SYLLABICS

Syllables are chunks of sound and can be just one letter or group of letters, it’s the sound

that matters.

SYLLABLE NUCLEUS

- most often a vowel with optional initial and final margins (typically consonants)

SYLLABICS• refers to the characteristic of a word that is segmented by its sounds that can function as the nucleus of a syllable• The nucleus of the word is called the syllabic

STRUCTUREIn most theories of

phonology, the general structure of a syllable consist of three segments:

1) Onset2) Nucleus3) Coda

ONSET - is the consonant sound or

sounds at the beginning of a syllable, occurring before the nucleus

- is optional

NUCLEUS - is usually the vowel in the

middle of a syllable - is usually a vowel, in the form of

a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong, but sometimes is a syllabic consonant

- obligatory in most languages

SYLLABIC CONSONANTS - are [m], [n], [ŋ], [l], [r] - usually similar to vowels in duration, and

can carry tone - we indicate consonant sounds syllabic by

placing a small vertical line beneath the consonant symbol

- any unmarked consonant sound is assumed to be non syllabic

CODA - comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus

- is optional in some languages