Mizhda Adil - Phonology - Pres 1 - The Syllable

The Syllable
Mizhda Adil Hama Salih

• Sounds combine together to form a larger
construction: syllable
The Syllable • A phonological unit larger than and composed
of individual segments.
The Syllable as a Phonetic Entity
The Syllable as a Phonetic Entity
• Syllables are produced with a muscular contraction in the chest. So, each syllable
involves one burst of muscular energy.
• French because each syllable lasts roughly the same length of time.
• English because syllables differ in duration depending on the degree of stress
e.g. pigeon
• Because there is no clear phonetic account for syllable, we refer to the syllable
as a phonological construct rather than a specific phonetic entity
The internal structure of the syllable
The internal structure of the syllable
Consonant
Vowel Consonant
• At its most basic level, the typical syllable is made up of a vowel segment preceded
and/or followed by zero or more consonantal segments;
• ‘a’ vowel
• ‘bee’ consonant + vowel
• ‘up’ vowel + consonant
• ‘seen’ consonant + vowel + consonant

‘crank’ [kɹæŋk]
the Greek letter sigma = syllable
A number of points need to be
made about this structure.
1 The grouping together of nucleus and coda to form the rhyme is not an
arbitrary combination; the rhyme forms a unit distinct from the onset in
a number of ways.
strolled old gold

/strəʊld/ /əʊld/ /ɡəʊld/
• These words rhyme together because they share the same syllabic
rhyme (nucleus + coda), despite their different onset.
2 Of the three lowest constituents, the onset, nucleus and coda, only the
nucleus is always obligatory; both the onset and the coda are optional.
• ‘a’ vowel
• ‘bee’ consonant + vowel
• ‘up’ vowel + consonant
• ‘seen’ consonant + vowel + consonant

3 Do you think only the vowel must be a nucleus?
• Many languages allow liquids and nasals as syllabic nuclei.
e.g. the second syllables in the English words:

‘spittle’ /ˈspɪtl/
‘mutton’ /ˈmʌtn/
• Berber, spoken across North Africa, has words like:
e.g. [.tf.tkt.] ‘you suffered a strain’
which allows a voiceless fricative and a voiceless stop (in bold) as nucleus.
Sonority and Syllables
• Sonority governs the nature of the syllabic nucleus and the order of segments within
the syllable as a whole
• Every speech sound has a degree of sonority. The more sonorant a sound is,
 the louder,
 more sustainable,
 more open it is, and
 the more distinct its formant structure.
• So, the degree of sonority is determined by factors like its loudness in relation to other
sounds, the extent to which it can be prolonged and the degree of stricture in the vocal
tract;
Sonority hierarchy:
Peak = Nucleus
Rising sonority in onset Falling sonority in coda

Is this always
the case?
• English has words like:
Falling sonority
• stoat = fricative /s/ + stop /t/ in onset
Rising sonority
• Fox = stop /k/ + fricative /s/ in coda
• They are a specific set of exceptions, in that they don’t involve just any random
sequences of segments; the segment which is ‘out of place’ is typically a member of
the class known as the sibilant fricatives [s, z, ʃ, ʒ].
Syllable Boundaries
Syllable Boundaries
• The polysyllabic word ‘parrot’ has two syllables. The sound [ɹ] is on the boundary, and
the sonority does not tell whether it is in the coda of the fist syllable or in the onset of
the second syllable.
Onset Maximization
• To determine the location of the boundary, we need to appeal to the principle of onset
maximization: consonants should be syllabified in onsets rather than codas.

• plastic ‘pla.stic’
• frantic ‘fran.tic’
‘fra.ntic’
• In English, [st] is a possible word-initial cluster, as in ‘stag’,
• but *[nt] is not.

Syllable Typology
Syllable Typology
Languages show considerable variation in what combinations of segments they allow as an

acceptable syllable:
1. CV : a single onset segment followed by a single nucleus segment, with no coda, e.g. Fijian
2. (C)V : the onset may be optional, e.g. Cayuvava (Bolivia)
3. CV(C) : CV pattern with optional codas, e.g. Thargari,
4. (C)V(C) : both onsets and codas to be optional, e.g. Mokilese

English? Kurdish?
The Syllable (1982)
Elisabeth O. Selkirk
Syllable is considered to be a theoretical construct as it is needed for:
1. The explanatory statement of phonotactic constraints in a language: rules of syllable

creation in a language
2. The application of segmental phonology’s rules
3. The treatment of suprasegmental phenomena such as stress and tone

The Representation of the
Syllable
• Syllable is an element of a hierarchical organized prosodic structure as it has an
internal structure. For this reason, we need to look at syllable constituency.
Linear representation
Linear Syllable Theory

Immediate Consistent (IC) structure
IC Approach
Phonotactic considerations support the IC analysis of the syllable.

Are nodes labelled?
“Support for naming its internal constituents in this way is currently lacking.”
Do nodes have characteristics?
Node Characteristics
• Selected distinctive features are assigned to a node or syllable structure:
• Any constituent dominated by a node with a [+F] is characterized by [+F], too.

s/w node labeling theory
s/w node labeling theory
• In the binary branching constituent of the syllable, one member always tends to be
weaker, W, subordinate to the other. And the strong one, S, is more sonorant.
• Nucleus is always strong, so its sister coda is
universally weak as suggested by Hooper (1976:15).
• Onset is weak with respect to rhyme: strong

• Each touch on different aspect of syllable structure representation. They work like
templates as syllables are different in languages and with different word categories.
• Suppose syllable template for English is:
The function of a template is to encode the obvious characteristics of syllable
structure:
1. segment types are identified by the major class features:
2. the order of segment types
3. structural relation between segment types (in IC terms)
4. the optionality of segments
If the actual syllable structure is non-distinct from the template, it is well-formed.

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The Syllable

Mizhda Adil Hama Salih

• English because syllables differ in duration depending on the degree of stress

• ‘bee’ consonant + vowel

• ‘up’ vowel + consonant

• ‘seen’ consonant + vowel + consonant

strolled old gold

• ‘bee’ consonant + vowel

• ‘up’ vowel + consonant

• ‘seen’ consonant + vowel + consonant

• Many languages allow liquids and nasals as syllabic nuclei.

e.g. the second syllables in the English words:

• Berber, spoken across North Africa, has words like:

e.g. [.tf.tkt.] ‘you suffered a strain’

Rising sonority in onset Falling sonority in coda

maximization: consonants should be syllabified in onsets rather than codas.

• In English, [st] is a possible word-initial cluster, as in ‘stag’,

• but *[nt] is not.

Languages show considerable variation in what combinations of segments they allow as an

2. (C)V : the onset may be optional, e.g. Cayuvava (Bolivia)

3. CV(C) : CV pattern with optional codas, e.g. Thargari,

4. (C)V(C) : both onsets and codas to be optional, e.g. Mokilese

1. The explanatory statement of phonotactic constraints in a language: rules of syllable

2. The application of segmental phonology’s rules

3. The treatment of suprasegmental phenomena such as stress and tone

Linear Syllable Theory

Phonotactic considerations support the IC analysis of the syllable.

• Selected distinctive features are assigned to a node or syllable structure:

• Any constituent dominated by a node with a [+F] is characterized by [+F], too.

• Onset is weak with respect to rhyme: strong

1. segment types are identified by the major class features:

2. the order of segment types

3. structural relation between segment types (in IC terms)

4. the optionality of segments

If the actual syllable structure is non-distinct from the template, it is well-formed.

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