Lecture 6. Syllable

Though the basic phonological elements are phonemes, human intercommunication is actualized in syllables.

The syllable as a unit is difficult to define, though native speakers of a lunguage are usually able to state how many syllables there are in a particular word.

According to J. Kenyon the syllable is one or more speech sound, forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance, which may be a word, or a commonly recognized subdivision of a word.

The syllable can be a single word: chair /tςεə/, a part of a word: En­glish /'ıŋglıς/, a part of the grammatical form of a word: later /'leı-ta/.

The syllable can be analysed from the acoustic and auditory, articulatory and functional points of view. The syllable can be viewed in connection with its graphic representation.

Acoustically and auditorily the syllable is characterized by the force of utterance, or accent, pitch of the voice, sonority and length, that is by prosodic features.

Acoustic properties of syllables are studied with the help of intonograph and spectrograph. Electroacoustic analysis made it possible to formulate some rules of syllable division (see below). Spectrograms of Russian ГС syllabic structures show, that such syllables are characterized by some noise in the beginning of the vowel and by a vowel-like termination of the consonant: ^сГC^г, it is of great importance for syllable division.

Auditorily the syllable is the smallest unit of perception: the listener identifies the whole of the syllable and only after that the sounds contained.

The articulatory energy which constitutes the syllable results from the combined action of the power, vibrator, resonator and obstructor mechanisms.

Phonologically the syllable is regarded and defined in terms of its structural and functional properties.

Syllables in writing are called syllabographs and are closely connected with the morphemic structure of words.

A syllable can be formed by a vowel: (V) in English, (Г) in Russian; by a vowel and a consonant: (VC) in English, (ГС) in Russian; by a consonant and a sonorant (CS).

Г, V — types of syllable called uncovered open,

ГС, VC — types of syllable called uncovered closed,

СГС, CVC — types of syllable called covered closed,

СГ, CV — types of syllable called covered open.

G. P. Torsuyev suggests a differentiation of the following Russian types of syllabic structures:

Г, V type: fully open,

СГС, CVC type: fully closed,

СГ, CV type: initially covered,

ГС, VC type: finally covered. Similar syllabic structures in English and Russian are:

English	Russian
V	err	Г	и
CVC	pit	СГС	пол
CVCC	fact	СГСС	вопль
CVCC	lasped	СГССС	текст
CCVC	plan	ССГС	жнец
CCCVC	spleen	СССГС	взлом
CCVCC	twist	ССГСС	фланг
CCVCCC	stamps	ССГССС	спектр
CCCVCC	spleens	СССГСС	вдрызг
CVCCCC	texts	СГСССС	монстр
CV	dew	СГ	но
CCV	spy	ССГ	дно
CCCV	straw	СССГ	мгла
VC	eat	ГС	ад
VCC	act	ГСС	акр
VCCC	asks	ГССС	астр

The peak or the crest of the syllable is formed by a vowel or a sonorant. The consonants which precede the peak and follow it are called slopes.

Vowels /æ, e, Λ, υ, a:, o:, eı, aı, аu, εə, oı/ constitute almost always the peaks of prominence, /ə, ı, u, эu/ occur, as a rale, in unaccented syllables.

The consonant /ŋ/ never begins, /w/ never terminates the syllable.

The sonorants /w, r, j/, SVC structural type, function as consonants, because they occur only before vowels: e.g. /wıð, raıt, jes/.

The structural patterns of syllables formed by sonorants with a preceding consonant in English are similar to V+C patterns: CS written /rıtn/.

According to G. P. Torsuyev's data the syllabic structure in the Englishlanguage of the combination consonant (terminal position) +a so-norant is characterized by the following data:

CS type — 40 combinations, CSC type — 90 combinations, CSCC type 15 combinations, CCSCC type — 1 combination: trnts — entrants.

Syllable-forming sonorants in the combinations of the CS type are terminal/m, n, 1/. E.g.

earthen channel prism equal

people garden often nation

written eagle even decision

taken fortunate listen rhythm

able angel season camel

Thedistribution of consonants in the syllables of the CSC type is characterised by the following features: initial consonants may be represented by /p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, θ, ð, s, z, 3, tς, d3, m, r, w, n/; the peak sonorants may be represented by /n, m, 1/; final consonants are represented by /t, d, s, z, θ/. E.g.

opens vacant goggles ovens patient

marbles enables merchant arrivals angels

patterns mortals urgent heathens equalled

coupled student softened rhythms motions

peoples gardens servant decent whistles

officials eleventh present persons

paneled

The distribution of consonants in the syllables of the CSCC type is characterized by the following features: the initial consonant maybe represented by /p, d, t, tς, d3, f, v, s, z, ς, 3, r/. The peak of syllable is represented by the sonorants /n, 1/, they are immediately followed by /t, d, s/; final consonants are represented by /t, s, z/. E.g.

innocents agents patents tangents parents

serpents students servants pheasants errands

patiens scaffolds licensed merchants herralds

The syllables of the CSVSCC type: entrants /'entrənts/, emigrants /'emıgrənts/, minstrels /'mınstrəls/, hydrants /'haıdrənts/ can be pro­nounced without (V) — CSSCC type, e.g.

emigrants /'emıgrnts/ entrants /'entrnts/

minstrels /'mınstrlz/ hydrants /'haıdrnts/

Russian terminal sonorants do not form syllables with consonants, which precede them. Howeve, in some special cases: for stylistic pur­poses, or for the sake of rhythm, they may become syllabic; e. g. ру-бль, во-пль, ви-хрь, лю-стр. Compare:

1. Была в Останкине зима.

Декабрь, число тридцатое и

2. Была в Останкине зима,

Декабрь, Тридцать первое

In the second variant the Russian /p/ is made syllabic for rhythmical purposes.

There are different restrictions on the possible consonant clusters in English and in Russian.

Final clusters in English are much more complex than initial ones. They express different grammatical meanings: plurality, tense, number, e.g. texts, mixed, glimpsed.

The structure of the Russian syllable is characterized by more com­plex and numerous initial clusters, they represent grammatical prefixes, e.g. вскрикнуть, всплакнуть, взрыв, кстати.

Syllables of the initial CC type constitute more than 50 combinations in English (except affricates and double consonants). Syllables of the initial CC type in Russian constitute 236 combinations (affricates and double consonants including), e.g. speak, вчера.

Syllables of the initial CCC type constitute 14 combinations in En­glish and 97 in Russian, e.g. street, вскинуть.

A number of combinations of the initial CCCC type constitute sylla­bles only in Russian, there are no similar combinations in English, e.g. всплакнуть, взгляд, вздрогнуть.

The clusters /mh, sr, s/, fs, hr, stl/ never occur initially in English, compare with the Russian: мхи, сразу, сшить, всё, хруст, стлать.

The clusters /gr, str/ can occur only initially, /tn, dn, stl/ occur only finally, compare with the Russian: дни, стлать. The cluster (тн) does not occur in Russian finally or initially.

In Russian СГ structural types of syllables are more common than ГС type.СГ syllabic types constitute more than half of all the structural types in Russian. СГ together with ССГ types constitute 85%. In the Russian texts open syllables occur 3 times more often than closed ones. The most frequent pattern in English is CVC.

English VC, CVC structures are much more common than the Russian СГ structural type. СГ prevalence in the Russian syllabic structure M'Mills in the appearance of the vocalic element of /ъ, ь/ type inside or before the CC clusters.

The most commonly occur in /гд, дг/ combinations, e.g. "игде", "отъгул".

Similar clusters in English are pronounced with the loss of plosion, e.g. good day, that cat.

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