1. 2016 January 14
More on the syllable

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

3. Review
Onset – any consonant preceding the rime.

4. Review

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

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

7. 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]

8. 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

9. 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

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

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

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

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

14. Phonotactics Polish wkącie [vkow̃ntçɛ] ‘in the corner’
męczyć [mɛw̃ntʃɩtç] ‘to torment’
wesprzeć [vɛspʃɛtç] ‘to support’
Multiple consonant cluster possibilities
polish/polish.html

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

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

17. 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

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

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

20. Strong vs weak syllables
Dependent on many factors
Stress
Elision

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

22. Weak syllables and “schwa”
Always associated with weak syllables