SYLLABLES by BUSUNGU JOSEPH

 

SYLLABLES

Ø Syllable is a basic unit of pronunciation

1. Ø It is a segment formed by either a consonant combined by a vowel or vowels alone. For example, the word ‘son’ has one syllable formed by the combination of consonant and vowel. i.e /sɅn/.
2. Ø A consonant cannot be termed as a syllable by itself until it is followed by a vowel except for the few consonants which are syllabic in some environments. The word teacher for instance has two syllables. i.e te-cher or/ti: ʧə /.

                                                                                              1   2           1   2

• Ø The best way of counting syllables is through transcription of the respective word.
• Ø On the other hand, there are syllables formed by vowels. For example, the word ‘eye’ has one syllable which is /aɪ/ formed by vowels only (diphthong). Hence, all vowels are syllabic.

TYPES OF SYLLABLES

v Syllables are classified basing on three parameters namely;

                                           i.            Structure

                                        ii.            Nature of nucleus

                                      iii.            Pronunciation

According to structure

• Ø According to structure vowels are divided into two types namely;

                               i.            Open syllables

                            ii.            Closed syllables

Open syllables

• Ø Open syllable is a syllable which ends up with a vowel sound
• Ø The following are the structures of open syllables;

a.     V: eye /αɪ/, ear /ɪə/ etc.

b.     CV: see /si:/, boy /bᴐɪ/, hear /hɪə/ etc.

c.     CCV: play /pleɪ/, spy /spαɪ/, flow /flᴐ:/ etc.

d.     CCCV: spray /spreɪ/, stray /streɪ/ etc.

Closed syllables

• Ø A closed syllable is a syllable which ends with a consonant sound.
• Ø The following are the structures of closed syllables;

a.     VC: eat /i:t/, ought /ᴐ:t/ etc

b.     VCC: opt /ɒpt/ etc

c.     CVC: seal /si:l/, cat /kæt/, ten /ten/, soap /səʊp/, height /heɪt/ etc

d.     CVCC: pant /pænt/, sand /sænd/ etc.

e.     CVCCC

f.       CCVC: plan /plæn/, spade /speɪd/ etc

g.     CCVCC: plant /plænt/, priest /pri:st/, stand /stænd/ etc

h.    CCVCCC: prompt /prɒmpt/

i.       CCVCCCC: prompts /prɒmpts/

v Syllabic structure is divided into two main parts namely;

i.                   Onset

ii.                Rhyme or rime

Onset

• Ø A consonant sound which come before the nucleus (vowel) is called onset.
• Ø For example, in the word ‘speak’/spi:k/, the consonants /s/ and /p/ are called onset.

Rhyme

• Ø This is another part of a syllable consisting of nucleus and coda.
• Ø Hence, a rime or rhyme is the part of the word including the vowel sound and the consonant sounds that follow.

Nucleus

• Ø This is a central part of the syllable which is a vowel sound.
• Ø For example, in the word ‘spend’/spend/, /s/ and /p/ are onset while /e/, /n/ and /d/ are the part of rime in which /e/ is a nucleus and /n/ and /d/ are coda.

Coda

• Ø This comprises the consonant sounds which come after the nucleus.
• Ø For example, in the word ‘sit’ /sɪt/, the sound /t/ is a coda.

 

v Syllabic structure can also be shown through diagram.

v Look at the following examples;

a.     Plant

b.     Straight

c.     Prompts

d.     Eat

e.     Tea

          

            The syllabic structure of this word is CCCVC

                       

        The syllabic structure of this word is CCVCCCC

 

                    The structure of this syllable is VC

          The syllabic structure of this word is CV

NB:

• Ø The syllabic structure is only used to monosyllabic words
• Ø C stands for consonant while V stands for vowel

According to the nature of the nucleus

• Ø According to the nature of nucleus, syllables are divided into two types namely;

i.                   Strong syllables

ii.                Weak syllables

• Ø Strong syllables are those syllables which contain strong vowel sounds and they are capable of receiving a stress. On the other hand, weak syllables are not stressed.
• Ø All vowel sounds are strong except schwa sound /ə/ which is the weakest vowel followed by /ɪ/. A schwa sound cannot receive a stress when used in a word.

According to pronunciation

• Ø According to pronunciation, syllables are divided into two types namely;

i.                   Stressed syllables

ii.                Unstressed syllables

• Ø A stressed syllable is a prominent syllable which is louder than other syllables in a word and it takes long time during pronunciation. A stressed syllable is indicated by a stress mark (‘) during transcription. For example, a word ‘present’ when used as a noun, it is stressed at the first syllable since it becomes more prominent than others. i.e /’preznt/ or /’prezənt/.
• Ø Unstressed syllable on the other hand is a syllable which is spoken with less emphasis. Thus, it has no qualities of a stressed syllable like length, loudness etc.