phonology Flashcards
what are closed syllables
syllables that end in a consonant
which vowels can occur in closed syllables
all of them e.g. hit, heat
what are open syllables
syllables without consonant at end
which vowels can occur in open syllables
Tense vowels e.g. he, who
Lax vowels (in SSBE: /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /ɒ/, /æ/) cannot occur in that position
what is a syllable
“a unit of pronunciation typically larger than a single sound and smaller than a word” (David crystal)
They can be made up of vowels only e.g. “I” or “oh” /əʊ/. Or consonants only e.g. “rhythm” [ˈrɪðm̩]. Or vowels and consonants e.g. “pay”, “bit”
Divisions of a syllable
A syllable can be divided into onset and rhyme, and then rhyme further divided into nucleus and coda.
What is an onset
One or more consonants at the beginning of a syllable e.g. ‘t’ in ‘tap’, ‘st-‘ in stop, ‘str’ in ‘strap’. Some syllables may have no onset e.g “at”
What is a nucleus
The most sonorous sound in a syllable, usually a vowel sound. All syllables in all languages must have a nucleus.
In English, in some unstressed
syllables consonants can function
as a nucleus, e.g., ‘sudden’ /ˈsʌd.n̩/,
‘fiddle’ /ˈfɪd. l̩/
What is a coda
one or more consonants following
the nucleus
/-p/ ‘tap’
/-ndz/ ‘hands’
Syllables with no coda (null coda) = open e.g. e.g. ‘bee’/biː/, ‘star’ /stɑː/
Syllables with coda = closed
Both nucleus and coda are grouped together in a…
Rhyme
Syllable divison: Maximum Onset Principle (MOP)
MOP is used to determine syllable division in words with medial consonantal clusters:
◦ intervocalic consonants should be assigned to an onset of the following syllable as long as that onset is permitted in the language
◦ ‘simplest’: sim.plest (cf. ‘play’) /sɪm.pləst/
Sounds can be ranked using sonority hierarchy based on sound amplitude (how loud they are)
Distribution of phonemes in syllables partly governed by the sonority principle: higher levels of acoustic energy – closest to nucleus
What is a light syllable?
Light syllable = (C)V(C) where V is a short vowel
What is a heavy syllable?
Heavy syllable = (C)V where V is a long vowelor
diphthong, or (C)VCC(C) where the V is a short vowel
What is phonotactics
Study of permissible combinations of phonemes e.g. , in SSBE, /h/ and /r/ can occur in onset, but not coda
Maximum a 3-consonant cluster in onset, and 4 in coda – e.g. ‘strengths’ /streŋθs/ or ‘sixths’ /sɪksθs/
