Phonetics Notes

SYLLABLE STRUCTURE AND CONSONANT CLUSTER

Basic Syllable Structure

A syllable contains one and only one vowel.
The vowel can be alone (e.g., I /aɪ/) or surrounded by consonants (e.g., tick /tɪk/, Ann /æn/, sit /sɪt/, split /splɪt/, sixth /sɪksθ/, twelfths /twelfθs/).
Examples: say /seɪ/, spy /spaɪ/, spray /spreɪ/, get /get/, text /tekst/, texts /teksts/, glimpsed /glɪmpst/, kicked /kɪkt/.

Counting Syllables

Count the vowels in the word.
Subtract any silent vowels (e.g., silent 'e' in rate /reɪt/).
Diphthongs count as one vowel sound (e.g., Time /taɪm/, don’t /dəʊnt/, toy /tɔɪ/).
The number of vowel sounds equals the number of syllables (e.g., receive /rɪˈsiːv/, perhaps /pəˈhæps/, intend /ɪnˈtend/, record (v) /rɪˈkɔːd/, many /ˈmeni/).
For words ending in "-le", divide before the consonant preceding the "-le" (e.g., a/ble, hum/ble, dou/ble, ca/ble, no/ble, whi/stle).
- English words can be divided into syllables:
  - One syllable: A, an, the, cold, quite, trade, hide, start, clean, green, chair, sign, low.
  - Two syllables: Qui/et, par/ty, to/day, part/ner, de/mand, doc/tor, Fri/day, o/ver, chick/en.
  - Three syllables: Fan/tas/tic, ex/pen/sive, won/der/ful, temp/ta/tion, tech/ni/cal.
  - Four syllables: Un/der/stand/ing, A/mer/i/can, psy/chol/o/gy, con/ver/sa/tion.
  - Five syllables: Mis/un/der/stand/ing, un/con/trol/la/ble, con/ver/sa/tion/al.

Syllabic Consonants

In unstressed syllables, the sequence of schwa plus consonant can be represented by a syllabic consonant.
Syllabic consonants: /l/, /m/, /n/, and /r/.
Indicated by a small vertical diacritic ( ̩) as in /l̩/, /m̩/, /n̩/, and /r̩/.
Examples: Table [ˈteɪb ], Turtle /tɜːt /, Cotton /ˈkɒtn /, sudden /ˈsʌdn /, rhythm /ˈrɪðm /, bottom /ˈbɒtm/, reference /ˈrefrəns/.
Syllabic /n̩/ is common after alveolar plosives and fricatives, especially after /t, d/ sounds followed by /n/ (e.g., Eaten /ˈiːtn /, seven /ˈsevn /).

CONSONANT CLUSTER

Syllable Structural Properties

Each syllable consists of a nucleus (central peak of sonority, usually a vowel) and consonants that cluster before (onset) and after (coda) the nucleus.
- Onset: Consonants or consonant cluster before the nucleus.
- Coda: Consonants or consonant cluster following the nucleus.
An English syllable requires a nucleus, typically a vowel, but syllabic consonants can also form the nucleus.
- Zero onset: Syllable without any consonant before the vowel (e.g., I’ll, on, ask).
- Zero coda: Syllable with no consonant after the vowel (e.g., may, fee, strew, troy).
Monosyllabic: A syllable that stands alone (e.g., horse, train, wide, show).
Polysyllabic: A word containing more than one syllable (e.g., carry, deliver, organize, transformation, unwillingly, undoubtedly).

Consonant Cluster

Definition: A group, combination, or sequence of consonants that appear together in a syllable without a vowel between them.

Initial Cluster

s (pre-initial) + /p, t, k, f, m, n, l, r, w, j/ (initial) = C1 + C2 + V + CCCC
- Examples: Spy, stay, skill, sphinx /sfɪŋks/, sphere, smile, swear, slay, Sri Lanka, Sue, Suit /sjuːt/.
- If an onset cluster has three consonants, it should always begin with /s/ as pre-initial.
s + /p, t, k, f, m, n, l, r, w, j/ + /l, r, w, j/ = pre-initial + initial + post-initial or (C1 + C2 + C3 + V)
- Examples: Splendid, sphere /sfɪə/, street, square, squad, steward, spread, skew.

Final Cluster

Two kinds of final consonant clusters:
- Pre-final + final + post-final 1
- Post-final 2
Pre-finals: /m, n, ŋ, p, b, k, g, f, v, d, s, z, θ, ð, l, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/
- Examples: dream, green, king, map, tube, duck, fog, laugh, save, dead, doze, mouth, with, pleasure /pleʒ.ə/, bell, fetch, page.
Finals: /s, z, t, d, θ/
- Examples: pets /pets/, beds /bedz/, missed /mɪst/, health /helθ/.
Post-final1 may be included
Post-final2: always /s/ or /t/
- Examples: Texts /teksts/, Glimpsed /glɪmpst/.

Syllable Parts

Syllable Part	Description	Optionality
Onset	Initial segment of a syllable	Optional
Nucleus	Central segment of a syllable (core)	Obligatory
Coda	Closing segment of a syllable	Optional

STRESS PATTERNS: WORD-STRESS

Nature of Stress

In English, when a word has more than one syllable, one syllable is produced with more force, energy, and prominence than the others; this emphasis is called STRESS.
Examples: ˈCarry, aˈgo, ˈsailor, ˈorganize, uniˈversity.
Stressed syllable is marked by a small vertical line (ˈ) high up before the syllable.
The accented pattern of English words may be considered as:
- Fixed: Stress falls on the same syllable in a given word.
- Free: Stress may fall on the first, second, third, or last syllable in a given word.
  - Examples: water /ˈwɔːtə/, together /təˈgeðə/, information /ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃn/, volunteer /ˌvɒlənˈtɪə/.

Levels of Stress

Two levels of stress: primary stress and secondary stress. A third level refers to unstressed syllables.
Verb 'organize' has three levels: /ˈɔːrɡənaɪz/
Secondary stress: Weaker than the primary stress.
- Examples: Organization /ˌɔːrɡənaɪˈzeɪʃn/, photographic /ˌfəʊtəˈɡræfɪk/, transportation /ˌtrænspɔːˈteɪʃn/.

Characteristics of Stressed Syllables

All stressed syllables have prominence.

Factors Influencing Syllable Prominence

Pitch: Stressed syllable is pronounced with a higher pitch than unstressed ones.
Energy of articulation (loudness): Stressed syllables are louder.
Quantity/Duration (length): Stressed syllables are longer.
Quality: Stressed syllables mostly have strong vowels /e, æ, ɒ, ɑː, iː, ɔː, ɜː, əʊ, ɑɪ, ɑʊ/ whereas the weak vowels such as /ə, ɪ, ʊ/ are frequently unstressed in polysyllable words.

Stress placement is necessary based on:
- Whether the word is morphologically simple or complex (containing one or more affixes, or being a compound word).
- The grammatical category to which the word belongs (noun, adjective, verb, adverb).
- The number of syllables in the word.
- The phonological structure of the syllable.

Two-Syllable Simple Words (either the first or second syllable is stressed)

Two-Syllable Simple Verbs

Rule 1: If the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel or a diphthong or ends with more than one consonant, it receives stress on the second syllable.
Rule 2: If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one final or no consonant, the first syllable is stressed.
Examples of verbs:
- Express /ɪksˈprɛs/, equip /ɪˈkwɪp/, forget /fəˈɡɛt/, forbid /fəˈbɪd/.

Two-Syllable Simple Adjectives

Two-syllable simple adjectives are stressed according to the same rule as verbs.

Two-Syllable Simple Nouns

If the second syllable contains a short vowel, the stress falls on the first syllable; otherwise, the stress usually falls on the second syllable.
Other two-syllable words such as adverbs and prepositions seem to be like verbs & adjectives.
- Examples: almost, apart, inside, above, along, around.

Three-Syllable Simple Words (either the first, second, or third syllable is stressed)

Three-Syllable Simple Nouns

Rule 1: If the final syllable contains a short vowel or the diphthong /əʊ/, it will be unstressed. If the syllable preceding the final syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or more than one consonant, the central syllable will receive the stress (the 2nd one).
- Examples: Disaster /dɪˈzɑːstə/, potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/, tomorrow /təˈmɒrəʊ/.
Rule 2: If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the second one contains a short vowel and ends with no more than one consonant, the first syllable will receive the stress.
- Examples: cinema /ˈsɪnəmə/, character /ˈkærəktə/, synonym /ˈsɪnənɪm/.
Exception: Even if the final syllable fulfills the conditions (long vowel, a diphthong, or ending with more than one consonant), the stress can fall on the 1st syllable.
- Examples: interview /ˈɪntəvjuː/, continent /ˈkɒntɪnənt/, substitute /ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/.

Three-Syllable Simple Adjectives

Adjectives follow the same rules as nouns to assign stress placement in three-syllable words.
- Examples: difficult /ˈdɪfɪkəlt/.

Three-Syllable Simple Verbs

Rule 1: If the final syllable (3rd one) contains a long vowel, a diphthong, or ends with more than one consonant, the stress will fall on that syllable (the 3rd syllable).
- Examples: intervene /ˌɪntəˈviːn/, introduce /ˌɪntrəˈdjuːs/, resurrect /ˌrezəˈrekt/.
Rule 2: The 2nd syllable is stressed if the 3rd syllable contains a short vowel and ends with no more than one consonant (that is, only 1 consonant or none).
- Examples: establish /ɪˈstæblɪʃ/.