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Unit 9: Clusters and Syllables

words like ‘carry’ kæri which still give us problems: if we divide the word as kæ. ri, we get a syllable- Notes
final æ, but if we divide it as kær . i we have a syllable-final r, and both of these are non-occurring in
BBC pronunciation. We have to decide on the lesser of two evils here, and the preferable solution is
to divide the word as kær . i on the grounds that in the many rhotic accents of English this division
would be the natural one to make.
One further possible solution should be mentioned: when one consonantstands between vowels and
it is difficult to assign the consonant to one syllable or the other—as in ‘better’ and ‘carry’—we could
say that the consonant belongs to both syllabes. The term used by phonologists for a consonant in
this situatin is ambisyllabic.
Self-Assessment

1. Answer the following questions:
(i) Final plasive-plus-plasive clusters
(a) When one plosive is followed by another at the end of a syllable, the second plosive is
usually the only one that can be clearly heard. In this exercise, take care not to make an
audiable release of the first plosive.
pækt packed rIgd rigged
bægd bagged d• kt duct
dr Z pt robbed græbd grabbed
(ii) It is difficult to hear the difference between, for example, ‘dropped back’ and ‘drop back,’
since in the normal pronunciation only the last plosive of the cluster (the b of bæk) is audibly
released. The main difference is that the three-consonant cluster is longer.
Listen and repead:
A B
græbd b e θ grabbed both græ b e θ γραβ βοτη
laIkt ð m liked them laIk ð m like them
e
e
hp Z t bæk hopped back h Z p bæk hop back
l kt f :w d looked forward l k f ;w d look forward
e
e
pegd da n pegged down peg da n peg down
wIpt kri:m whipped cream wIp kri:m whip cream
9.3 Summary

• The study of syllable structure is a subject of considerable interest to phonologists. If you want
to read further in this area, I would recommend Giegerich, Katamba, Hogg and McCully and
Goldsmith. In the discussion of the word ‘extra’ ekstr it was mentioned that the s in the middle
might be classed as a syllable. This could happenif one followed the sonority theory of syllables:
e
sonority corresponds to loudness, and some sounds have greater sonority than others. Vowels
have the greatest sonority, and these are usually the centre of a syllable. Consonants have a
lower level of sonority, and usually form the beginnings and ends of syllables. But s has greater
sonority than k or t, and this could lead to the conclusion that s is the centre of a syllable in the
middle of the word ‘extra,’ which goes against English speakers’ feelings. There is a thorough
discussion, and a possible solution, in Giegerich. Some writers believe that it is possible to
describe the combinations of phonemes with little reference to ythe syllable as an independent
unit in theoretical phonology.
• A paper that had a lot of influence on more recent work in Fudge (1969). This paper brought up
two ideas first discussed by earlier writers: the first is that sp, st, sk could be treated as individual
phonemes, removing the pre-initial position from the syllable onset altogether and removing s
from the pre-final set of consonants; the second is that since post-initial j only occurs before

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