English Syllable Structure

Every language manifests a particular way of combining its sounds to form

meaningful words or parts of words, called syllables. Each language puts certain
restrictions on these possible combinations. For example, in English we can't
have a word which begins with a consonant sequence bfj, zbf or tzp. When we
analyse what restrictions (and regularities) are found in the language under
study, we are studying the syllable structure of that language. We can divide
words into one or more syllables. For example, tin has one syllable, brother has
two, important has three and computer has three syllables each.
A syllable is a group of one or more sounds. The essential part of a syllable is a
vowel sound (V) which may be preceded and/or followed by a consonant (C) or
a cluster of consonants (CC or CCC) (see below). Some syllables consist of just
one vowel sound (V) as in I and eye/aI/, owe/ə/. In English, a syllable can
consist of a vowel preceded by one consonant (CV) as in pie/paI/, or by two
consonants (CCV) as in try/traI/, or by three consonants (CCCV) as
in spry/spraI/. The vowel of the syllable may also be followed by one consonant
(VC) as in at/æt/, or by two consonants (VCC) as in its/Its/, or by three
consonants (CVCCC) as in text/tekst/or by four consonants (CVCCCC) as
in texts/teksts/.
In a previous unit we saw that a syllable is a peak of sonority surrounded by less
sonorous sounds. We know that sonority is acoustic energy, and now that we
understand how speech is produced, we know that the most sonorous sounds,
the ones that have the most acoustic energy, are the sounds that are produced
with the vocal tract unobstructed. The most sonorous sounds are vowels.
Consonants, on the other hand, have an obstruction in the vocal tract so they’re
less sonorous. So we might also think of a syllable as a vowel surrounded by
some consonants. That’s a good beginning definition, but it’s a little more
complex than that, as we’ll see in this unit and the next.
Our mental grammar doesn’t just organize words into syllables, but it also
structures what’s inside a syllable. Let’s take a look. The name for the most
sonorous part of a syllable is the nucleus. In a typical syllable, the nucleus will
be a vowel, produced with an unobstructed vocal tract. The segments that come
before the nucleus are called the onset, and if there are any segments after the
nucleus they’re called the coda. The nucleus and coda together form a unit that
we call the rhyme, and linguists like to use the Greek letter sigma (σ) to label
the entire syllable.
A syllable (σ) or sigma is a phonological unit of sonority. Sonority can be
described by the degree of airflow obstruction and voicing that occurs during
phonation.

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 Onset Nucleus Coda
The “onset” is the initial phonological unit of any word (e.g. /c/ in cat) and the
term “rime” refers to the string of letters that follow, usually a vowel and final
consonants (e.g. /a/ /t/ in cat). Not all words have onsets.
When we say a word is “monosyllabic”, it just means that it has one syllable.
We’ll start with a nice simple word like big [bɪɡ]. The nucleus is the most
sonorous part, so in this word, the vowel [ɪ] is the nucleus. The consonant that
comes after the vowel nucleus [ɡ] is the coda, and the consonant that comes
before [b] is the onset. The only part of a syllable that always has to be there is
the nucleus. Some syllables have an onset but no coda, like the word day [deɪ],
and some syllables have a coda but not onset, like the word eat [it]. And the
occasional syllable has neither an onset nor a coda, just a nucleus, like the
word I [aɪ] or are [ɑ:]!
Open and closed syllables
An open syllable ends with a vowel sound that is spelled with a single vowel
letter (a, e, i, o, or u) as in go, my or see. A closed syllable ends in one or more
consonants. Vowels within closed syllables are always short. Closed syllables
can be as short as “it” and as long as “stretch.” They just need to end in a
consonant sound.
What about a single-syllable word that has more consonants in it? Let’s look
at screens. Again, the vowel [i] is the nucleus of this syllable, and the
consonants [nz] that come after the nucleus form the coda. There are three
consonants [skɹ] before the nucleus, and they form the onset. When there’s a
group of consonants in the onset or coda we call them a cluster.
Monosyllabic words are pretty straightforward. How does it work with words
that have more than one syllable, like raptor? It’s got two syllables, so it has
two nuclei [æ] [ə]. The consonant at the beginning of the word [ɹ] is the onset of
the first syllable, and the consonant at the end of the word [ɹ] is obviously the
coda of the second syllable. What about these two consonants in the middle? In
the word raptor, the [p] is the coda of the first syllable and [t] is the onset of the
second syllable, but there are other logical possibilities. We could just as easily

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say that the first syllable has a coda cluster [pt], or that the second syllable has
an onset cluster [pt]. How does the mental grammar organize consonants in the
middle of a multi-syllabic word?
Well, it’s not random, and the mental grammar doesn’t just try to distribute
consonants evenly. There’s a systematic principle that operates in the mental
grammar, which is that onsets are greedy. To see what that means, let’s look at
a word that has a bunch of consonants in the middle, like emblem. There are
three consonants [mbl] in the middle of this word, so there are four logical
possibilities for how they could be organized. It could be that all the consonants
go in the onset of the second syllable. It could be that they all go in the coda of
the first syllable, or they could be divided up between the coda of the first and
the onset of the second, with a couple of possible permutations. What does the
mental grammar do with these consonants?
The principle that onsets are greedy means that an onset will take as many
consonants as it can. So this first option here has the greediest onset: it has the
greatest number of consonants in an onset position. But it looks pretty weird,
doesn’t it, to have a syllable start with [mbl]? A greedy onset takes as many
consonants as it can within the grammar of that language. It’s a principle of
English grammar that words don’t begin with a cluster like [mbl], and neither
do syllables. Of these four options, the one that has the greediest onset that is
possible within English is this one: the [m] is the coda of the first syllable, and
the consonant cluster [bl] is the onset of the second syllable.
Let’s look at one more example to illustrate this idea that onsets are greedy.
Consider the word ugly. The two vowels [ʌ] [i] form the two nuclei of the
syllables; there’s no onset for the first syllable, and no coda for the second
syllable. So there are three logical possibilities for these middle consonants [ɡl]
— they could both be the coda; they could both be the onset; or they could split
the difference. Which does the mental grammar do? The onset is greedy, so it
wants to take as many consonants as it can. We know that [ɡl] is a possible
onset in English, because there are lots of words that start with [ɡl],
like glue, glass, glamour. So because [ɡl] is a possible, grammatical onset
cluster in English, the onset of the second syllable takes all of it, and leaves no
consonants in the coda of the first syllable.
Let’s sum up. Syllables are units within words, and they also have an inner
structure of their own. Every syllable has a nucleus, which is the most sonorous
part of the syllable: a vowel or another sonorous sound. If there are consonants,
which are less sonorous, they make up the onset and coda of the syllable. And in
the middle of a word, onsets are greedy: they’ll take as many consonants as they
can, within the constraints of the grammar of the language.

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Definition of syllable: a part of a word pronounced with a single uninterrupted
sounding.
As you can see from this definition, a syllable is part of the pronunciation of a
word, and a discussion of a syllable belongs in this lesson on phonology. We
have already seen that some writing systems use symbols that correspond to the
syllable instead of to an individual sound. Even when the syllable is not evident
in a writing system, words can be broken into smaller pronunciation units
called syllables. Some languages have many multisyllabic words, but others
tend to have monosyllabic words.
In this lesson we will look more closely at the structure of a syllable, especially
syllables in English, and the implications for teaching ESL.

Activity: Finding Syllables

Most native speakers of English are able to determine the number of syllables
in a word because they know how to pronounce a word. Using what you
already know and are able to do, count the number of syllables in each word
below. Then try to write each word in the IPA (you can just hand write on a
piece of paper; you don't need to try to type). As you write the word in the IPA,
include a dot to indicate the division between syllables.
1. Cat 1, /kæt/
2. Spot ,1,/spɒt/
3. Cost 1, /kɒst/
4. Alarm 2, /əˈlɑːm/
5. Release 2, /rɪˈliːs/
6. Construct2, /kənˈstrʌkt/
7. Continents 3 /ˈkɒn.tɪ.nənts/

Nucleus
The first important structural feature of a syllable is the nucleus: every syllable
needs a nucleus. The nucleus is usually a vowel but may be a syllabic
consonant. In English the liquid and nasal consonants can act as the nucleus of
a syllable.

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Onset and Coda
A syllable may consist of the nucleus alone, or the nucleus may have other
sounds attached to it, either in front or in back of it.
 Sounds attached to the beginning of the nucleus are called the onset:
onsets might consist of one or more sound segments.
 Sounds attached to the end of the nucleus are called the coda: codas may
consist of one or more sound segments.

Activity: Finding Onsets and Codas

Using the same words you used in the last activity, try to identify the onsets and
codas of each syllable. Remember to use the IPA transcription you made or you
end up looking at letters of the alphabet, not sounds in the syllables.
1. Cat ( /k/ is the onset , /t/ is the coda)
2. Spot ( /sp/ is the onset ( a cluster) , /t/ is the coda)
3. Cost (/k) is the onset , /st/ is the coda (a cluster))
4. Alarm (the fisrt syllabe has no onset and coda only a nucleus , /l/ is the
onset of the second syllable and /m/ is the coda)
5. Release ( the first syllable has an onset /r/ but has not a coda , the second
syllable has an onset /l/ and a coda /s/)
6. Construct (/k/ is the onset of the fisrt syllable and /n/ is the coda,/str/is
the onset of the second syllable( a cluster) and /kt/ is the coda( a cluster))
7. Continents (/k/ is the onset of the fisrt syllable and /n/ is the coda,/t/ is
the onset of the second syllable and there is no coda ,/n/ is the onset of
the third syllable ,/nts/ is the coda(a cluster))
Now take a look at the following lists of words:
1. bite 1. high
2. plight 2. haiku
3. height 3. hike
4. rite 4. height
What would you say about all of the words in the list on the left?
What would you say about all of the words in the list on the right?
How would you describe the answers in the linguistic terms you've just

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learned?

You should have noticed that the words in the list on the left were all rhyming
words, and that the words in the list on the right aren't rhyming words, but they
do all begin with the same sound. Did you also notice that all the words on the
right not only begin with the same consonant, but they also have the same
vowel following that consonant?
The last activity shows that syllable structure is the basis of rhymes in a
language. Rhymes, in return, show us more details about the structure of a
syllable; they show us that the nuclear vowel and the coda work together in
ways that the nuclear vowel and the onset don't. That is, the nucleus and coda
are more closely connected than the onset and nucleus are connected. In fact,
we use the term rhyme to capture this relationship, but we have no
corresponding term to a relationship between an onset and the nucleus.
Linguists show the general structure of a syllable, then in the following way,
using a tree diagram:

Notice that the technical term for the nucleus-coda pairing is Rime, not rhyme.
Phonotactic Constraints
The phonotactic constraints are the rules about what and how many sounds can
combine as onsets and codas. Every language has rules about how many and
what kind of sounds can be in the onset and coda.
For example, in English, /ŋ/ cannot be used as the onset of a syllable. However,
English’s rule for how many sounds can be in the coda or onset allows an
unusually large number of sounds in both:
 Three sounds in the onset
 Four in a coda.
 strengths is an example of the maximal English syllable (largest possible
syllable).

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The diagram below shows the syllable structure of the word strengths

The large maximal syllable size for English is one of the difficulties for
language learners.

Issues in Studying English Pronunciation

Because English allows unusually long onsets and codas, non-native speakers
often subject syllables with long onsets or codas to processes that make them
more like the syllables of their native language. In particular, they may employ
epenthesis or deletion.
Language learners may insert extra vowels (epenthesis) to break up long onsets
or codas, thereby creating more syllables than the word should have.
 broke [bɹok]may be pronounced as [bə.ɹok]
 cart [kaɹt] may be pronounced as [kaɹ.ət]
Alternatively, language learners may delete some of the sounds as an
unconscious approach to reducing the numbers of sounds in the onset or coda.
It is possible that the highly common practice of deleting the -s plural noun
suffix, the -s third-person singular verb suffix, and the -ed verb suffix may be
due more to syllable structure than to a lack of conception of the ideas of
plurality or tense.
 cats may be pronounced as either [kæt] or [kæs]; both pronunciations
delete one of the two consonants in the coda
 five [fajv] may be pronounced as [faj]

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Tips to study Syllable Structure
 Practice dividing words into syllables by tapping them out or clapping
while saying the word.
 Create hand signals to use to prompt students to shorten a syllable or to
lengthen it, such as a karate chop to cut off something or a taffy-pulling
signal for lengthening.
Three phonological issues are big issues for ELLs:
 The meaningful differences caused by the difference
between phonemes and allophones
 The phonological processes used when producing sounds next to each
other.
 The syllable structure rules for English.
5 Features of Connected Speech
In spoken discourse the boundaries between words are very often not clear-cut.
Words and sounds are lost and linked together in different ways to enable us to
articulate with minimal movement.
This is one of the reasons learners find spoken discourse more difficult to
understand than written discourse. At higher levels it is often not a lack of
vocabulary which prevents understanding, but lack of ability to deal with these
features of connected speech. Native speakers are more able to use top-down
processing to decide whether what they have heard is red dye or red eye.
Here are some of the more common features of connected speech:
1. Assimilation
Assimilation occurs when a phoneme (sound) in one word causes a change in a
sound in a neighbouring word. For example, try saying the following pairs of
words:
 in Bath
 last year
 Hyde Park
You’ll notice that the last sound of the first word changes in each case.
The /n/ sound becomes /m/, /t/ becomes /tʃ/ and /d/ becomes /b/.

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 2. Elision
Elision is the loss of a phoneme, most commonly the last phoneme of a word,
and most commonly the /t/ and /d/ sounds. Have a look at these examples:
 left back
 stand by
 looked back
 I must go
In each case the last phoneme of the first word is elided (lost). In the most
simple terms, the reason is that the time and effort required to change the mouth
position from the /t/ to the /b/ sound (as in the first example) or the /t/ to
the /g/ sound (as in the last example) is too great!
3. Delayed plosion
Our “red dye” and “red eye” is an example of this. To articulate “red dye”, we
must take a very short pause before the /d/ sound. The /d/ is an example of
a plosive, consonant sounds where the vocal tract stops all airflow. Other
examples are /b/,/d/, /g/, /p/, /t/ and /k/. This pause before the plosive gives us
the name of this feature, delayed plosion.
Another example: the right tie (delay) – the right eye (no delay)
4. Catenation
In catenation the last consonant of the first word is joined to the vowel sound at
the start of the second word. For example:
 pick it up – (learners will hear something like pi ki tup)
 what is it – (learners will hear something like wo ti zit)

5. Intrusion
Intrusion is what you might expect from the name – an extra sound “intrudes”
into the spoken utterance. Try saying the following pairs of words:
 media event
 I always
 go away
Do you hear the /r/ sound intruding after “media”, the /j/ sound intruding after
“I” and the /w/ sound intruding after “go”?

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