Lecture 1
Strong and Weak Syllables
The Nature of Syllable
Syllable consist of a centre which has little or no airflow obstruction and hence sound comparatively
loud. Before and after the centre (at the beginning and end of the syllable), there is a greater airflow
obstruction and/or less sound.
From the phonetic POV:
_______________________ is a single vowel in isolation, e. g.: are [ɑː], or [ɔː] etc. Such syllables are
preceded and followed by silence.
Some syllables have an __________ – instead of silence, they have one or more consonants
preceding the centre of the syllable, e. g.: key [kiː], more [mɔː] etc.
Syllables may have no onset, but they may have a __________ – they end with one or more
consonants, e. g.: am [æm], ease [iːz] etc.
Some syllables have both onset and coda, e. g.: fill [fɪl], sat [sæt] etc.
The Structure of English Syllable
Roach, 2009, p. 60
Strong and Weak Syllables
Some syllables are strong and some weak
Weak syllables have a tendency to be _______________________________________________ and
________________________________.
For example the word data [ˈdeɪtə]
The most important thing to know is that
Weak Syllables
Weak syllables only have one of a very small number of possible peaks. At the end of a word, weak
syllable ends with a vowel (with no coda):
1. vowel [ə]
2. vowel [i]
3. vowel [u]
e. g.:
e. g.:
e. g.:
Vowel [ə] is ___________________________________________________________________ and
___________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ə], [i], [u]
[ə] example words:
The [i] vowel is neither the [i:] of beat [bi:t] nor the [ɪ] of bit [bɪt].
The [u] vowel is neither the [u:] of shoe [ʃuː] nor the [ʊ] of book [bʊk].
It is no longer a true phonemic transcription if [i:] and [u:] are used.
However, native speakers ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.
[i]
[i] can be found:
1.
2.
3.
4.
[u]
Words containing [u] are not so common. [u] occurs most frequently in words such as ___________
___________________________________________________________________.
Furthermore, [u] can be found before another vowel within words such as in evacuation
[ɪˌvækjuˈeɪʃn] or influenza [ˌɪnfluˈenzə].
Syllabic Consonants
There are syllables which do not have a vowel sound.
In this case, consonant such as [l], [r], or a nasal stands as the peak of the syllable instead of a vowel.
It is important to remember that these are regarded as weak syllables.
It is normal to indicate a syllabic consonant with a small vertical mark
For example:
List of resources:
Cruttenden, A. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. Hodder Education, 2008.
Crystal, D. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Blackvell Publishing, 2008.
Davenport M. – Hannahs S. Introducing Phonetics and Phonology. Hodder Arnold, 2005.
Richards, J. – Schmidt, R. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics.
Longman, 2010.
Roach, P. English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Underhill, A. Learning and teaching pronunciation. Macmillan, 2005.