Syllable structure

Key words and expressions:

syllable, speech unit, syllabic, syllable formation, syllable division, peak, intervocalic consonant, intervocalic combinations of consonants

A syllable is a speech unit consisting of a sound or a sound sequence one of which is heard to be more prominent than the others. The most prominent sound being the peak or the nucleus of a syllable is called syllabic. Syllabic sounds are generally vowels (monophthongs, diphthongoids and diphthongs) and sonorants. The latter become syllabic when joined to a preceding consonant. Syllable formation and syllable division rules appear to be a matter of great practical value to the language learner. One must know the rules to define the syllable boundaries to make correct syllable division at the junc­tion of words, as wrong syllabic division may cause misunder­standing.

It is not difficult to count how many syllables a word contains by noticing the peaks or the most prominent sounds in it (vowels and the sonorants [1, n, m]), but it is not generally easy to determine precisely the syllable boundary.

Sometimes the beginning of a syllable is marked by a stress.

In other cases the transition from one vowel sound to another indicates the separation of syllables.

But there are cases when it is almost impossible to determine the syllable boundary.

In most general terms syllable division rules can be defined as follows:

1. An intervocalic consonant tends to belong to the following syllabic sound.

This rule holds true for cases when a consonant is preceded by a long vowel or a diphthong, as they are always free at the end and there is no need to close the syllable.

But in case of a short stressed vowel followed by a consonant there are three viewpoints concerning the syllable boundary:

(a) the intervocalic consonant belongs to the short vowel pre-­
ceding it (to make the short vowel checked);

(b) the intervocalic consonant belongs to the vowel following
it;

(c) the syllable boundary goes through the consonant.

2. Intervocalic combinations of consonants belong to the following syllabic sound, if such combinations are typical of English.

Recommendations.

1. Make vowels in stressed syllables checked by passing over to the articulation of the following con­sonant as quickly as possible.

2. See that you make correct syllable division at the junction of words.

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