scholarly journals THE SYLLABLE STRUCTURE IN EUROPEAN PORTUGUESE

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Helena Mateus ◽  
Ernesto D’Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
European Portuguese

The goal of this paper is to discuss the internal structure of the syllable in European Portuguese and to propose an algorithm for base syllabification. Due to the analysis of consonant clusters in onset position and the occurrence of epenthetic vowels, and considering the variation of the vowels in word initial position that occupy the syllable nucleus without an onset at the phonetic level, we assume that, in European Portuguese, the syllable is always constituted by an onset and a rhyme even though one of these constituents (but not both) may be empty, that is, one of then may have no phonetic realisation.

scholarly journals The Syllable Structure of Tiv

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
Elizabeth U. ◽  
Francis I.A.
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Intuitive Knowledge ◽  
Cross River ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Analytical Research

Linguistic studies reveal that every language has a particular way of combining its sounds to form words or parts of words called syllables. The paper looks at the syllable structure of the Tiv language, one of the Bantoid languages spoken mostly in the Middle Belt area of Nigeria, especially in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Cross River states of Nigeria. The objective of the study is to investigate the internal structure of syllables in the Tiv language in order to establish the regularities and restrictions inherent in the language. The study, therefore, aims at ascertaining the syllable patterns that are found in Tiv. This study adopts qualitative and analytical research design using the C V tier model of the phonological theory of syllable analysis as proposed by McCarthy (1979) and adopted by Clements and Keyser (1983), to explicate the permissible patterns of syllable structures in Tiv. Data for the study were gathered from native speakers of Tiv, whose language has not been corrupted by urbanisation and the researchers' intuitive knowledge of the Tiv language. It was found out in the study that, some of the permissible syllable structures in Tiv language include vowels and consonants like v, cv, ccv, cccv, cvc. It was also discovered that all the five vowels of the English alphabets may begin or end a syllable in the Tiv language. As found in English and other languages where the sequential occurrence of two or more consonants is termed consonant cluster, the Tiv syllable structure permits two or more consonants at the initial or final positions of the syllable which could occur as onset or coda, but they are not regarded as consonant clusters. They are regarded as co-articulations. The study concludes that Tiv language has a wide range of phonotactic constraints which if studied can contribute to the development of Tiv language.

scholarly journals On the Internal Structure of Tashlhiyt Berber Triconsonantal Roots

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Lahrouchi
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Initial Position

This article examines the internal structure of triconsonantal roots in Tashlhiyt Berber. It is proposed that these roots have a binary-branching head-complement structure, built upon the sonorant and the segment immediately to its left. Evidence for this structure is provided by the imperfective formation. It is argued that only roots that display such a structure undergo gemination in the imperfective. This permits an account for a number of forms that are traditionally ascribed to lexical idiosyncrasy, including verbs that are made up entirely of obstruents and those whose only sonorant is in initial position.

On the role of syllabic neighbourhood density in the syllable structure effect in European Portuguese

Lingua ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 103166
Author(s):  
Ana Duarte Campos ◽  
Helena Mendes Oliveira ◽  
Ana Paula Soares
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Structure Effect ◽  
European Portuguese

Icelandic Children's Acquisition of Consonants and Consonant Clusters

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Thora Másdóttir ◽  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Kathryn Crowe
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Comprehensive Study

Purpose This study investigated Icelandic-speaking children's acquisition of singleton consonants and consonant clusters. Method Participants were 437 typically developing children aged 2;6–7;11 (years;months) acquiring Icelandic as their first language. Single-word speech samples of the 47 single consonants and 45 consonant clusters were collected using Málhljóðapróf ÞM (ÞM's Test of Speech Sound Disorders). Results Percentage of consonants correct for children aged 2;6–2;11 was 73.12 ( SD = 13.33) and increased to 98.55 ( SD = 3.24) for children aged 7;0–7;11. Overall, singleton consonants were more likely to be accurate than consonant clusters. The earliest consonants to be acquired were /m, n, p, t, j, h/ in word-initial position and /f, l/ within words. The last consonants to be acquired were /x, r, r̥, s, θ, n̥/, and consonant clusters in word-initial /sv-, stl-, str-, skr-, θr-/, within-word /-ðr-, -tl-/, and word-final /-kl̥, -xt/ contexts. Within-word phonemes were more often accurate than those in word-initial position, with word-final position the least accurate. Accuracy of production was significantly related to increasing age, but not sex. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive study of consonants and consonant cluster acquisition by typically developing Icelandic-speaking children. The findings align with trends for other Germanic languages; however, there are notable language-specific differences of clinical importance.

Tashlhiyt's ban of complex syllable onsets: phonetic and perceptual evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachid Ridouane ◽  
Anne Hermes ◽  
Pierre Hallé
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
World Languages ◽  
Syllable Onset ◽  
Perceptual Evidence

AbstractTashlhiyt is famous for its particularly marked syllable structure. Unlike the majority of world languages, including some related Berber varieties, Tashlhiyt allows not only vowels but all consonants – including voiceless stops /t/, /k/ or /q/ – to be nuclei of a syllable (e.g., [tkmi] `she smoked' is analyzed as bisyllabic where the sequence [tk] stands for a syllable of its own with /k/ as the nucleus). A fundamental aspect of this analysis concerns constraints on the syllable onset constituent: complex onsets are prohibited. A consequence of this is that prevocalic consonant clusters are systematically parsed as heterosyllabic, regardless of the sonority profile of the consonants and the position of the cluster within a word or a phrase. This study provides phonetic and metalinguistic data to test this phonological account on experimental grounds. The analysis of these data provides clear evidence that Tashlhiyt disallows complex syllable onsets.

Tonal rules for English loan words in Cantonese

1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Kiu
Keyword(s):  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Loan Word ◽  
Phonological System

It is common knowledge that when one language borrows from another, the borrower often would incorporate the loan words into its phonological system by substituting ‘alien’ sounds by those from its own stock, breaking up consonant clusters to conform to its syllable structure and so on. In general it is not impossible to predict fairly accurately what a loan word would sound like in a language if one is familiar with the phonological systems of the lender and borrower. However, syllable structure and segments are just part of the picture. Other considerations like stress and tone would also be important if one is dealing with a stress language or a tone lauguage. The aim of this paper is to examine English loan forms in Cantonese in order to discover what happens when words from a stress language like English are borrowed into a tone language like Cantonese.

Preservation and deletion in Mandarin loanword adaptation

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-243
Author(s):  
Tae-Eun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Initial Position ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

This paper is about how English inputs that are not allowed in the native Mandarin phonology are adapted to Mandarin phonotactics in Mandarin loanwords. The focus of the discussion is on whether or not the elements in the inputs are preserved or deleted and what causes the phenomena. Through analyses of English consonant adaptation in Mandarin loanwords, the functions of both borrowers’ perception and the native Mandarin phonology are consistently found. The high preservation of the nasal consonants in any syllabic position clearly shows the functions, in that the salient segments are usually preserved and the acceptance of nasal codas in Mandarin phonology makes Mandarin speakers easily perceive the nasal sounds even in the coda positions. Furthermore, English /m/ and /n/ in the final positions are usually differently adapted into Mandarin loanwords. English /m/ mostly forms an independent syllable by vowel insertion while /n/ is mostly adapted into the coda nasal of the preceding syllable (e.g., English loam → Mandarin lú-mǔ, English pint → Mandarin pǐn-tuō). This tendency is due to the function of Mandarin phonology, because a nasal /n/ is allowed as a coda consonant, but /m/ is not allowed. The high deletion of English /ɹ/ in the coda or in the consonant clusters also supports the argument. The English /ɹ/, except in the initial position, is not easily perceived due to its own vowel-like quality and the fact that it is a non-Mandarin phoneme. Lastly, the higher preservation of consonants in the initial clusters than in the final clusters also shows the close relationship between perception and Mandarin phonology. Even though Mandarin does not allow consonant clusters in any position, final consonant clusters should be harder for Mandarin speakers to perceive. The reason is that in Mandarin phonology, consonants usually do not come in the final positions while all the consonants except /ŋ/ can come in the initial positions. More frequent deletion of consonants in final CCC clusters than in CC clusters can be identically explained.

scholarly journals Prosodically-conditioned Syllable Structure in English

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Orzechowska ◽  
Janina Mołczanow ◽  
Michał Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Main Stress ◽  
Unstressed Syllable

Abstract This paper investigates the interplay between the metrical structure and phonotactic complexity in English, a language with lexical stress and an elaborate inventory of consonant clusters. The analysis of a dictionary- and corpus-based list of polysyllabic words leads to two major observations. First, there is a tendency for onsetful syllables to attract stress, and for onsetless syllables to repel it. Second, the stressed syllable embraces a greater array of consonant clusters than unstressed syllables. Moreover, the farther form the main stress, the less likely the unstressed syllable is to contain a complex onset. This finding indicates that the ability of a position to license complex onsets is related to its distance from the prosodic head.

scholarly journals Syllabification of English Words by Pashto Speakers

2020 ◽  
Vol V (I) ◽  
pp. 18-28
Author(s):  
Shahabullah ◽  
Ghani Rahman ◽  
Arshad Ali Khan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Proper Training

Syllabification of words plays a vital role in learning native like pronunciation. The present study tried to explore the syllabification of English words by Pashto speakers. The study aimed to put light on the problematic areas for Pashto speakers in terms of syllabification of English words. The data was collected from twenty undergraduate students and analyzed with reliable scientific tools. The analyzed data proved that English words having triphthongs were problematic for Pashto speakers. In addition to it, words having syllabic consonants were also problematic for Pashto speakers. Furthermore, words containing x in spelling also proved to be problematic for Pashto speakers. English words having the syllable structure CVC.VC were incorrectly syllabified CV.CVC. Pashto speakers faced problems in the identification of syllable boundaries in words where consonant clusters are used. The study recommends that Pashto speakers need proper training for learning correct syllabification of English words.

scholarly journals Some Characteristics of Syllable Structure in Qassimi Arabic (QA): An Optimality Theoretic Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Metab Alhoody ◽  
Mohammad Aljutaily
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Najdi Arabic

The paper investigates the syllable structures of Qassimi Arabic (QA), which is a sub-dialect of Najdi Arabic (NA) and is spoken in the north-central region of Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Qassim Region. Within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT), we show how the well-formed syllable is derived from the interaction of constraints. We show how the OT captures some of the major processes for structuring the syllables of QA, such as syncope, epenthesis, and geminate. The analysis revealed that onsetless syllables are prohibited in QA. The dialect allows word-initial consonant clusters, which is a result of the syncope process. Coda clusters also occur in QA that must obey the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP); otherwise, epenthesis presents to repair the violation. As for the geminates, QA permits geminates medially and finally, but not initially. The data revealed that QA demonstrates seven fundamental syllable structures grouped into three categories: light syllables, as in CV; heavy syllables, as in CVV and CVC; and super heavy syllables, as in CVVC, CVCC, CCVVC and CVVCC.

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