2016 January 14 More on the syllable

Review What is a syllable comprised of? A nucleus – the peak of the syllable Coda – any consonants after the nucleus Nucleus + Coda = Rhyme/Rime

Review Onset – any consonant preceding the rime.

Review

Review Consonant clusters Two or more consonants at syllable edges Maximal onset principle Fit as many consonants into the onset as possible

Syllabic consonants Some consonants can act as syllabic nuclei These are called syllabic consonants Diacritic: [ˌ] below the consonant

Syllabic consonants [m], [n], and [l] can be syllabic – these are sonorant in nature. Hypothetically, [ɹ] too, but remember that we have a symbol for that: [ɚ]

Sonority sequencing principle Basic idea: Sounds preceding nucleus (i.e., onsets) rise in sonority Sounds following nucleus (i.e., codas) fall in sonority Sonority – related to degree of opening of mouth during articulation

Sonority sequencing principle Mostly about consonants vs vowels Vowels have the greatest amount of sonority BUT we can also talk about different sonority levels between consonants

Sonority sequencing principle From highest to lowest sonority Vowels Glides [ɹ] Laterals Nasals Fricatives/affricates Stops

Phonotactics How syllables are constructed Each language has restrictions V, CV – open syllables VC, CVC – closed syllables

Phonotactics Consonant clusters: consonants at syllable edges English – lots of stop + approximant onsets Three consonants: /s/ + stop + approximant

Phonotactics Other languages have other restrictions Hawaiian: only V and CV Honolulu aloha ‘hello; goodbye; love’ kanaka ‘man’ wahine ‘woman’

Phonotactics Polish wkącie [vkow̃ntçɛ] ‘in the corner’ męczyć [mɛw̃ntʃɩtç] ‘to torment’ wesprzeć [vɛspʃɛtç] ‘to support’ Multiple consonant cluster possibilities http://phonetics.ucla.edu/appendix/languages/ polish/polish.html

Phonotactics More Polish examples: bezwzględny [bɛzvzglɛndnɨ] ‘absolute’ zastępstwo [zastɛmpstfɔ] ‘replacement’ krnąbrny [kʁ̥nɔmbʁnɨ] ‘unruly’

How do we transcribe and syllabify these words? excited obsolete successful roosters

Phonotactics How does one exactly syllabify these? Tashlhiyt Berber (N Africa) t-sti ‘she has selected’ ts.ti tftktstt ‘you sprained it’ tf.tk.tstt

Question of the day How do we syllabify a word like happy?

Ambisyllabicity A situation where a consonant can be argued as belonging to two adjacent syllables. happy carry

Strong vs weak syllables Dependent on many factors Stress Elision

Weak syllables Tend to be: Shorter Lower intensity/amplitude Different in overall quality

Weak syllables and “schwa” Always associated with weak syllables