Week 2 Flashcards
(5 cards)
The Maximal Onset Principle
If there are one or more consonants between two vowels, the consonant will be the onset as long as they do not violate any phonotactic restrictions.
As many consonants as possible should go with the onset (beginning) of the following syllable, as long as that sequence is allowed at the beginning of a word in the language.
How do you know where one syllable ends and the next one begins?
What are the syllables of /ə.ˈdʒɛn.də/? And why?
The MOP says that /dʒ/ and /d/ should be onsets, because there are no phonotactic constraints.
The /nd/ cannot be syllabified as an onset, because, in onset clusters, the second consonant should be more sonorous than nasal stops, so /nd/ cannot be an onset cluster.
The first and the last syllables contain schwa, i.e. they are open syllables that end in a short vowel. Schwa is usually unstressed. We here see that stress is on the penultimate syllable, according to the main stress rule in Carr ch. 8.
Constraints on syllabification
- Syllabification should be in accordance with sonority scale.
- MOP: maximise consonants in the onset.
What are the syllables of /ˈæl.kə.hɒl? And why?
/k/ and /h/ can be onsets in every variety of English. /lk/ cannot, because /l/ is more sonorous than /k/. So, /k/ is in onset position and /l/ is part of the preceding syllable.
Primary stress is on the antepenultimate syllable. This is in line with the stress rules of Old and Middle English, but also in accordance with Carr’s suggestion that primary stress is assigned to the penultimate syllable UNLESS that syllable has schwa. And in this case primary stress is assigned to the antepenultimate syllable.
