Chapter 5

Chapter 4Consonant Sequences(Clusters)

Consonant sequences in different languagesangstschwei/astvas/angstschreeuw/stsrw/

Some languages have several (complex) consonant sequences, e.g. Russian and German.

Consonant sequences in different languagesOthers 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.

3English Consonant Sequences

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

Which consonant cannot occur in initial position? / /

/ / occurs at the beginning of words borrowed from French, e.g. genre. Spelling vs. pronunciation cl /kl/, squ /skw/.

5Two consonants initially Not all sequences are possible (p.64).Some clusters are rare, e.g. /sf/and /w/.

Notice spelling vs. pronunciation, e.g. queen. 6Do not break a consonant clusterThe 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.

The tongue is placed in position for /r/ or /l/ while lips are still closed for /p/. What happens to /p/ when preceded by a consonant? Examples p. 65. Egyptian speakers of English tend to break consonant clusters e.g. stretch, strand, text, etc.

7Three 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.

Arabic speakers: splash, scarf. Spelling vs. pronunciation, e.g. scr, squ and spu8

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.

9Stop + 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.

Experiment p. 68.Practice examples p. 69 across word boundaries. 10Stop + 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. /btn/ /grdn/ /rtn/

The nasal in this case is syllabic, indicated with the symbol /n/.

p. 71 try to pronounce without a shwa. (see also p.50)In the dictionary it can be written /bt. n/ 11Consonant + /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 td/ + /z/ /bsz//flz//ddz/

In the last case, this is not a consonant cluster. The same rules apply for third person s. 12 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/

Guess the rule given the one for s. p. 74In the last case, this is not a consonant cluster. 13Longer 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 sequencese.g. bksklzd teksts stjupd

There has to be a smooth passage from each consonant to the next with no gap.

Practice in closed pairs p. 77. 14Reduction of complex consonant clustersIn 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 dayHold the dog

Sometimes not all written letters are pronounced. Practice p. 70. 15