UNIT 6. .............................................................................................................................

2
THE SYLLABLE..........................................................................................................2
Definition...................................................................................................................2
Syllable constituents..................................................................................................3
Syllable boundaries....................................................................................................3
Weak and strong syllables.........................................................................................4
THE WORD..................................................................................................................5
Definition...................................................................................................................5
Accent and Prominence.............................................................................................5
Phonotactics...................................................................................................................7
Initial position............................................................................................................7
Final position.............................................................................................................8
Word Accentual Patterns................................................................................................8
Two-syllable words....................................................................................................9
Three-syllable words.................................................................................................9
Complex words:.........................................................................................................9
Distinctive Word Accentual Patterns...........................................................................10
Word Accentual Instability..........................................................................................10
UNIT 6.

THE SYLLABLE

Definition

A unit at a higher level than that of the phoneme or sound segment, distinct from
that of the word or morpheme, typically consisting of a single vowel or diphthong
possibly preceded and/or followed by one or more consonants.

Phonetically, syllables are usually described as consisting of a centre which has

little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud; before
and after this centre there will be greater obstruction to airflow and less loud
sound. It is a group of sounds pronounced together.

Auditory definition: syllable is based on the theory of Sonority Hierarchy

(Jespersen). The syllable is the distance between two minimums of sonority.

The sonority scale is the following:

Open vowels +sonorous

Close vowels
Laterals
Nasals
Approximants
Trills
Fricatives
Affricates
Plosives and flaps –sonorous

Within the last three categories voiced are more sonorous than voiceless sounds.

m n t e s t ə

The number of syllables in an utterance equates with the number of peaks of

sonority (marked by arrows).

But phonetics definition is preferable to auditory definition because many

syllables do not fit (to) the sonority hierarchy and it is difficult to measure
 objectively the prominence or sonority of a sound and to establish the syllable
boundaries.

Syllable constituents

Syllable

Rhyme

Onset Peak Coda

• Onset: the first part of the syllable, that part preceding the rhyme and
typically consisting of all consonants preceding the vowel.

• Rhyme: the part of a syllable consisting of the nucleus and the coda –in
other words– the entire syllable except for the onset.

• Coda: that part of the syllable which follows the nucleus and which contains
only syllable-final consonants. The nucleus and the coda together constitute
the rhyme.

• Peak: also called the nucleus. The most prominent part of a syllable most
often a vowel or a diphthong. In English is possible to find a consonant as
nucleus (syllabic consonants: /n , l , , /

o Some syllables may have neither onset nor coda. A minimum syllable would
be a single vowel in isolation, e.g. are /ɑ:/, or /ɔ:/, err /ɜ:/.
o Some syllables have an onset, e.g. bar /bɑ:/.
o Some syllables may have no onset but have a coda: am /æm/.
o Some syllables have onset and coda: run /rʌn/, sat /sæt/.

Syllable boundaries

The sonority hierarchy tells us how many syllables there are in an utterance by
showing us a number of peaks of sonority. Such peaks represent the centres of
syllables (usually vowels).
Conversely, it would seem reasonable for the troughs (valles) of sonority to
represent the boundaries between syllables. Sounds following the trough would
 then be in ascending sonority up to the peak and sounds following the peak would
be in descending sonority up to the trough.

In English the exceptions are constituted mainly by the occurrence of /s/ which
does not constitute a syllable despite being of higher sonority than a sound which
precedes or follows (like in stop, because sounds below a certain level on the
hierarchy cannot constitute peaks, i.e. that classes from fricatives downwards
cannot constitute peaks in English).

s t p

But problems arise because the hierarchy does not tell us whether to place the
trough consonant with the preceding of following syllable. Various principles
can be applied to decide between alternatives:

1. Align syllable boundaries with morpheme boundaries where present

(morphemic principle).
2. Align syllable boundaries to parallel syllable codas and onsets at the ends
and beginnings of words. (phonotactics principle).
3. Align syllable boundaries to best predict allophonic variations.

When these principles conflict with one other, a further principle is invoked:

4. The maximal onset principle which assigns consonants to onsets wherever

possible on the basis that onsets are more commonly complex in languages
than codas.

For instance, let’s take the word extra /ekstrə/. The /k/ belongs in the coda by
both phonotactic and allophonic principles and /tr/ belongs in the onset. But
these principles give us no solution to the assignment of /s/ which we place in
the second syllable by the maximal onset principle, giving /̀ek.stra/

Weak and strong syllables

One of the main characteristics of English language is the existence of weak and
strong syllables:

• Strong syllables have vowels as peaks, long vowels, diphthongs or short

vowels except for /ə/:
o syllables containing long vowels or diphthongs,
o or syllables that ends with more than one consonant.
• Weak syllables have syllabic consonants as nucleus, or short vowels
followed by one (or not) consonant.
THE WORD

Definition

Phonologically, the word is a linguistic entity higher than the phoneme, composed
of phonemic elements capable of distinctive commutation.
It is also a commutable entity which may either constitute a complete utterance or
may be substituted in a longer utterance for other words of its same class.

In addition, in polysyllabic words, the word shape has an identity determined by

the relationship of its parts. It may have a pattern consisting of a ‘strong’ syllable
followed by a ‘weak’ syllable, e.g. writer, rider, but the pattern may be reversed as
in return or again.

Accent and Prominence

The syllable or syllables of a word which stand out (sobresalen) from the
remainder are said to be accented, to receive the ACCENT.

• Accent: pitch movement. When a syllable is accented it has some pitch

prominence.
• Stress: rhythmic movements. When a syllable is stressed it has some rhythmic
prominence.
Cruttenden does not distinguish between stress and accent.

Production point of view (speaker): accented syllables have more muscular and
respiratory effort than unaccented.
Perception point of view (listener): accented syllables are more perceptible and
prominent than the remainder.

Four factors help to give a syllable more prominent than its neighbours: pitch,
loudness, quality, and quantity. But it is principally pitch change which marks an
accented syllable.

1. Pitch change: the principal cue to accent is the pitch prominence.

Accented syllables tend to have a pitch movement, unaccented no pitch
movement.
Pitch changes may make prominent more than one syllable in a word or within
a phrase.
The final pitch accent in a word or in a group of word is usually the most
prominent (referred to as the PRIMARY ACCENT) while a pitch accent in an
earlier syllable is usually somewhat less prominent (referred to as the
SECONDARY ACCENT).
2. Loudness (intensity) (volumen, intensidad, sonía):
Accented syllables are often louder than unaccented.
Greater loudness is carried principally by voiced sounds in which there is
greater amplitude of the vocal folds vibration. It results in acoustic terms in
relatively greater intensity.

3. Quantity and quality:

Length: accented syllables are longer than unaccented.
Vowel quality: accent always falls on strong vowels, not on weak (i, u, ə).
Accent is principally achieved by pitch change, sometimes assisted by extra
loudness. Among unaccented syllables some will be more prominent than
others due to the quantity and quality of the vowels: long vowels and
diphthongs are generally more prominent than short vowels, while among
short vowels /ɪ, Ʊ, ə/ are the least prominent and often referred to as
REDUCED vowels as opposed to other FULL vowels.

There are therefore four degrees of prominence in English:

1. Primary accent: marked by the last major pitch change in a word (or longer
utterance). It is the most important accent.
Features: Nuclear, pitch movement, rhythm beat, strong vowels;
2. Secondary accent: marked by a non-final pitch change in a word (or longer
utterance).
Features: Not nuclear, pitch movement, rhythm beat, strong vowels;
3. A minor prominence or terciary accent: produced by the occurrence of a full
vowel but containing no pitch change.
Features: Not nuclear, not pitch movement, rhythm beat, strong vowels;
4. A non-prominent syllable or unaccented: containing no pitch change and one
of the reduced vowel (ɪ, Ʊ, ə).
Features: Not nuclear, not pitch movement, not rhythm beat, not strong vowels
(weak vowels)

Secondary accent (SA) is always before primary accent (PA). Terciary accent (TA)
is usually between SA and PA.

ACCENT (STRESS) CLASH

Two primary accents produced one after the other: Japa nese teacher.
In order to avoid the accent clash there is an accent shift: PA is displaced to the
SA.
It is in order to keep the same distance between accents, if there is not shift it will
be a distance from SA to PA (in Japa nese there is a syllable between them) and
another different between the two PA’s (no syllables between nese and
tea(cher)).
Thus, Japa nese teacher becomes Japanese teacher.
after noon tea -> afternoon tea
Phonotactics

It deals with the arrangement of sounds within the syllable and word, and the
possible combination of the phonemes within them.
For instance, long vowels and diphthongs do not precede final / /; /e, , , / do
not occur finally; and the types of consonant cluster permitted are subject to
constraints in both initial and final position.

Syllables in English can have a maximum of 3 consonants in initial position and 4

in final position: C³̥ V C̥ ; in Spanish C²̥ V C²̥

Initial position

V / CV
1. All vowels can occur word-initially.
2. All consonants can occur word-initially except for / /.
3. / / is rare; in borrowings only before / , i:, ,  :, /: gigolo, gendarme.

CCV (two consonant cluster)

1. /t , d , , , / never found in two/three consonant cluster.

2. Obstruent + approximant /kle , tre , kj , ple ,

tw n/
(except those of point 1.) /fla , fra , fju:, vju:/
(plosives and certain fricatives)

3. /p, b, f/ do not permit /w/ as a second element.

/t, d, / do not permit /l/ as a second element.

4. /s/ + obstruent /st p, ste , ska /

nasal /sn , sm :l/
approximant /sl , sla , sw /

5. cluster /j/ + /u:/ /nju:/

/ / /pj /

6. /m, n, l/ + /j/

CCCV (three consonant cluster)

1. /s/ + /p, t, k/ + approximant /spre , spl , stre nd , stju:d nt/

Only in one or two words in English:

/skl/ sclerosis
/sfr/ sphragistics

/smj/ smew, the single example of the initial sequence /smj/.

 Sequences /spw-, stl-, stw/ do not occur.

Final position

V / VC
1. /e, , , / do not occur syllable final position.
/b t n/ syllabification would be /b t- n/
2. /r/ only in rhotic dialects (GA).
/r, h, j, w/ do not occur finally in RP.

VCC (two consonant cluster)

1. nasal +C /d mp, s k/
lateral /kw lt/
/s/ /kr sp/

2. C + morpheme /t, d/ /t :kt/

boundaries /s, z/ /k ts, d gz/
(past, plural…) / / /f f /
No mixing of voicing

Some exceptions do not follow the rule (monomorphemic words): act, axe,
adze, lapse, corpse.

3. /r, h, j, w/ do not combine with other consonants in final position in RP.

4. /g, / do not occur finally in a CC cluster.

VCCC / VCCCC (three/four consonant cluster)

1. nasal + C + morpheme + morpheme /b ndz/
(VCCC)
lateral boundaries boundaries /m lkt/ (VCCC)
/s/ /twelf s/
(VCCCC)

Some exceptions do not follow the rule: /teksts, gl mps/, /s/ is not a morpheme
but part of the words.

Word Accentual Patterns

The accentual pattern of English words is free, is not tied to any particular point in
the chain of syllables constituting a word, as it is in some languages (Polish,
French, etc.). Nevertheless, there are certain tendencies in the placement of the
accent (PA) regarding to??? (according to???) four aspects:

1. Word morphological structure: simple or complex (compound)

2. Word grammatical category: noun, verb, adjective, etc.
3. Number of syllables
 4. Phonological structure of syllable: strong syllable or weak syllable

Two-syllable words
• Verbs / Adjectives
1. If the second syllable is strong -> second syllable accented
/  pla ,  la k,  s st/
2. If the second syllable is weak -> first syllable accented
/ s li,  ent ,  p n/
3. If the second syllable contains / / -> first syllable accented (exception
to point )
/ b r /
• Nouns
1. If the second syllable contains a short vowel -> first syllable accented
/ m n ,  pr d kt/

Three-syllable words
• Verbs
1. If the last syllable is weak -> second syllable accented
/  k nt , d  t :m n/
2. If the last syllable is strong -> last syllable accented
/ ent  te n, rez  rekt/ (resurrect)
• Nouns / Adjectives
1. If the second syllable is strong -> second syllable accented
/d  z :st /
2. If the second syllable is weak -> first syllable accented
/ k st di,  nt lekt/

Complex words:
• Stem (root) + affix
1. Prefix.
Usually does not affect accent, the word has the same accentual pattern
as without prefix: kind / un kind
2. Suffix.
Modifies the accent in three ways:
o Accent-attracting. The suffix attracts the accent.
-ee refuge refu gee
-ette ci gar ciga rette
o Accent-neutral. The suffix does not change the accent
distribution.
-ful wonder wonderful
-able comfort comfortable
o Accent-fixing. The suffix changes the accent but it is kept within
the root (does not move to the suffix).
-ion perfect per fection
-ive reflex re flective
 Inflexional suffix formation (past tense, present participle, plural,
possessive, third-person singular present tense, comparative,
superlative) do not normally affect accent.

• Compound words
In noun phrase (sintagma nominal) the accent is usually in the second element:
green  house.
In compound nouns he accent is usually in the first element:  greenhouse.
However, some times the accent is in the second element (See photocopies
from tutorial).

Distinctive Word Accentual Patterns

The accentual pattern of a word has a contrastive function because it establishes

the relationship of its parts, i.e. marks the accented syllables in contrast to the
unaccented; it may also have a distinctive function in that it opposes words of
comparable sound structure (and identical spelling). Such word oppositions may
or may not involve phonemic changes of quality.

Pairs of noun/adjective and verb:

Noun/adjective: the accent is in the first syllable  contrast  convict
Verb: the accent is in the second syllable con trast con vict

A small number of pairs of noun and verb may differ only in the location of the
primary accent. In a somewhat larger of pairs the first syllable of the verb is
reduced (/ /), the occurrence of / / or / / is more regular. In a few cases there may be a
reduction of the vowel of the second element of the noun.
Noun/adjective: / k nd kt/ / k nv kt/ / dez t/
Verb: /k n d kt/ /k n v kt/ /d  z :t/

Several pairs do not have distinctive accentual pattern, e.g. comment / k ment/ for
both noun and verb.

Some words containing more than two syllables also exhibit distinctive accentual
patterns
Noun/adjective: / env l p/ / repr m :nd/
Verb: / n vel p/ /repr  m :nd/

Word Accentual Instability

The accentual patterns of words are liable to change.

Considerable diachronic changes have taken place within the last 300 years as a
result of speakers’ preferences: the earlier distinction between the noun abuse (PA
on the first syllable) and the verb abuse (PA on the second one) has been lost
(although a distinction is maintained by the occurrence of /z/ or /s/ finally); we no
longer place the PA on the second syllable of revenue, illustrate, character, etc., or
on the first syllable of humidity, convenient, etc.

Hesitancy or variation of accentual pattern occurring at the present time are the
result of rhythmic and analogical analogical pressures, both of which entail in
addition considerable changes of sound pattern words (mainly in RP and in isolate
words rather than in connected speech).
1. Rhythmic changes
In some words containing more than two syllables seems to be a tendency to
avoid a succession of weak syllables.
In words of 3 syllables there is variation between [‘--] and [-‘-] patterns:
deficit / def s t/ or /d  f s t/, integral / nt gr l/ or / n tegr l/.
In words of 4 syllables there is variation between first and second syllable
accenting: controversy / k ntr v :s / or /k n tr v s /, capitalist /k p t l st/
/k  p t l st/.
Longer words, too, exhibit a tendency towards the alternation of accented and
unaccented syllables with various rhythmic patterns: tuberculosis / tju:b kj  l
s s/ or /tj b :kj  l s s/, articulatory / : t kj l tr / or /  :t kj  le t r /.
Primary accent is also instable in some compounds, e.g. ice-cream, and many
may be subject to the accentual shift described in Cruttenden 12.3 and
ACCENT (STRESS) CLASH:
after noon but afternoon tea

(Cruttenden 12.3 is a little different from Accent (stress) clashes, Cruttenden

says that primary accent may be lost and the secondary remains, but in Accent
Clashes it is said that primary accent is displaced to the secondary one).

2. Analogical changes
It sometimes happens that a word’s accentual pattern is also influenced by the
accentual structure of a related word of frequent occurrence.
Thus, the analogy of the root forms a pply, pre fer, com pare, is responsible for
the realization of a pplicable, pre ferable, com parable.
The case of di spute (n.) more common than  dispute, illustrate an accenting of
the noun by analogy with the related verb.