Part Five

SYLLABLE STRUCTURE &WORD STRESS

Supra-Segmental Phonology:Phonology above the level of ‘segments’ (sounds)

Units: syllable, word, phrase, etc.

Processes: stress, rhythm, tone, intonation, etc.

Why do we need the concept ‘syllable’?Which of the following sequences of sounds are impossible in English?

If [bm], [zn] etc. are impossible sequences in English, then why are the following words (containing these sequences) possible?

THE SYLLABLE

a) [hau] (Mandarin) [kau] (Cantonese)b) *[haup] (M) *[kauts] (C)

But why are the following possible?

Why do these names translate into more syllables in Chinese than in English?

Rob = luo bu Steve = si ti fu Clinton = ke lin dun

Comparing syllables in English and German:

The English syllable:

Question: What must a syllable in English consist of, at the very least?

THE PARTS OF A SYLLABLE

1) Nucleus: the indispensable ‘core’ of a syllable2) Onset: the consonant(s) preceding the nucleus3) Coda: the consonant(s) following the nucleus

The nucleus and coda together make up the rime

SYLLABLES IN CHINESE:a) CANTONESE

QUESTION: What differences in syllable structure can you see in these dialects?

INVESTIGATING THE STRUCTURE OF THE SYLLABLE IN ENGLISH

spl spr spjstr stj

skl skr skj skwsmj snj

Generalisations: C1 C2 C3In a 3-segment onset, C1 can only be ____________

C2 can only be ___________

C3 can only be ____________

pl pr pj tr tj twkl kr kj kw mj

nj

spl spr spjstr stj

skl skr skj skwsmj

snj

sp st sksm snsl sj sw

spl spr spjstr stj

skl skr skj skwsmj

snj

In a 3-segment onset, C1 can only be [s]C2 can only be a [+stop]C3 can only be an approximant ([+son –stop])

spl spr spjstr stj

skl skr skj skwsmj

snj

Observation: C2 must be [+stop] only if C1 is filled.Suppose we change C2 to: ‘C2 is an open slot’Condition: If C1 is filled (i.e. by [s]), then C2 can only be a [+stop]

ENGLISH WORD STRESS

In the following words, which syllables are stressed, and how do the stressed syllables differ phonetically from the unstressed?

Example from Spanish:ha'blar, mu'jer, ver'dad, tempo'ral, capi'talspeak woman truth temporary capital

'hablo, 'casa, impor'tante, son'risa, presi'dentespeak house important smile president

Generalisation:In Spanish, stress falls on the _______ syllable of the word if ______________________________________,Otherwise, it falls on the __________ syllable.

Analysing stress-assignment rules

USEFUL CONCEPTS:

'closed syllable' - one ending in a consonant'open syllable' - one ending in a vowel

E.g. the last syllables of hablar and verdad are closed,but the last syllables of hablo and casa are open

Generalisation:In Spanish, stress falls on the final syllable of the word if it is a closed syllable; otherwise, stress falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.

STRESS IN SUFFIXED WORDS IN ENGLISH

DATA SET 1:-ic -ity'athlete -> ath'letic 'tranquil -> tran'quility'system -> sys'temic 'stupid -> stu'pidity'phoneme -> pho'nemic 'fluid -> flu'idity'microscope ->micro'scopic 'uniform -> uni'formityca'tastrophe ->catas'trophic senti'mental ->sentimen'tality

GENERALISATION: For words ending in suffixes like –ic or -ity, the stress falls on: __________________________________

DATA SET 2:-ate -tude'generate 'multitude'delegate 'solitudecom'municate 'attitudeas'similate si'militudepro'pitiate ine'xactitude

GENERALISATION: For words ending in suffixes like -ate or -tude, the stress falls on: ____________________________________

DATA SET 3:a) stem stem + al1. 'suicide sui'cidal2. 'detriment detri'mental3. 'sentiment senti'mental4. 'anecdote anec'dotal5. 'universe uni'versal6. 'dialect dia'lectal

b) stem stem + al1. 'magic 'magical2. 'music 'musical3. sen'sation sen'sational4. 'medicine me'dicinal5. 'origin o'riginal6. pro'fession pro'fessional

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS:

Heavy syllable -- a syllable with a complex rime, i.e. containing either (i) a short vowel plus one or more consonants in the coda (as in bet [bet] and best [best]), or (ii) a diphthong or long vowel, with or without a coda (as in bay [bei], bait [beit], bee [bi:], beast [bi:st]).

Focus on the penultimate syllable in terms of ‘light’ or ‘heavy’:SET I

SET II

MONOSYLLABIC WORDS IN ENGLISHA B C D

Generalisation: Only _______ syllables can stand on their own as words.

STRESS IN SIMPLE WORDS(i) A B C D

o'bey tor'ment 'utter 'galloppo'lite col'lapse 'happy 'promisehu'mane dis'gust 'angry 'normalre'ly e'xist 'carry 'exitad'mire at'tract 'murder 'rapid

(ii) A B C Do'bey tor'men(t) 'utter 'gallo(p)po'li(t)e col'lap(se) 'happy 'promi(se)hu'ma(n)e au'gus(t) 'angry 'norma(l)re'ly ex'is(t) 'carry 'exi(t)ad'mire at'trac(t) 'murder 'rapi(d)

‘extrametrical’ -- i.e. ignored by (or 'invisible' to) stress-assignment rules

English Stress Rule (ESR):‘Stress the final syllable of a word if it is heavy;

otherwise, stress the penultimate syllable.’

Consonant Extrametricality (CE):‘The final consonant of a word is extrametrical

OTHER USEFUL CONCEPTS

VERB NOUN in'crease 'increase

ex'port 'exportre'cord 'recordsur'vey 'surveysub'ject 'subjectre'ject 'rejectcon'flict 'conflictad'dict 'addictcon'test 'contesttor'ment 'tormentac'cent 'accentcom'pound 'compound

GENERALISATION: For purposes of stress assignment, the final syllable of a noun is ________________________________

QUESTION: How do we explain the above stress assignments, using the concepts we’ve arrived at so far?

MORE NOUNS