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Linguistics

Notes syllables, nor with special cases of loan words (words brought into the language from other languages
comparatively recently). Other words–which we will look at in studying connected speech–change
their stress pattern according to the context they occur in. Above all, there is not space to discuss the
many exceptions to the above rules. Despite the exceptions, it seems better to attempt to produce
some stress rules (even if they are rather crude and inaccurate) than to claim that there is no rule or
regularity in English word stress.
English Strong-Syllable Rhymes

English has certain limitations on the form of strong syllables – they can be open only if they contain
a long vowel or a diphthong, and only a closed strong syllable may have a short vowel. In other
words, long vowels and diphthongs can occur in both open (sue / su:/, bay /b eI /) and closed (beam
/bi: m/, eight / etI /) strong syllables, whereas short vowels only occur in closed ones (cat /kæt/, ill
/ I l/).
As we saw in the section on syllable structure, a syllable ending in VC has a branching Rhyme with
a non-branching Peak and Coda; and VV is a branching Peak, while VVC is a branching Rhyme with
a branching Peak and a non-branching Coda. We can now consider the permissible Rhyme structures
of English strong syllables:
R R R but not * R

P P Co P Co P

V V V V C V C V
æ
æ
/bi:/ /bi:t/ /b t/ */b /
The phonotactic restriction can be defined this way: the Rhyme of a strong syllable must branch, OR
contain at least one branching constituent. (Lass, 1984: 254—255)
Division of Syllables

So far we have been using monosyllabic words as examples. But when a string of syllables is concerned,
how do we decide what is the Coda of one and the Onset of the next? The question of syllabification,
the division of a word into syllables, is quite controversial and there are several approaches to it.
The two most important and widely used pronunciation dictionaries of the English language, the
English Pronouncing Dictionary (EPD) and the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (LPD), employ different
principles of syllabification, which we shall quote in turn, and then briefly mention another, more
abstract, approach to syllable division.
Syllabification in EPD, Maximal Onsets Principle

In the introduction to EPD syllable divisions are explained as follows:
A dot is used to divide syllables, in accordance with the current recommendations of the International
Phonetic Association. (...) However, this is not used where a stress mark or occurs, as these are
effectively also syllable division markers. (...)
1. As far as possible, syllables should not be divided in a way that violates what is known of
English syllable structure. The ‘Maximal Onsets Principle’, which is widely recognised in
contemporary phonology, is followed as far as possible. This means that, where possible, syllables
should be divided in such a way that as many consonants as possible are assigned to the
beginning of the syllable to the right (if one thinks in terms of how they are written in
transcription), rather than to the end of the syllable to the left. However, when this would result
in a syllable ending with a stressed / I /, /e/, /æ/, / ∧ /, / / or /• /, it is considered that this
a

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