Listening and Speaking 3
Week 4Feb.16.2013
Chapter 8 (Part One)
Lesson Outline
• Course Introduction.
• Chapter 8, The Syllable
• 8.1 The Nature of the Syllable, 56-57
• Conversation
Course Info
Email [email protected]
Webpage www.schoolrack.com/ms_lujain
Course title Listening and Speaking 3 ENGL 2137
Units 2
Text book Roach, Peter. (Fourth edition) English Phonetics and Phonology.
Evaluation
Applied part: presentations + participation
5
Applied part: listening quiz 10
Theoretical part: phonetics quiz 10
Theoretical part: 2 midterm exams 30
Applied part: final oral exam 20
Applied part: final project 5
Total 100
8.1 The Nature of the Syllable
• What is a Syllable?
The syllable is a basic unit of speech studied on both the phonetic and phonological levels of analysis.
Words can be cut up into units called syllables. Humans seem to need syllables as a way of segmenting the stream of speech and giving it a rhythm of strong and weak beats.
A word contains at least one syllable.
Defining the Syllable Phonetically
• Phonetically means in relation to production and how it sounds.
• Phonetically syllables are usually described as consisting of a center which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud; before and after that center there will be greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound.
Defining the Syllable Phonologically
• Phonological syllable is “a complex unit made up of nuclear and marginal elements”. Laver (1994: 114)
• Nuclear elements are the vowels, marginal elements are consonants.
Syllable Structure
1. Minimum Syllable: a single vowel in isolation.
Example: ‘are’ , ‘or’ , ‘err’ . These are preceded and followed by silence.
2.Onset: one or more consonant preceding the center of the syllable. Example: ‘bar’ , ‘key’
3.Coda: the syllable ends with one or more consonants. Example: ‘am’ , ‘ought’
4.Some syllables have both onset and coda. Example: ‘ran’ , ‘sat’
Conversation