6) English syllable and its connection to lexical stress

**Syllable**

A rhythmic unit of speech. Phonetically, it consists of a loud centre (with little or no obstruction to airflow) and optionally an onset before the centre and a coda after the centre.

**Rhythm**

Something which repeats itself regularly, relating primarily to the syllable.

**Minimum syllable**

A syllable consisting strictly of a single vowel in isolation, with absolutely nothing placed after or before it.

**Onset**

A syllable component consisting of one or more consonants placed before the centre, which from a rhythmical point of view represents nothing.

**Centre (Peak)**

The loud core of a syllable consisting of vowels or sometimes syllabic consonants, which acts as the carrier of the rhythm.

**Coda**

A syllable component consisting of one or more consonants placed after the centre, which creates an obstruction or a less loud sound.

**Syllabic consonants**

Consonants (such as l, n, r) that act as the centres of syllables because the air flows similar to a vowel, occurring strictly in weak unstressed syllables.

**Closed syllables**

Syllables consisting of a vowel followed by a consonant at the end. In these syllables, vowels are pronounced differently, typically shorter than in open syllables.

**Open syllables**

Syllables ending strictly with vowels, where the vowels are typically pronounced in a long way.

**Phonotactics**

A linguistic discipline that studies the possible combinations of phonemes.

**Maximum phonological structure**

The maximal possible limit of an English syllable's composition, consisting of an onset (maximum 3 consonants) + a vowel + a coda (maximum 4 consonants).

**Rhyme**

A specific phonological part of the syllable consisting of the peak (centre) and an optional coda.

**Consonant cluster**

A structural grouping consisting of two or more consonants existing right next to each other, which at the end of syllables can consist of up to 4 consonants.

**Maximal onset principle**

A structural phonetic principle stating that any consonant positioned between two syllables should be automatically attached to the right-hand syllable.

**The sonority theory**

A theory stating that the sound "s" acts as the centre.

**R-controlled syllable**

A specific type of syllable consisting of a vowel that is immediately followed by the consonant "r".

**Weak form**

A phonetic form of a syllable consisting of an unstressed pronunciation.

**Strong form**

A phonetic form of a syllable consisting of a completely stressed pronunciation.

**Stress-timed language**

A rhythmic language type (such as English) consisting of a system where the time spent between stressed syllables is completely the same, meaning any unstressed syllables must be systematically shortened to fit this rhythm through vowel reduction, contractions, elision, and weak forms.

**Word stress**

A phonetic emphasis put on a specific syllable, which creates rhythm by occurring at relatively regular intervals, and which in English can be placed on any syllable, making it difficult to predict.

**Primary stress**

The main type of stress in simple words, consisting of the most prominent and stressed syllable.

**Secondary stress**

A lesser type of stress usually found in compound words.

**Tertiary stress**

An even lesser distinguished level of stress, usually marked by a zero.

**Prominence of stressed syllables (Perception)**

A phonetic phenomenon consisting of four specific factors: loudness (having a lesser effect), length, pitch (essential low or high tone), and the quality of vowels.

**Stress in complex words (stem + affixes)**

A stress pattern consisting of exactly three possible outcomes: the primary stress falls directly on the affix, the affix is ignored, or the stress within the stem is shifted instead.

**Compound words stress**

A stress pattern in words consisting of at least two independent stems, typically consisting of two stresses where the primary stress is placed at the very beginning.

English stress

English places stress on different syllables (any syllable can be stressed)

Czech stress

Czech places stress on the first syllable, sometimes stress is placed on the short prepositions before words in a connected speech.