Syllable Formation. Syllable division

1. A syllable is a sound or a sound sequence forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance.

2. In English a syllable is formed by a vowel alone or in combination with consonants, and word final sonorants [l], [m], [n] preceded by a consonant.

e.g. are

fame

trouble

In some syllables formed by the sonorants the vowel [q] may be pronounced, in this case the sonorants are non-syllabic.

e.g. level [ levl] or [ levәl]

3. In terms of phonetics the two basic types of syllable are the open syllable (ending in a vowel) and the closed syllable (ending in a consonant).

4. Correct syllable division is important from the point of view of pronunciation and understanding.

e.g. a nice house

an ice house

5. The basic syllable division rules are as follows:

a. the English long monophthongs, diphthongs and unstressed short vowels [i], [q], [u] always occur in a phonetically open syllable when they are separated from the next syllabic sound by only one consonant.

e.g about [ q - baut]

music [ mju: - zik]

Michael [ mai – kl]

b. A short stressed vowel followed by only one consonant always occurs in a phonetically closed syllable.

e.g. pity [ pit – i]

coffee [ k f – i]

c. Intervocalic combinations of consonants belong to the next syllable if such combinations are typical of English (i. e. they can be found at the beginning of words). Otherwise, the consonants must be divided between the two syllables.

e.g. naturally [ næ t∫ - rә – li]

(næ – and t∫rә – are impossible in English)

Divide the following words into syllables. Consult a dictionary if in doubt.

Employer, drizzle, listening, nature,, over, finish, without, colony, discover, follower, ready, early, nearer, position, sorrow, motivate, luggage, international, exotic, exposure, origin, originality, energy, language

Exercise 1

Think of the words which might answer the clues. Listen and check your answers. What’s the peculiarity of these words?

a. the opposite of ‘boring’

b. you can buy lunch or dinner here

c. the month after January

d. you use it to find the meanings of new words

e. brown and sweet

f. potatoes, carrots, peas

g. you use it to take photos

h. the day before Thursday

i. all, every

j. military man

k. not single – has a husband or wife

Practise saying the phrases below. Think of more phrases of your own (see the listof words for ideas)

My favourite chocolate

Every Wednesday evening

What an interesting camera!

Are you comfortable?

They aren’t married

For ideas: different, documentary, fashionable, raspberry, several, sociable, courageous, especially, extraordinary, miserable, reasonable, strawberry, temperature