Chapter 4

Consonant Sequences
(Clusters)

Consonant sequences in different languages

angstschwei /astvas/
angstschreeuw /stsrw/

Some languages have several (complex) consonant

sequences, e.g. Russian and German.

Consonant sequences in different languages

Others have no consonant sequences or very short
ones, e.g. Mandarin and Swahili.

Speakers of languages where two consonants must be

separated by a vowel may have difficulty stringing a
number of consonants together.

English Consonant Sequences

Initial Sequences
A word can begin with 1, 2 or 3 consonants.

Which consonant cannot occur in initial position?

//

Two consonants initially

Not all sequences are possible (p.64).
Some clusters are rare, e.g. /sf/and /w/.

Do not break a consonant cluster

The second consonant is often formed while the first is

being pronounced.
e.g. /pr/ and /pl/
Start with a long /s/ and do not put a vowel before it.
e.g. /spa/ not /spa/
Do not separate the consonant cluster with vowels.
e.g. /spa/ not /spa/

Give examples for /r/, /sw/, /r/ and /pj/ sequences.

Three consonants initially

/spr, str, skr, spj, stj, skj, spl, skw/

These are combinations of /sp/ and /pr/ types.
The /s/ at the beginning is cut off by the following
stop, during which the following consonant is totally
prepared.
The sequence /spj/ is rare.

Final Sequences
A word can end with 1, 2, 3 or in a few cases 4

consonants.
Many final consonant clusters are the result of adding
grammatical suffixes, e.g. plural s, past ed and th
for numerals.

Stop + Stop
The first stop is incomplete; there is only one explosion

of air, e.g. /kept/ or /kt/.

Making two explosions sounds un-English.

The same process occurs between words.

Stop + Nasal
When /t/ and /d/ are followed by /n/ the tongue tip

stays on the alveolar ridge and the soft palate is

lowered (nasal explosion).
e.g. /btnn /
/grdnn /
/rtnn /

The nasal in this case is syllabic, indicated with the

symbol /nn /.

Consonant + /s, z/
Transcription of plural s:
1. Voiceless C + /s/
/kps/ /kts/ /wiks/
2. Voiced C or Vowel + /z/
/gdz/ /egz/ /drimz/
3. /s z t d/ + /z/
/bsz/ /flz/ /ddz/

Consonant + /t, d/
Transcription of past tense ed:
1. Voiceless C + /t/
/skpt/ /drest/ /lft/
2. Voiced C or Vowel+ /d/
/brid/ /pruvd/ /fld/
3. /t, d/ + /d/
/nidd/ /strtd/

Longer consonant sequences

In phrases one word may end with a consonant

sequence and the next begin with another one,

resulting in up till 7-consonant sequences
e.g. bks klzd
teksts stjupd

There has to be a smooth passage from each

consonant to the next with no gap.

Reduction of complex consonant clusters

In long consonant sequences, sometimes consonants

disappear, especially in rapid speech.

Alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ tend to be dropped when
sandwiched between two consonants.
The next day
Hold the dog