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Chapter 7:Beyond the segment: Syllable structure in English7.1.The Syllable: a fundamental phonological unit in any language.

A tentative definition

7.2.The structure of the syllable. Phonotactic constraints7.3 The importance of segmental sonority for the syllable structure

7.4. Constraints on onsets7.5.Constraints on codas7.6.Syllabic consonants. Non-vocalic nuclei

7.7.Syllabification in English

7.4. Constraints on onsets

One-consonant onsets. If we examine the constraints imposed on English one-

consonant onsets we shall notice that only two English sounds cannot be distributed in

syllable-initial position: and . As far as the first one is concerned, the constraint is

natural since the sound only occurs in English when followed by a velar stop, korg (in

the latter case, g is no longer pronounced and survived only in spelling). As far as is

concerned, it is a rare sound in English anyway and is only distributed in words of

foreign origin usually French; e.g.gendarme. Notice, however, that the constraint refers

rather to word-initial position since the very word usual, used above, proves that in

polysyllabic words the sound can occur at the beginning of a syllable as is the case of the

second syllable of the word -sual [ u l] or the second one ofmeasurepleasure, etc: sure

[ ]. According to Spencer (1997:83), the dental voiced fricative [] is in a specialposition since it only appears at the beginning of the word in grammatical words like

the definite article the, the demonstratives this, that, these, those, there, etc. However, if

we consider syllable-initial position in general, it can be the onset of syllables formed by

the adding of the suffix -ing to verbs ending in [] like breathe orbathe, or it can be the

onset of syllables having a nasal as nucleus as is the case of the last one of rhythm [ri-

m] heathen [hi:-n] etc.

Clusters of two consonants. If we have a succession of two consonants or a two-

consonant cluster, the picture is a little more complex. While sequences like pl orfr will

be accepted, as proved by words likeplotorframe, rn or dl orvr will be ruled out. Well

need to have a closer look at these cases and understand what rules operate in various

cases. A useful first step will be to refer to the scale of sonority presented above. We will

remember that the (vocalic) nucleus is the peak of sonority within the syllable and that,

consequently, the consonants in the onset will have to represent an ascending scale of

sonority before the vowel and once the peak is reached well have a descendant scale

from the peak downwards within the onset. This seems to be the explanation for the fact

that the sequence rn is ruled out, since we would have a decrease in the degree of
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sonority from the liquid r(4) to the nasal n(3). This appears to be a rule that transcends

the boundaries of a single language, since neither Romanian nor any other European

language at least will accept such a sequence, and we can safely predict that this is a

linguistic universal. It has actually been proved to be so and E. Selkirk called it the

Sonority Sequencing Generalization.

An overview of the possible combinations in two-consonant vowel clusters in

English will rapidly lead us to the conclusion that the only two-obstruent sequences

allowed by English are those that haves as a first member. We will see, however, that not

all S+Obstruent combinations are allowed. If the first consonant is an obstruent other

than s, then the only combinations allowed are those in which the second consonant is

either a liquid (l or r) or a glide (j or w). We will see that even this picture presents

several gaps. Leaving the combinations includings for later, we can summarize what we

have said by representing the possible obstruent+liquid combinations as follows. The

combinations that are not italicized are ruled out:

pl pr tl tr kl kr fl fr l r sl sr l r hl hr

bl br dl dr gl gr vl vr l r zl zr l r

Thus, words likeplease, blot, prime, brim, train, drink, climb, glue, crew, grace,

fly, freak, throw, slot, shrinkare perfectly well-formed, while tl, dl, vl, vr, l,l, r, l,l,rare impossible in English. Romanian allows all well-formed English onsets: plici,

prost, bleg, brici, tren, drag, clasic, glas, crac, gros, fleac, fresce, slobod, with the

exception ofr andr (the interdental fricative does not exist in Romanian, while the

second sequence occurs only in loan words, especially German: rapnel). Additionally, vl

and vrare licensed: see words like: vlag, vreasc, though such combinations tend to be

rare and are restricted (especially the former) to a couple of Slavonic words and Slavproper names. The situation ofzl, hl, hris similar:zloat, zlot, hlamid, hrean.

If we continue our analysis by examining the possible obstruent+glide

combinations, we will get the following picture:

pj pw tj tw kj kwfj fw j w sj sw j w hj hw

bj bw dj dw gj gw vj vw j w zj zw j w

Thus, words like, pure, tune, twist, cure, queen, future, Thew, thwart, suitable,

sweet, hue, beauty, duty, dwell, argue, Gwen, review are good examples of the licensing

of the respective sequences. vj is a special case, since its occurrence is limited to a couple

of words of French origin like view, revue. The best proof that this sequence is not

considered a natural one in English is that the French phrase dj vu is read [de a:vu:].

w is in a quite similar situation, its distribution being in fact limited in English to the

French loan bourgeois /bbwY:/ and its derivatives. w is here distributed in syllable-

initial, but not in word-initial position.


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If the first position is occupied by a nasal (other than which, as we saw, is

actually the only English consonant that cannot appear in onsets) we can have the

following combinations, of which only mj (mute) and nj (nuclear) are licensed:

ml mr mj mw nl nr nj nw

In Romanian, the above mentioned onsets are not licensed, while words beginningwith mrand mrlike mreaj ormlatin are very rare.

The fact that only liquids or glides are allowed after obsrtruents and that a nasal

can only be followed by a glide leads us to another phonotactic rule operating on English

onsets, namely that the distance in sonority between the first and second element in the

onset must be of at least two degrees. Thus, plosives only have 1 on our scale of sonority

and fricatives 2, while liquids (4) and glides (5) are situated two to four degrees higher

and consequently the sequencesplosive/fricative + liquid/glide are allowed. Sequences of

nasals and liquids like mrand nl(3; 4) or offricativesand nasals like vn and fm (2;3)

obviously violate this rule and are consequently ruled out. We will call this rule the minimal sonority distance.

We are left with the two-obstruent clusters, the first consonant of which can only

bes. It is clear that sequences likesforstwhich are perfectly acceptable in English raise

serious problems as to the applicability of the rules that we enounced before. The former

violates the minimal sonority distance principle, sinces andfare both fricatives and are

consequently on a par as far as sonority is concerned. Moreover, s+plosive sequences as

st mentioned above actually contravene the fundamental Sonority Sequencing

Generalization, which we assumed to be a rule of Universal Grammar, because we have a

downfall in sonority from 2 to 1. Since the framework of the present discussion does notallow us to go into a detailed explanation, we will say that s represents a particular case.

It should be noticed that s can only be followed by a voiceless plosive or the voiceless

fricativef:sp;st;sk,sf:spot,stick, sky,sphinx. There should be, therefore, an agreement

in the feature voice between the first and second obstruent. s can also be followed by a

nasal:sn orsm in words likesnake orsmear. This time the minimal sonority distance is

observed. The cases where s is followed by a liquidorsemivowelhave been presented

above.

Three-consonant onsets. Such sequences will be restricted to licensed two-

consonant onsets preceded by the voiceless fricative s. The latter will, however, impose

some additional restrictions, as we will remember that s can only be followed by avoiceless sound in two-consonant onsets. In other words not only the sequence of

consonant 2 and consonant 3 should be a valid one, but also s + consonant 2. Therefore,

onlyspl,spr,str,skrwill be allowed, as words like splinter, spray, strong, screw prove,

whilesbl,sbr,sdr,sgr,srwill be ruled out. Though kl,flandfrare accepted and so are

skandsf, the sequencesskl,sflandsfrare not. Romanian accepts all well-formed English

onsets:splin, spre,strident, scroaf and, additionally,skl:sclavandsfr:sfruntat. In the

sequencesdrthe initial sound is voiced:zdreli, zdravn. If the third position is occupied


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by a glide we get the following accepted combinations in English: spj, stj, skj, skw:

spurious, student, skewer, squash. Notice that stw which is in principle acceptable (as

both stat tw are licensed) does never occur. Summarizing, we can present the possible

combinations in the following table:

pl pr pj tr tj tw kl kr kj kw

s spleen spray spume straw stew * * screw skew squirt

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