OE1.4 Syllables

SPOKENENGLISH1PRONUNCIATION4:SYLLABLES4.1.1:INTRODUCTIONSpeechisdivedintosoundunitscalledsyllables.Weusesyllablesasawayofsegmentingthestreamofspeechandgivingitarhythmofstrongandweakbeats,justaswehearinmusic.Theyarethephonologicalbuildingblocksofwords.Asyllableisaunitoforganizationforasequenceofspeechsounds.24:Syllables4.1.2:INTRODUCTIONThewordWATER,forexampleiscomposedoftwosyllables;WAandTER,ThewordWATERFALLiscomposedofthreesyllables:WA,TERandFALL.34:Syllables4.1.3:INTRODUCTIONThesamethingappliestolongermulti-wordutterances.ForexampleifsomeonewastosayITHOUGHTTHATTHEWATERFALLISAWYESTERDAYWASVERYBEAUTIFULYouwouldactuallyherethisinacontinuousstreamofspeechorforty-one(41).phonemesandnotintwelve(12)separatewords,ITHOUGHTTHATTHEWATERFALLISAWYESTERDAYWASVERYBEAUTIFUL44:Syllables4.1.4:INTRODUCTIONYoubrainthenrecognisescertainsoundcombinationsortheeighteen(18)syllableswithintheutterance.I-THOUGHT-THAT-THE-WA-TER-FULL-I-SAW-YES-TER-DAY-WAS-VE-RY-BEAU-TI-FULSomeofthesesyllablesarealsorecognisedaswordsontheirown,thesearemonosyllablewords,i.e.I,THOUGHT,THAT,THE,SAWandWAS.Whileothersarecombinedandrecognisedaspolysyllablewords,i.e.WATERFULL(3),YESTERDAY(3),VERY(2),andBEAUTIFUL(3).54:Syllables4.2.1:SYLLABLESTRUCTUREEnglishhasverycomplicatedsyllabicsystem;syllablesmaybeginwithuptothreeconsonants,asinthewordsSTRINGorSPLASHandoccasionallyendwithasmanyfourasintheword,asinPROMPTS.UnderstandingthestructureandfunctionofEnglishsyllableswillhelpyouimproveyourpronunciation.64:Syllables4.2.2:SYLLABLESTRUCTURETherearenoconsonantclustersinChinesesyllables,whichmeansthattherearefewerconsonantsoundsinagivennumberofChinesesyllablescomparedtoEnglish.ThismeansthatthetotalnumberofpossiblesyllablesisalsolesscomparedtoEnglish.Thereareabout400syllablesinMandarinChinesewithoutthetones.Whenyouaddthetones,thenumberisabout1100.English,ontheotherhandhasover80,000possiblesyllables..74:Syllables4.2.3:SYLLABLESTRUCTURESyllableshaveinternalstructure:theycanbedividedintoparts.Thepartsareonsetandrhyme;withintherhymewefindthenucleusandcoda.Notallsyllableshaveallparts;thesmallestpossiblesyllablecontainsanucleusonly.Asyllablemayormaynothaveanonsetandacoda,butitwillalwayshaveanucleus...84:Syllables4.2.4:SYLLABLESTRUCTURETheonsetisthebeginningsoundofthesyllable;andinEnglisharealwaysconsonants.Therhymefollowstheonsetcontainsanucleusandsometimesacoda.Thenucleusisavowelinmostcases,althoughtheconsonants/l/,/m/,/n/andcanalsobethenucleusofasyllable.Thecodaisthefinalconsonantsoundorsoundsofthesyllable..94:Syllables4.2.5:SYLLABLESTRUCTUREAsyllablehasonlyonevowelsoundornucleus.Somesyllableshavejustonevowelletter;othershavetwo.Butevenwhentherearetwovowelletters,therecanbeonlyonevowelsoundineachsyllable,sothetwovowelscorrespondtoonesound.Forexample,thewordOUTSIDEhastwosyllablesOUTandSIDE,bothsyllables,havetwovowellettersbutonlyonevowelsound.Aspokensyllableconsistsofeither…….104:Syllables4.2.6:SYLLABLESTRUCTURE1:asinglevowel.i.e./ai/asin[EYE]or[I].SyllableOnsetnoneRhymeNucleus/ai/vowelCodanone4:Syllables114.2.7:SYLLABLESTRUCTURE2:avowelprecededbyoneormoreconsonants.i.e./mai/asin[MY].SyllableOnset/m/consonantRhymeNucleus/ai/vowelCodanone4:Syllables124.2.8:SYLLABLESTRUCTURE3:avowelfollowedbyoneormoreconsonants.i.e./ais/astheword[ICE].SyllableOnsetnoneRhymeNucleus/ai/vowelCoda/s/consonant4:Syllables134.2.9:SYLLABLESTRUCTURESyllableOnset/r/consonantRhymeNucleus/ai/vowelCoda/s/consonant4:Syllables144:avowelenclosedbyoneormoreconsonants.i.e./rais/asin[rice].4.2.10:SYLLABLESTRUCTURESyllable1Onset/b/consonantRhymeNucleus/æ/vowelCodanoneSyllable2Onset/t/consonantRhymeNucleus/l/syllabicconsonantCodanone4:Syllables155:aconsonantfollowedbyasyllabicconsonant.i.e.inthesecondsyllableof/bæ.tl/asof[BATTLE].4.2.11:SYLLABLESTRUCTUREInEnglish,/l//m//n/aretheonlyconsonantswhichmaybecomethenucleusofasyllableandonlywhentheyarethefinalconsonantsoundinthesyllable.[BUTTON]/bΛ.tn/,[BATTLE]/bæ.tl/and[WELCOME]/wel.km/,areallwordswherethefinalsyllablecontainssyllabicconsonants4:Syllables164.3.1:SYLLABIFICATIONSyllabificationistheseparationofawordintosyllables,whetherspokenorwritten.Inmostlanguages,theactuallyspokensyllablesarethebasisofsyllabificationinwritingtoo.However,duetotheveryweakcorrespondencebetweensoundsandlettersinthespellingofModernEnglish,writtensyllablesdonotalwayscorrespondtotheactuallyspokensyllablesofthelivinglanguage4:Syllables174.3.2:SYLLABIFICATIONTherearefour(4)waystosplitupawordintoitsspokensyllables:1.Dividebetweentwomiddleconsonants.Splitupwordsthathavetwomiddleconsonantsounds.e.g.WIN-DOWBAS-KETWIN-TERTHUN-DERDAN-GER.Theexceptionsare[th],[sh],[ph],[ch]and[wh]becausetheseonlyrepresentonesound.4:Syllables184.3.3:SYLLABIFICATION2.Dividebeforeasinglemiddleconsonant.Whenthereisonlyonemiddleconsonant,youusuallydivideinfrontofit.e.g.O-PENI-TEME-VILRE-PORT.Theonlyexceptionsarewhenthefirstsyllablehasanobviousshortsound,asinCAB-IN.4:Syllables194.3.4:SYLLABIFICATION3.Dividebeforetheconsonantbeforean-lesyllable.Whenyouhaveawordthathastheold-stylespellinginwhichthe[le]soundslike[el]dividebe