THE SYLLABLE AND STRESS IN SPOKEN ENGLISH

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Defining the Syllable:

Elugbe (2000) defines a syllable as the minimum or shortest stretch of speech that we can pronounce.

A word consisting of a single syllable (e.g., cat) is called a monosyllable (such a word is monosyllabic). Meanwhile, a word consisting of two syllables (e.g., monkey) is called a disyllable (such a word is disyllabic), and a word consisting of three syllables (e.g., indigent) is called a trisyllable (the adjective form is trisyllabic). A word consisting of more than three syllables (e.g., intelligence) is called a polysyllable (and could be described as polysyllabic). However, this term is often used to describe words of two syllables or more.

Parts of the Syllable:

There are normally three parts to a syllable: the beginning (onset), the middle or center (nucleus), and the end (coda). Taking a close look at the word 'cat' /kæt/, you'll observe that it has /k/ at the beginning, /æ/ at the middle or center, and /t/ at the end. So, we would now say that /k/ is the onset of the syllable, /æ/ is the nucleus, while /t/ is the coda. A vowel is usually the nucleus of a syllable and is called the nucleus because it is the most prominent part of the syllable.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1:

Practice dividing and pronouncing the following words of one, two, or three syllables where each syllable has a vowel as the nucleus:

a. beat

b. league

c. caught

d. bitter

e. husband

f. until

g. yesterday

h. important

i. relation

j. fit

k. rice

l. zone

m. wanted

n. canteen

o. programme

p. telephone

q. cigarette

r. qualify

Dividing English Words into Syllables:

In actual speech situations, people combine vowels and consonants to form words such as 'rig,' 'wicked,' 'photography,' and several others. Most words, like the given examples, consist of one, two, three, or more syllables. In a proper English dictionary, words with two or more syllables are usually separated by a dash '-.'

Let's now examine the various ways in which syllables come together to form words.

1 Monosyllabic Words:

At the beginning of this unit, we mentioned that a word consisting of a single syllable is called a monosyllable (such a word is monosyllabic). The following words are all monosyllabic: 'rake, still, school, through, weight, it, and scream.' Although the number of sounds in each word varies, they are all pronounced in one continuous stretch of speech, making them monosyllabic words.

Disyllabic Words:

These words contain only two syllables. For example, "contain, student, thorough, thoughtless, until, and explain." In disyllabic words, the stretch of speech is divided into two when the words are pronounced.

Trisyllabic Words:

These words have three syllables, meaning the stretch of speech is broken into three pauses. Examples include "Wed-nes-day, mis-ta-ken, im-por-tant, and de-part-ment."

Polysyllabic Words:

These words have more than three syllables. Examples include "Po-ly-tech-nic, in-ter-ce-llu-lar, de-part-men-tal, and in-ter-na-tio-na-lly."

It's important to note that when English sounds combine to form syllables or words, they are arranged in acceptable sequences. While sequences like 'pit' or 'tip' are permitted, sequences like 'tpi' or 'pti' are not allowed. The arrangement of speech sounds into acceptable sequences in a syllable gives rise to what is called syllable structure.

The English Syllable Structure:

The structure of a syllable refers to the sound composition of that syllable, presenting the systematic occurrence of vowels and consonants and how they are arranged within the syllable.

The typical structure of an English syllable consists of a vowel and a consonant. For instance, a word like 'cat' is said to have the structure CVC, indicating a consonant followed by a vowel and then another consonant.

A syllable usually comprises three elements: the onset, the nucleus, and the coda. The onset, the sound beginning the syllable, is obligatory in some languages but optional in others. The nucleus, the core of the syllable, is obligatory in all languages. The coda, the sound ending the syllable, is optional in some languages but highly restricted in others.

Examining the example 'cat' - /kæt/, you'll observe that all three elements are present in the syllable.

Every English syllable generally requires a nucleus, which could be a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong. The rime of a syllable consists of the nucleus and coda together. In the one-syllable English word 'cat', the onset is 'c', the nucleus is 'a', the coda is 't', and the rime is 'at'.

An open syllable lacks a coda, while a closed or checked syllable has one.

English exhibits various syllable structures, including CVC, CCV, CV, VC, V, CVCC, CCCVC, CCVCCCC, CVCCCC (e.g., prompts, sixths).

In English, a consonant can be analyzed as simultaneously acting as the coda of one syllable and the onset of the following syllable, a phenomenon known as ambisyllabicity.

Longest Word in English:

Seemingly endless debates persist over what constitutes the longest word in English, highlighting the complexity of the concept of a word. English's flexibility in forming new words, coining lengthy terms, and considering place names as words makes it challenging to draw a clear line.

The Guinness Book of Records (1992) and subsequent editions crowned "floccinaucinihilipilification" as the "longest real word" in English at 29 letters. Defined as "the act of estimating something as worthless," its usage dates back to 1741. Recent instances include records in the United States Senate by Senator Jesse Helms and sarcastic usage at the White House by former president Bill Clinton's press secretary Mike McCurry. It stands as the longest non-technical word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

"Antidisestablishmentarianism," a term from a 19th-century movement in England opposing the separation of church and state, boasts 28 letters and ranks among English's longest words.

The longest word found in William Shakespeare's works is the 27-letter "honorificabilitudinitatibus," appearing in Love's Labour's Lost. While arguably an English word (rather than Latin), its classification as such is due to Shakespeare's use of it.

Sonority Hierarchy:

The sonority hierarchy, also known as the sonority scale, ranks speech sounds or phones based on the amount of sound they produce (Wikipedia.org). For instance, uttering the vowel [a] generates more sound than articulating the plosive [t].

Sonority hierarchies gain significance when analyzing syllable structure, especially in determining rules about which segments may co-occur in onsets or codas.

Furthermore, the sonority hierarchy can be used to explain the distribution of segments in syllables. The nucleus (i.e., vowel) of a syllable is the most sonorous element, and the sonority of surrounding consonants must decrease both to the left and right starting from the vowel. In other words, the more sonorous a segment, the closer it is to the nucleus of the syllable. For example, in English, the syllables 'matl' and 'lkon' are impossible since in 'matl' the sonority in the sequence 'tl' increases (should be decreasing), and in 'lkon,' the sonority of the sequence 'lk' decreases (should be increasing).

Sonority hierarchies can vary in how sounds are grouped. The one below is fairly typical, with 1 indicating the lowest sonority:

1. Plosives (stops)

2. Fricatives

3. Nasals

4. Obstruents

5. Liquids

6. High vowels

7. Sonorants

8. Consonants

9. Non-high vowels

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sonority_hierarchy

From the table given, it is important to mention that obstruents are sounds in whose production the flow of air is partially or completely obstructed from the lungs. This is why stops and fricatives are regarded as obstruents.

3.4 Relationship between the Syllable and Stress:

There is a strong relationship between syllable and stress, with the syllable being the main determinant of stress placement in English. Identifying the syllable(s) in a word is crucial for pronouncing words with the correct stress pattern. In English, the relationship between the syllable and stress is characterized by:

1. The syllable carrying stress is produced with greater energy than others within the word.

2. When a syllable is stressed, it becomes more prominent than other syllables around it.

3. Usually, only words with more than one syllable carry stress.

4. The schwa and syllabic consonants, weak vowel forms, usually occur in unstressed syllables.

In modern dictionaries of English, stress in a word is typically indicated by placing a mark on the stressed syllable, as seen in the example 'education' /e-du-'kei-ʃn/ where the stress mark is placed at the beginning of the third syllable.

ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2:

Write out the syllable structure of the following words: garden, little, cotton, stupid, shrink, pinched. You may check for the correct structures of the words in a good dictionary.

CONCLUSION:

The English syllable encompasses different combinations of sounds that can be pronounced between pauses in one's breath. These sounds often appear systematically in words, and the combination of vowels and consonants in an English syllable is unique and unpredictable. Notably, each English syllable requires a nucleus, which can be a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong.

SUMMARY:

In this unit, we defined and explained the terms 'syllable' and 'syllable structure,' emphasizing that understanding the relationship between the syllable and stress can enhance effective spoken communication in English.

     REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Bamgbose, A (1971). The English Language in Nigeria. In Spencer (ed).

The English Language in West Africa. London: Longman.

Bamgbose, A (1982). Standard Nigerian English. Issues of

Identification. In Kachru (ed). The Other Tongue: English Across

Cultures. London: Pergamon Press, pp. 9 - 26

Bamgbose, A. (1995). English in the Nigerian Environment. In

Bamgbose et al (ed). New Englishes: A West African

Perspective, Ibadan: Mosuro. pp 9 - 26

Elugbe, B. (2000). Oral English for Schools and Colleges.Ibadan:

Heinemann Educational books.

Kreidler, C. W. (1989). The Pronunciation of English. Oxford:

Blackwell.

Ladefoged, P. (1993).      A Coures in Phonetics. 3rd. Ed, New York:

Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

O’Connor, J.D. (1989). Better English Pronunciation. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press

http://www.ex.ac.uk/-bosthause/Lecture/hockett.htm

http://www.celt.stir.ac.uk/staff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sonority_hierarchy