of compound words
Vowel | Intersyllabic sounds | Boundary | Examples | Notes |
I. Short stressed | a) single consonant | within the consonant | [ le ən] [ rı m] | |
b) consonant cluster | between the consonants | [ ek1|s2|t3|rə] [ wın|dəυ] [ rıŋ|kl] | In case of intervocalic clusters we use the distributional criterion: the combination of consonants belongs to the following syllable, if such combinations are typical of English. | |
II. Short unstressed, long, diphthong | a) single consonant | before the consonant | [ melə|dı] [ k :|nə] [ leı|bl] | |
b) consonant cluster | maximally close to the vowel | [ə| dres] [ık| spektıd] [ fα:|stə] [ peı|trən] |
! The so-called thriphthongs in English are disyllabic combinations, because they contain two vowel phonemes: [ faI |ə].
Ex. 1.1 ( , track 1)
How many syllables?
One word in each set has a different number of syllables from the others. Decide which it is, then check with the recording.
Example: | lengths | if | table | on |
1 | destiny | chocolate | computer | afterwards |
2 | stopped | smashed | wanted | tried |
3 | Leicester | Lester | Stratford | Manchester |
4 | altogether | avocado | banana | Argentina |
5 | rhythm | chasm | through | thorough |
Ex. 1.2 ( , track 1)
What stress pattern?
One word in each set has a different stress pattern from the others. Which is it? Define the type of the stressed word. Check with the recording.
Example: | picture ○ | nature ○ | capture ○ | mature ○ |
1 | politics | dynamic | musician | historic |
2 | create | supply | prostate | dictate |
3 | teacher | refer | eager | offer |
4 | edit | debit | submit | credit |
5 | Angela | Therese | spaghetti | banana |
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Ex.1.3 Transcribe and divide into syllables.
Determine where the syllable boundary lies
1. | goodness | 5. | about | 9. | Saturday |
2. | hotter | 6. | lazy | 10. | export |
3. | village | 7. | family | 11. | hourly |
4. | cotton | 8. | admission | 12. | mathematics |