3 Syllables
There are many definitions of a syllable, but usually a syllable is a unit of speech sounds, with each one containing a vowel, and possibly containing one or more consonants before or after. If we represent a Vowel as “V” and a Consonant as “C”, we can build all the syllable types we are likely to meet.
- Single Vowel syllables, or V—I, Oh, Ah;
- Consonant-Vowel syllables, or CV —By, Mow, See;
- VC—Am, On, Of;
- CCV—Stow, Bra, Crow;
- VCC—Armed, Earned, Ask;
- CVC—But, Rich, Foot;
- CCVC—Stop, Track, Bliss;
- CVCC—Tarts, Capped, Taint; etc.
This continues on up to Sphinx, which features six sounds in a single syllable, CCVCCC. You can even argue that there are a few Single Consonant syllables, or C—mmm, sh!, which as not words but rather vocables. And there are some unstressed syllables within words in English that lack a vowel, as in the final syllable of action, where the consonant /n/ follows directly after the /ʃ/ sound. This is marked with a syllabic diacritic, as in [ˈækʃn̩].
English is an stress-timed language and generally speaking we accent stressed syllables by making them louder than unstressed syllables. The ipa uses diacritical marks before syllables to indicate whether they are stressed or not. The primary stress in a word has a stress mark above [ˈ], while the secondary stress has a stress mark below [ˌ], and unstressed syllable breaks are marked, only when necessary, with a period, e.g. Pho-ne-TI-cian [ˌfoʊnəˈtɪʃən], or [ˌfoʊ.nəˈtɪ.ʃən]. Monosyllables only take a stress mark if they are stressed in connected speech, e.g [ðeɪ doʊnt ˈhæf tə ˈhæv ðəm].
Most multisyllabic words are built out of puzzle pieces of language, such as word roots, prefixes, suffixes, verb tenses, etc., that we combine in our minds on the fly. These smallest grammatical units of language, called morphemes by linguists, often tend to be a syllable or cluster of syllables. Phonologically, we tend to think of syllables in terms of their linguistic function, so that a word root, such as stop, functions as a single unit. We can then use this unit to make other words by adding prefixes and suffixes, like stopping, stopper, unstoppable, etc. Generally speaking, syllabification is important for understanding the underlying phonological rules that lead to the phonetic output of our pronunciations. Those rules are complex and difficult to grasp in a quick study, especially with regard to how to break up words that have complex morphemic structures. If you really want to dig into Syllabification, see John Wells’ blog on Syllabification and Allophony.
Practice Syllabification Exercise: Two, Three, and Four Syllable Words
Syllabic Consonants
Not all syllables have vowels in them—these unstressed syllables at the end of words drop the vowel and allow a continuant[1] consonant, [ɫ̩, n̩, m̩, ŋ̩], which has the potential for length, to do the work of the vowel. The symbols are modified with the addition of a diacritic mark, which in this case is a small tick under the consonant. Some examples: “tunnel” [ˈtʌn.ɫ̩], “batten” [ˈbæt.n̩], “rhythm” [ˈɹɪðm̩], “reckon” [ˈɹɛkŋ̩], and, in some dialects when speaking rapidly, “bottom”[ˈbɑd.m̩] and “bacon” [ˈbeɪk.ŋ̩]. Sometimes syllabic consonants can occur due to assimilation[2] with the following consonant, as in “I can go” [aɪ̯ kŋ̩ ˈɡoʊ̯], or “you can bet” [ju km̩ ˈbɛt].
In recent years, accents in North America have changed to the point where older people are starting to notice that many young people no longer use syllabic consonants in the way they expect them to. Unsurprisingly, the old people are not happy about this—same as it ever was. Many young people now pronounce a word like “mitten” with a fully articulated [t] sound or with a glottal stop [ʔ] in the place of the /t/, followed by an unstressed vowel—either schwa or /ɪ/—before the /n/. To some people, this glottal pronunciation sounds like the speech of a working-class Londoner! For a more detailed explanation please see Geoff Lindsey’s video, An American T-Dropping Conspiracy?
Practice putting a vowel before the final consonant /n/ in these words, [ən], and then drop it, and linger on the final syllabic consonant [n̩] instead:
Syllabic N: cotton, button, listen, fasten, risen, prison, sadden, burden;
Because the /l/ sound is a lateral approximant, when a syllabic /l̩, ɫ̩/occurs before an alveolar stop /t, d/ it will release laterally into the /l/ with a lateral plosion[3]. Here the closure of the /t/ or /d/ releases (“explodes”!) sideways into the [ɫ̩] articulation.
Practice putting a schwa before the final consonant /l/ in these words, [əɫ], and then remove it, and linger on the final syllabic [ɫ̩] instead.
Syllabic L: bottle, cattle, saddle, poodle, pistol, tunnel, mantle, gentle, gobble;
Practice putting a schwa before the final consonant /m/ in these words, [əm], and then try to remove it, and linger on the final syllabic [m̩] instead.
Syllabic M: activism, heroism, enthusiasm; happen, grab’em.
- Continuant consonants are ones that continue, and don't stop, unlike stops/plosives, affricates, or taps/flaps. ↵
- Assimilation is a process where an aspect of segment affects the preceding or following segment. In these examples, we see "anticipatory assimilation," where the place of the articulation spreads to the preceding consonant, so that the /n/ transforms to match the following consonant as velar /n/ →[ŋ] before /ɡ/, or bilabial /n/ → [m] before /b/. ↵
- A plosive articulation is released only by dropping one or both sides of the tongue, while retaining a median closure, as often occurs with English middle. Lateral release is transcribed in the IPA with a superscript [l], as in "little" [ˈlɪtlɫ̩]. ↵
An utterance that is not considered a word, but still has meaning, like the interjection "uh-huh."
Small symbols added to a phonetic symbol, usually above or below, or as a superscript or subscript, that add
some distinction not otherwise representable in the symbol on its own. For example with /t/ represents a voiceless alveolar stop plosive, adding a superscript "h", as in /tʰ/, indicates that the stop plosive is "aspirated," spoken with a puff off air on its release.