Lecture 3Part 1 Phonology Suprasegmental phonology the syllable Lec. Maha Alwasidi

syllable a unit of pronunciation typically larger than a single sound and smaller than a word. Consider, for instance, the following words: “sad” /sd/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel // and preceding and following consonants /s, d/. “time” /tam/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel /a/ and preceding and following consonants /t, m/. “car” /k/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel // and a preceding consonant /k/. “am” /m/ includes one syllable composed of a vowel // and a following consonant /m/. “I” /a/ includes one syllable (a minimum syllable) composed of the vowel /a/. CVC /sd/ sad /tam/ time CV /k/ car VC /m/ am V /a/ I Thus, every syllable must include a vowel, may have consonants preceding and following that vowel. The different possibilities of the structure of a syllable can be represented as follows: (C) V (C) Lec. Maha Alwasidi

According to this representation (C) V (C), the syllable must have a centre (called peak or nucleus) which is a vowel could have an onset (which is the initial part of the syllable) that consists of either one or more consonants. could have a coda (which is the final part of the syllable) that consists of either one or more consonants. the nucleus and the coda form the rhyme. The word “mad”: /md/ → m  d onset centre coda Examples: onset + peak  “key” /ki/, “car” /k/, “who” /hu/, “blue” /blu/ peak + coda  “am” /m/, “ease” /iz/, “ask” /sk/ onsets + peak + codas ”sat” /st/, “fill” /fl/, “floods” /flds/ peak (minimum syllable)  “are” //, “I” /a/ Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Definition Phonetically  a syllable consists of a centre which has little or no obstruction of airflow and which sounds loud. Before and after this centre there might be greater obstruction of air flow and/or less loud sound. Phonologically  a syllable is a unit that involves possible combinations of English phonemes. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Syllabification A word consisting of one syllable (like tip) is referred to as a monosyllable. A word consisting of two syllables (like monkey) is called a disyllable. A word consisting of three syllables (such as interpret) is called a trisyllable. A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as intelligence) is called a polysyllable. The term ‘polysyllable’ is often used to describe words of two syllables or more. So, the words, “monkey, interpret, intelligence” can be called polysyllabic. - Sometimes syllables are marked off from each other by a period [.]. Examples: /tp/ /mn.ki/ /n.ter.prt/ - Sometimes the symbols C and V (standing for Consonant and Vowel, respectively) are used to show syllabic structure. For example, the syllabic structure of "interpret " /n.ter.prt/ is VC.CVC.CCVC. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

phonotactics The study of possible phoneme combinations of a language is called phonotactics. Examples of phonotactics: In a syllable-initial position: - it is allowed to begin with a vowel, or with one, two or three consonants. - no syllable begins with more than three consonants. In a syllable-final position: - a syllable can end with a vowel, or with one, two, three or four consonants. - no syllable ends with more than four consonants. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Phonotactics The syllable onset: If the syllable begins with a vowel, it has a zero onset as in ‘am’ /m/; ‘ease’ /iz/. If a syllable begins with one consonant, the initial consonant can be any consonant phoneme except //. Examples: ‘key’ /ki/; ‘kick’ /kk/. If a syllable begins with two or three consonants, such a sequence of consonants is called a consonant cluster. Examples: ‘play, stay, street, split, etc’. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Phonotactics (con.) Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Phonotactics (con.) The syllable coda: If the syllable ends with a vowel, it has a zero coda as in ‘car’ /k/; ‘see’ /si/. If a syllable ends with one consonant, the final consonant can be any consonant phoneme except /h, r, w, j/. Examples: ‘at’ /t/; ‘kick’ /kk/, ‘catch’ /kt/, ‘seen’ /sin/. If a syllable ends with two, three or four consonants, such a sequence of consonants is called a consonant cluster. There is a possibility of up to four consonants at the end of the word. Examples: ‘books, six, bank, banks, prompts, etc’. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Final two-consonant clusters: Phonotactics (con.) Consonant clusters in the coda: Final two-consonant clusters: Examples: ‘help, bank, edge, belt, blind, books, six etc’. Final three-consonant clusters: (see p.73) Examples: ‘helped, seconds, fifths, etc’. Final four-consonant clusters: Examples: ‘prompts, sixths, etc’. Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Thus, the English syllable has the maximum phonological structure: C1 C2 C3 V C1 C2 C3 C4 onset peak coda Lec. Maha Alwasidi

Assignments 1- a minimum syllable consisting only of a peak 1. What is the maximum phonological structure in Arabic? 2. Give one example word containing each of the following: 1- a minimum syllable consisting only of a peak 2- a zero onset 2- a zero coda 3- an initial two-consonant cluster 4- a final three-consonant cluster Lec. Maha Alwasidi

3. Break down the following one syllable words into their onsets, peaks, and codas. scream played tests names Lec. Maha Alwasidi