusters

1. Initial Clusters: These are found at the beginning of words.

Examples in English include "str" in "street," "bl" in "black," and
"spr" in "spring."
 2. Medial Clusters: These occur within words. For instance, the
"nstr" in "instrument" or the "lk" in "milk."
3. Final Clusters: These are at the end of words, such as "st" in
"last," "nd" in "wind," and "nks" in "thanks."
4. Three-Consonant Clusters: Words like "splash" (spl) and
"strength" (str).
5. Two-Consonant Clusters: Common examples include "fl" in
"flower" and "gr" in "green."

2. Two-consonant clusters in initial position: pre-initial consonant

and /t,w,m/ will be initial consonants.
3. One of the set of fifteen consonants followed by /l,r,w,j / in play,
tray, quick, and few. In these words, the first sound is initial, and
the second will be post initial.
4. Three consonant cluster in initial position:
5. Any consonant can be final other than /h,r,w,j/ consonants.
6. Two types of final consonants: Pre-final +final
7. /m, n, ŋ, l, s/ bump /bʌmp/, bent /bent/, bank /bæŋk/, belt
/belt/, ask /æsk/
8. Final+post-final /s, z, t, d, θ/ Bets, beds, backed, Bagged,
eighth

Topic- 087: Abutting Consonants

1. Abutting consonants – Two consonants of different sounds
joined together. The first one stops a syllable and the other one
releases the next syllable
2. Abutting consonants are two consonant sounds that are next
to each other but belong to different syllables. They touch each
other at the boundary between syllables but do not form a single
sound. For example, in the word "blackboard," the "k" and "b"
 are right next to each other but are in separate syllables: "black"
and "board."
3. Attribute The "t" and "r" are abutting consonants; they are
adjacent but belong to different syllables: "at" and "tribute."
4. Landscape - /ˈlænd.skeɪp/ - The "d" and "s" are abutting
consonants located at the boundary of the syllables "land" and
"scape."
5. Handbag - /ˈhænd.bæɡ/ - The "d" and "b" are abutting
consonants between the syllables "hand" and "bag."
6. Workspace - /ˈwɜrk.speɪs/ - The "k" and "s" are abutting
consonants at the junction of "work" and "space."
7. Disconnect - /dɪs.kəˈnɛkt/ - The "s" and "k" are abutting
consonants between the syllables "dis" and "connect."
8. difference between abutting consonants and cluster
consonants? in short with example
Abutting Consonants
occur when two consonants are adjacent but belong to separate
syllables. They are not pronounced as a combined sound. For
example, in the word "number" (/ˈnʌm.bər/), the /m/ and /b/ are
abutting consonants; /m/ ends one syllable and /b/ starts the
next.
1. Cowboy (/ˈkaʊ.bɔɪ/) - The /w/ ends the first syllable, and /b/ begins the
next.
2. Playground (/ˈpleɪ.ɡraʊnd/) - The /ɪ/ (represented by 'y' in "play") ends the
first syllable, and /g/ starts the next

Consonant Clusters
involve two or more consonants that are grouped within the
same syllable, forming a combined sound. For example, in the
word "send" (/sɛnd/), the /n/ and /d/ form a cluster in the final part
of the syllable.
1. Stream (/striːm/) - The /str/ cluster is at the beginning of the syllable,
combining /s/, /t/, and /r/.
2. Lands (/lændz/) - The /nds/ cluster is at the end of the syllable,
combining /n/, /d/, and /s/.

In summary, the key difference is that abutting consonants are

separated by syllable boundaries, whereas consonant clusters
are contained within a single syllable.