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Module 24: Prosodic Features: The Syllable

Contents

Objectives:

24. 1 Introduction

In the American Structuralist tradition of phonology, with which we have been

concerned so far, the notion of the phoneme and the phone was extended to include

the suprasegmental or prosodic features, namely, juncture, stress, and pitch. We look

at them in the next few modules, as many of the observations of phonologists working

Linguistics

Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

The Syllable

Principal Investigator Prof. Pramod Pandey

Centre for Linguistics, SLL&CS, Jawaharlal Nehru

University, New Delhi-110067

Paper Coordinator Prof. Pramod Pandey

Module ID & Name Lings_P2_M24: The Syllable

Content Writer Pramod Pandey

Email id pkspandey@yahoo.com

Phone 011-26704226; 011-26741258, -9810979446

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within this tradition have been at the basis of the discussion of these phenomena in the

present sub-theories of Generative Phonology. Most of these phenomena, however,

are assumed to be dependent on the SYLLABLE as a suprasegmental unit. In section

24.2, we show how the notion of the syllable is closely related to the area known as

Phonotactics. In sections 24.3 to 24.4 we take up the various aspects of the syllable

as a unit, with their foundation having been laid by structural phonology.

24.2 Phonotactics and the syllable

Structuralists laid a great deal of importance to the description of phonemes after they

have been identified. This area of phonological analysis has come to be known as

phonotactics, defined as ‘the area of phonemics which covers the structural

characteristics of sequences’ (Hill 1958: 68). A description of the distribution of

phonemes in sequences was carried out in terms of the beginning, middle and end of

morphemes and words. While references to these positions in words have continued

to be used, the notion ‘syllable’ has been found to facilitate the distribution of

sequences for most purposes.

24.3 The syllable

The most commonly known speech unit that is larger than a segment is the syllable.

Most speakers of a language are found to agree on the number of syllables in a word.

For example, in English, it is generally agreed that the words, man, count, very, unity,

America and boxing have one syllable in the first two words and two, three, four and

five syllables in the other words in that order. There is no phonetic definition of the

syllable that is accepted uncontroversially by phonologists. A phonological definition

is possible: it is unit of speech which is larger than the segment and in which the

segments are directly grouped. It is best understood in terms of its internal structure,

which is discussed in 24.4.

When looking at the syllable, we must remember that it is a unit of speech. An

analysis of syllable structures in words in a language should thus be based on a

phonetic transcription, as for the above words: /mæn/, /kaʊnt/, /veri/, /juniti/,

/əmerikə/ and /bɔksɪŋ/. The syllable structure divisions of the words are as follows:

/mæn/, /kaʊnt/, /ve.ri/, /jʊ.ni.ti/, /ə.me.ri.kə/ and /ɔk.sɪŋ/. The phonetic transcription

brings out clearly the vocalic or consonantal status of the letters in speech. Thus,

although ‘y’ is a consonant letter, it is pronounced like a vowel at the end of words in

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very, unity and university. Some letters, such as ‘x’, are pronounced as two

consonants [ks], as in boxing, while a sequence of two letters, such as ‘ng’, is

pronounced as a single sound [ŋ], as in the same word, affecting the syllable structure

division in it- [bɒk.siŋ].

24.4 Terms and concepts in the description of syllables A classification of syllable types that is useful in describing syllable structures and

that is involved in phonological processes is OPEN and CLOSED SYLLABLES. An

open syllable is one that ends in a vowel, and a closed syllable is one that ends in one

or more consonants. For example, the English words go, we, high, low are all made up

of single open syllables, while the words eat, ball, mould, and rest are all made of

single closed syllables.

Words are often described in terms of the number of syllables in them. Thus

‘monosyllabic’, ‘disyllabic’, ‘trisyllabic’, etc. refer to words with one, two, three etc.

syllables in them. ‘Polysyllabic’ words are those that contain more than one syllable.

Words such as silky and attic are disyllabic words with sequences of closed and open

and open and closed syllables, respectively.

In describing the syllable structures in languages, it is useful to describe its

CANONICAL syllable structure. A canonical syllable structure is the schema that

accounts for all the syllables in a language, in terms of possible consonant and vowels

sequences permitted, written in terms of the generic symbols C (for a consonant) and

V (for a vowel). Thus the words go, high, eat, ball and mould, transcribed as /gəʊ/,

/haɪ/, /i:t/, /bɔ:l/ and /məʊld], have the syllable structures CV, CV, VC, CVC and

CVCC, respectively.

Let us consider how canonical syllable structures are described. Take a look at the CV

structures of the following words in the Austro-Asiatic language Korku (Nagaraja

1999):

(24/1)

Word CV structure Gloss i. /u/ V sister-in-law ii. /ɖa/ CV water iii. /mja/ CCV one

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iv. /a:b/ VC wash v. /pa:r/ CVC all vi. /aŋɡ/ VCC dawn vii. /siɲʤ/ CVCC tree viii /koldin/ CVC.CVC yesterday ix /seɭɭa/ CVC.CV a reptile x /pawna/ CVC.CV guest, gift xi /sanʈja/ CVC.CCV a spinster xii /ɡoʈɽja/ CVC.CCV shell (of a mango) xiii /ɖiwnɖi/ CVCC.CV a drum xiv /bawanje/ CV.CVC.CV wife’s younger sister xv /ɡoenkoro/ CV.VC.CV.CV a dead person If we look at all the CV structures in the words in (24/1), we notice that the vowel is an obligatory part of a syllable, while there can be one or more consonants at the beginning or at the end of a syllable. This generalization is represented as follows: (24/2) Korku Canonical syllable in Korku: (C) (C) V (C) (C) Languages differ with regard to the syllable structures permitted in them or, in other

words, in their canonical syllable structures. Given below are the canonical syllable

structures in the languages belonging to different language groups in India.

(24/3)

i. Ho (Burrows 1915): (C) V (C) ii Juang (Dasgupta 1976): (C) (r) V (C)

iii Gondi (Subramannian 1968): (C) V (C) iv Konda (Krishnamurti and Benham 1998): (C) V (C) (C)

v Dogri (Ghai 1991): (C) (C) V (C) (C) vi Kashmiri (Kelkar and Trishal 1964): (C) (r) V (C) (C)

vii Darma (Krishan 2001): (C) (j) V (C)

viii Lepcha (Sinha 1966): (C) (C) (C) V (C)

The canonical syllable structure of a language may sometimes be too general if stated

in terms of only C and V. Among the canonical syllable structures listed above, those

in ii, vi and vii thus are stated to show that the second C before the vowel is either a

/r/ or a /j/.

Syllable structure

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Recall the discussion of the syllable in Module 24. The discussion can be summarized thus: (24/4) • The syllable is a unit that groups segments in a word. Thus, in the word America /əmerika:/ the seven segments ə-m-e-r-i-k-a:, are grouped into five units- A-me-ri-ca. In it, /m/ is closer to /e/ than to /ə/. • A syllable has a tripartite structure, as in 24-1: Syllable (Onset) Nucleus (Coda)

Figure 24-1: The tripartite structure of a syllable The syllable consists of an obligatory constituent, Nucleus, which is a Vowel or a syllabic consonant, and two optional constituents- Onset and Coda, both of which are consonants. Examples of English words that exemplify the 24/5 Word IPA Syllable structure a /eɪ/ N go /ɡəʊ/ O + N bag /bæɡ/ O + N + C on /ɔn/ N + C product /prɔdəkt/ O + N +C The last word, product, has complex onset and coda, as shown in 24-2 syl syl

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On Nu On Nu Co p r ɔ d ə k t Figure 24-2: tripartite syllable structure representation of the word

‘product’

The representation of the syllable in (24/2) has a flat structure that was first proposed

by Pike (1947). Hockett (1955): Added the term ‘Interlude’ for segments whose

syllabic constituency is uncertain. For example, in the word sitting pronounced with a

flap- [siɾɪŋ]- in American English, the flap [ɾ] is both the coda of the preceding

syllable and the onset of the following:

Syll Syll

On N Co On N Co

s ɪ ɾ ɪ ŋ

Figure 24-3: Syllabic structure with an ambisyllabic consonant

The term Interlude was later called Ambisyllabic. It is treated as the overlapping of

the articulation of the intervocalic consonant as onset on its articulation as the coda of

the preceding syllable, and has been found to be an important notion in computational

models of speech synthesis, such as the Yorktalk model (Coleman 1995)

As the notion of the syllable came to be seen as playing a crucial role in phonological

analysis, other proposals regarding its structure have come be made. These proposals

are regarding the internal hierarchical structure of the syllable.

Pike and Pike (1947) thus proposed a binary structure of the syllable as constituted by

two constituents Onset and Rhyme. Rhyme in turn was seen as constituted of the

Nucleus and the Coda. This representation was later accepted in the theory of

Prosodic Phonology, and its sub-theory, Metrical Phonology (Hayes 1981). The

representation in its full form also has the units C and V, standing for a consonant and

vowel, intervening the Onset, Rime (N- Co) units. The fuller representations of the

English words bag, go and product are given in Figure 24-3:

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Σ σ

On R On R

N Co N

C V C C V V

bag b æ ɡ go ɡ ə ʊ

σ σ

R R

On N On N Co

C C V C V C C

product p r ɔ d ə k t

Figure 24-3: Non-linear syllabic structure representations of three English words

σ is a convenient symbol for the syllable and R for Rhyme or the more commonly

used term Rime.

One of the main arguments given in favour of the non-linear structure of the syllable

in terms of the Onset-Rime distinction is that it can measure the weight of syllables.

The Onset does not carry the weight of syllables, only the Rime does. For languages

in which the weight of the syllable matters, it can be measured directly on the rime.

In most languages, there are two degrees of weight, Light and Heavy. The two

degrees are distinguished on the projection of the Rime as Branching (Heavy) and as

Non-branching (Light). Look at the representations in Figure 24-3. There is only one

non-branching rime there, namely, for the syllable prɔ-. For all the other syllables,

there is branching rime bæɡ, ɡəʊ and –dəkt.

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Syllabic Consonant The representation of words in terms of their syllable structures provides a clear

account of syllabic consonants. A syllabic consonant is a consonant (usually a

sonorant) that occupies the position of the nucleus of a syllable. Thus, the word bottle

[bɔtl̩] has the following representation:

σ σ

On R On R

N N

C C C C b ɔ t l̩

Figure 24-4: Representation of a word with a syllabic consonant Notice that the use of the units C and V allows us to see the distinction and the

similarity between a vowel and a consonant as the nuclei of a syllable.

Mora and moraic structure of syllables There is an alternative structure of the syllable according to which the weight of the

syllable can be represented on a weight bearing unit called Mora, represented as μ.

Phonologists like Hyman (1985), argued for the mora as a significant unit that can

replace the syllable for measuring weight, especially in a language such as Japanese,

in which words are mora-based.

The way to represent light and heavy syllables in terms of the mora is simple:

(24/6) Light syllable: μ Heavy syllable: μμ

The distinction in a majority of languages between light and heavy syllables in terms

of C and V elements is as follows:

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(24/7) Light: CV Heavy: CVV, CVC This is so in languages such as English, Hindi and Punjabi. While CV as light syllable

is universally accepted, the counting of consonants and vowels for moraic weight in

languages may differ. Thus in some languages, the light/ heavy distinction is as

follows:

(24/8) Light: CV/ CVC Heavy: CVV The light/ heavy distinction as shown in (24/8) typically is found for languages that do

not have vowel length distinction, such as Bangla.

Note that phonological theory has both the ways of representing syllables, in terms of

the Onset- Rime (N-Co) units as well as the Mora. Phonologists use the Mora when

the weight of the syllable is the main factor to be dealt with. For many other issues,

such as phonotactics, i.e. the sequential arrangement of consonants as onset and as

coda, the Onset-Rime structure is crucially important. And as we noted, this structure

can also represent the weight of the syllable in terms of branchingness.

How do we know what is the correct characterization of light and heavy syllables in a

language? We know this on the basis of the role of the syllable in phenomena such as

word-stress. We will see how this is so in Module 25 to follow.

24.5 SYLLABIFICATION: In Module 23, we discussed the phenomenon of syllabification in connection with the types of rules that are syllable-based. The discussion regarding the assignment of syllable structures in words in a majority of languages is summarized thus: (24/9)

i. Each vowel is assigned to a syllable. ii. A consonant between two vowels goes with the following syllable. iii. Between two consonants, there is a syllable division. iv. Languages differ with regard to restrictions on syllable structures. The language specific constraints that apply in English are as follows:

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(24/10) The onset of a syllable can only be of the following structures: a. A two-consonant cluster can either be s+C- type or C+r/l/w/j type, e.g. style, speak, swear, slow, etc. and play, pray, quite, cure, etc.(In addition, ʃ+r/j structures are also found, as in shrink and sure.) b. A three consonant cluster can only be of one type- s+C+r/l/w/j, e.g spring, splash, etc. The number of words in which a three-consonant cluster occurs is very limited. The language-specific constraint in syllabifying more than one consonant in a word imposes the following restriction: (24/12) There is no syllable division between s+C, C+r/l/w/j and s+C+r/l/w/j Following the language-specific constraint on inter-vocalic consonants, the syllabification in the following English words is as follows: (24/13) Attend: a.tend unnoticed: ɐn.nəʊtɪst decry: dɪ.kraɪ Reply: rɪ.plaɪ require: rɪkwaɪə respect: rɪ.spekt The following syllabifications are unacceptable: * dɪk.raɪ, *rɪp.lai, *rɪk.waɪə, *rɪs.pekt.

Resyllabification Once syllabification in a word has taken place, it is not the end of the matter. When complex words are formed from simple words, it is often the case that a coda consonant is resyllabified as the onset of the following syllable or a syllabic consonant is resyllabified from the nucleus to the onset position with the following vowel. This is in accordance with the Maximal Onset Principle, as in the words- rain/ rainy, plead/ pleader, bottle/ bottling: reɪn/ reɪ.ni, pli:d/ pli:.də, bɔ.tl̩/bɔt.lɪŋ, etc. 24.6 Universal syllable structure principles

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In addition to the language-specific syllable-structure constraints, there are general

universal syllable structure principles that hold for languages in general. We discuss

two of them here- the Maximal Onset Principle and the Sonority Sequencing

Principle. Both the principles provide the rational for the syllabification rules stated

in (24/9).

The Maximal Onset Principle, also known as the Onset First Principle, states that

given a sequence of consonants, their syllabification will be such that they occur as

onsets rather than as codas. This explains why when there is only one consonant, it

goes with the following vowel instead of with the preceding vowel, for example, [t] in

[ə.tend], not [ət.end]. This could also be the justification for the restrictions on the

syllable structure divisions as discussed in (24/10) which prevent a division between a

s+C or C+r/l/w/j cluster.

The Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) is based on the notion of sonority scale of

sounds. The sonority scale was presented in 24.5, and is reproduced below:

24/6 Geminate stops – Voiceless stops – Voiced stops – Voiceless fricatives – Voiced fricatives – Liquids – Glides- Vowels (i u - e o – a) or syllabic consonants. SSP states that the sonority of a syllable increases from the periphery to the centre. In

other words, the consonants in the nucleus position are the strongest on the sonority

scale, i.e. vowel (or syllabic consonants). The sonority decreases as we go from the

nucleus to the beginning of the Onset and the end of the coda. Look at the following

syllable divisions in the following English words- send, bread, quite, etc. In all these

words, the peripheral consonants are lower in sonority than the consonants towards

the nucleus.

There are occasional violations of SSP, for example, in the words beginning with s+C

clusters. These however are special cases rather than normal. Normally, for example,

there are words such as blade, but not *lbade, or bend, but not *bedn.

Role of syllable structure in phonological processes

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In Module 24 (24.4), we looked at some processes that are syllable-based. In the

immediately following modules, Modules 25 and 26, we will take a look at some

more phenomena, such as stress and tone, which are based on the syllable. Besides,

we will have occasion to look at more syllable-based processes in Paper 5 on

Advanced Phonology. 24.7 Summary This module aimed at providing an introduction to the notion of the syllable, the terms

and concepts that relate to the notion, the processes of syllabication and

resyllabification, language-specific restrictions on syllable-structure and, finally,

universal principles of syllable-structure organization. The extended discussion of the

notion of the syllable is aimed at making you familiar with this most widely used

notion within phonology and in fields dealing with speech sounds.

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