 The syllable is a basic unit of speech studied on both the phonetic and phonological levels

of analysis.
 Phonetically syllables “are usually described as consisting of a centre which has little or no
obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud; before and after that centre
(…) there will be greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound” (Roach, 2000: 70).
The Structure of the English Syllable

 Words can be cut up into units called syllables.

 Syllable is a unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted unit.
 Syllables exist to make speech easier for the brain to process.
 A word contains at least one syllable.
The syllable and their parts:
Onset, peak and Coda
Not all syllables have all parts, sometimes are words that only contains a peak

Onset: The beginning sound of a syllable, preceding the peak. These are always consonants
If the first syllables start with a vowel, so they have zero onset
 If syllable begins with one consonant, it may be any consonant phoneme except /ŋ/; /ʒ/ is
rare,e.g. usual /ˈjuː.ʒʊəl/
 Initial two-consonant cluster are of two sorts in English.
 A: Consonant /s/ followed by one of the following:
p – t – k – f – m – n – l – *r – w - j
 The /s/ in the cluster /sm/ is pre-initial and the /m/ the initial consonant.
 The first consonant in this second type of cluster is called initial and the second, post-
initial.
 Three consonants, /s/ followed by /p//t//k/ followed by /l//r//w//j
Coda: The final consonant in a syllable is called CODA.
 If there is no final consonant, there is zero coda.
 There can be up to 4 consonants in coda.
 Example: texts /teksts/
 CCCVCCCC
 One syllable CODA.
 Any consonant may be final consonant, except: /h/ /w/ /j/ - */r/ In BBC pronunciation, /r/
consonant does not occur in final position.
 When there is one consonant at the end of syllable, it is called final consonant

Placement of stress:
• Strong syllable:
a) a syllable peak which is a long vowel or diphthong, with or without coda
b) a syllable peak which is a short vowel followed by at least one
consonant.
 A weak syllable:
a) contains ə, i, u and no coda except ə. Syllabic consonants are also weak
b) the short vowel ɪ can also be peak of a weak syllable if it occurs before a consonant
which is the onset of the next syllable.