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 mrs.lujain@live.com

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