THE SYLLABLE Final

A PRESENTATION BY
Harpreet Kaur Baweja

Assoc. Prof. in English
Govt. P.G.College, Sec-1, Panchkula
A SYLLABLE IS A UNIT OF SPOKEN WORD HIGHER THAN
INDIVIDUAL SPEECH SOUNDS, WITH ONLY ONE VOWEL SOUND
USUALLY COMBINED WITH ONE OR MORE CONSONANT
SOUNDS
•Example the word ‘I’ is a syllable with one diphthong . Since
diphthong is considered as a single sound unit so this word has one
syllable only.
•The word “you” has a combination of one consonant sound and
one vowel sound, this word has one syllable only.
•The word ‘Pen’ comprises of one vowel sound and two consonant
sounds prefixed and suffixed to it. ‘Pen’ also has one syllable.
1) MONOSYLLABIC- WORDS WITH ONE
SYLLABLE e.g.
a) FREE
b) CHEESE
c) ANT
d) SIT
2) DISYLLABIC WORDS- WORDS WITH TWO
SYLLABLES
FOR EXAMPLE –a) TEACHER
b) FATHER
c) LEADER
3) POLYSYLLABIC WORDS- WORDS WITH
MORE THAN TWO SYLLABLES
FOR EXAMPLE-a) CHARACTER
b) CITIZEN
c) EDUCATION
1) VOWEL- NUCLEUS SYMBOLIZED AS ‘V’
CENTRAL OBLIGATORY
2) CONSONANT- MAGINAL/OPTIONAL
ELEMENT SYMBOLIZED AS ‘C’
1. RELEASING CONSONANT IS THE
CONSONANT THAT BEGINS A
SYLLABLE.
2. ARRESTING CONSONANT IS THE
ONE THAT COMES AT THE END OF
THE SYLLABLE.
SYLLABLES WITH THE STRUCTURE
V
 Syllables with only the nucleus
Examples
I
EYE
OH!
AH!
VC
 SYLLABLES WITH THE NUCLEUS AND
AN ARRESTING CONSONANT
Examples
AM
ALL
UP
ASS
VCC
• Syllables with only nucleus
and two arresting consonants
Examples
ASK
ANT
ACT
OPT
CV
Syllable with one releasing consonant
and nucleus
Examples
 BE
 SHE
 SO
 GO
VCCC
• Syllable with only nucleus and
three arresting consonants
Examples
ASKED
ENDS
ANTS
CCVC
 Syllable with two releasing consonant,
nuleus and an arresting consonant
Examples
 SLATE
 SPIN
 STUN
 SCHOOL
 PRIZE
CCVCC
•Syllable with two releasing consonant,
nucleus and two arresting consonants
Examples
DREAMT
SCHOOLS
TRAINS
DRESSED
CCVCCC
•Syllable with two releasing consonant,

nucleus and three arresting consonants
Examples
SPENDS
STANDS
STAMPED
CCCV
•Syllable with three releasing
consonants and nucleus
Examples
SPRAY
SCREW
STRAW
CCCVCCC
•Syllable with three releasing consonant,
Examples
SCRIPTS
STRANDS
CCCVC
 Syllable with three releasing
consonants, nucleus and an arresting
consonant
Examples
 SCREAM
 STREAM
 SCREEN
CVC
 Syllable with one releasing consonant,
nucleus and an arresting consonant
Examples
 COME
 SOME
 GONE
 BOAT
CVCC
 Syllable with a releasing consonant,
nucleus and two arresting consonants
Examples
 BOX
 FOX
 BAND
 BOLD
CVCCC
 Syllable with a releasing consonant,
Examples
 TENTS
 TEMPT
 BANDS
CVCCCC
 Syllable with one releasing consonant,
Examples
 TEMPTS
 TEXTS
KEY TO REMEMBER
 ENGLISH ALLOWS UP TO THREE CONSONANTS
TO BEGIN A SYLLABLE AND UPTO FOUR
CONSONANTS TO END A SYLLABLE.
 SUCH A SEQUENCE OF CONSONANTS AT THE
BEGINNING OR AT THE END OF A SYLLABLE ARE
CALLED CONSONANT CLUSTERS
TWO KINDS OF SYLLABLES
 CLOSED SYLLABLE- A syllable that ends in a
consonant is called a closed syllable.
 bad good, dog, bind, out
 OPEN SYLLABLES- A syllable that ends in a vowel

is an open syllable e.g. go, tea, She, crow, saw grow
Onset & coda
 Onset and Coda
 A syllable may consist of the nucleus alone, or the
nucleus may have other sounds attached to it,
either in front or in back of it.
 Sounds attached to the beginning of the nucleus
are called the onset: onsets might consist of one
or more sound segments.
 Sounds attached to the end of the nucleus are
called the coda: codas may consist of one or more
sound segments.
A syllable = (onset +) nucleus (+ coda)
RIME=Nucleus +Coda
 Linguists show the general structure of a syllable,
then in the following way, using a tree diagram:
syllable syllable
BATS /bæts/
onset RIME/ æts/

/b/
Nucleus
Coda
vowel
Syllabic Consonants
 Syllabic sounds are sounds which
function as syllable nuclei. Vowels are
syllabic and so are syllabic consonants
such as ‘l’ in bottle and candle or the
nasal ‘n’ in cotton and ‘m’ in bottom.
THE STRUCTURE OF A SYLLABLE
 A syllable = (onset +) nucleus (+ coda)
A vowel is a nucleus, and consonants can be used as onset or

coda.
For example
 COMPONENTS Words
nucleus: a
nucleus + coda: at
onset + nucleus + coda: pat
Consonants that are treated as
vowel in a particular phonetic
environment
 Some consonants (for example the 'l'
sound in words like eagle and pickle, or
the 'n' sound in even) are considered to
work as a nucleus instead of a vowel. So
the second syllable of apple and eagle
would be just /l/ (a syllabic consonant
as a nucleus), not 'ul‘. This would be a
vowel as the syllabic nuclei)
Syllabic Consonants
 Syllabic-n
 Consider the syllables that make up the following word.
 garden /gɑ(r)/ + /dən/ = /ˈgɑ(r)dən/ {1}
 The first syllable /gɑ/ consists of a CV sequence and the
second syllable /dən/ of a CVC arrangement. The first
syllable is said to be a stressed syllable, i.e. it is given more
weight, more emphasis, when spoken. The first syllable is
consequently given more prominence through this
increased loudness. The second syllable is an unstressed
syllable. In unstressed syllables that end in /n/ the
immediately preceding vowel is usually the neutral vowel
/ə/ (also known as schwa). In certain situations, such as in
connected speech, a reduction may occur that results in the
neutral vowel being omitted. This results in the final /n/
taking on the full measure of the syllable. This is known
as syllabic-n and it is transcribed in IPA (International
Phonetic Alphabet) as [n̩]. Thus:
 garden /ˈgɑ(r)dən/ → [ˈgɑ(ɹ)dn̩] {2}
Syllabic Consonant /n/
 We see, therefore, that the second syllable no
longer contains a vowel. Further examples of
syllabic-n include the following.
 frighten /ˈfraɪtən/ → [ˈfraɪtn̩]
 button /ˈbʌtən/ → [ˈbʌtn̩]
Syllabic m
 Syllabic-m
 As well as the occurrence of syllabic-n in
unstressed syllables, syllabic-m can occur in
similar environments. Examples of syllabic-m,
which similarly takes the full measure of a
syllable, i.e. taking the nuclear vowel slot in the
syllable, include the following.
 rhythm /ˈrɪðəm/ → [ˈrɪðm̩]
 bottom /ˈbɒtəm/ → [ˈbɒtm̩]
 blossom /ˈblɒsəm / → [ˈblɒsm̩]
`
 Syllabic liquids
 The‘liquid’ phonemes in English is /l/ as in look.
 Syllabic-l
 Examples of syllabic-l filling the vowel slot in
unstressed syllables include the following.
 handle /ˈhændəl/ → [ˈhændɬ̩]
 bottle /ˈbɒtəl/ → [ˈbɒtɬ̩]
 bagel /ˈbeɪgəl/ → [ˈbeɪgɬ̩]
That’s all on syllables!

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A PRESENTATION BY

Harpreet Kaur Baweja

•Syllable with two releasing consonant,

 OPEN SYLLABLES- A syllable that ends in a vowel

onset RIME/ æts/

A vowel is a nucleus, and consonants can be used as onset or

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