Transcript lecture 6 - Faculty of Arts, HKBU

Part Five
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE &
WORD STRESS
Supra-Segmental Phonology:
Phonology above the level of ‘segments’ (sounds)
Units: syllable, word, phrase, etc.
Processes: stress, rhythm, tone, intonation, etc.
THE SYLLABLE
Why do we need the concept ‘syllable’?
Which of the following sequences of sounds are
impossible in English?
If [bm], [zn] etc. are impossible sequences in English,
then why are the following words (containing these
sequences) possible?
a) [hau] (Mandarin)
b) *[haup] (M)
[kau] (Cantonese)
*[kauts] (C)
But why are the following possible?
Why do these names translate into more syllables in
Chinese than in English?
Rob = luo bu
Steve = si ti fu Clinton = ke lin dun
Comparing syllables in English and German:
The English syllable:
Question: What must a syllable in English consist
of, at the very least?
THE PARTS OF A SYLLABLE
1) Nucleus: the indispensable ‘core’ of a syllable
2) Onset: the consonant(s) preceding the nucleus
3) Coda: the consonant(s) following the nucleus
The nucleus and coda together make up the rime
SYLLABLES IN CHINESE:
a) CANTONESE
QUESTION: What differences in syllable structure can
you see in these dialects?
INVESTIGATING THE STRUCTURE OF THE
SYLLABLE IN ENGLISH
spl
skl
spr
str
skr
spj
stj
skj
smj
snj
skw
Generalisations: C1 C2 C3
In a 3-segment onset,
C1 can only be ____________
C2 can only be ___________
C3 can only be ____________
pl pr pj
tr tj tw
kl kr kj kw
mj
nj
spl
skl
spr
str
skr
spj
stj
skj
smj
snj
skw
sp st sk
sm sn
sl sj sw
spl
skl
spr
str
skr
spj
stj
skj
smj
snj
skw
In a 3-segment onset, C1 can only be [s]
C2 can only be a [+stop]
C3 can only be an approximant ([+son –stop])
spl
skl
spr
str
skr
spj
stj
skj
smj
snj
skw
Observation: C2 must be [+stop] only if C1 is filled.
Suppose we change C2 to: ‘C2 is an open slot’
Condition: If C1 is filled (i.e. by [s]), then C2 can only be
a [+stop]
ENGLISH WORD STRESS
In the following words, which syllables are stressed,
and how do the stressed syllables differ phonetically
from the unstressed?
Analysing stress-assignment rules
Example from Spanish:
ha'blar, mu'jer, ver'dad, tempo'ral, capi'tal
speak woman truth temporary capital
'hablo, 'casa, impor'tante, son'risa, presi'dente
speak house important smile president
Generalisation:
In Spanish, stress falls on the _______ syllable of the
word if ______________________________________,
Otherwise, it falls on the __________ syllable.
USEFUL CONCEPTS:
'closed syllable' - one ending in a consonant
'open syllable' - one ending in a vowel
E.g. the last syllables of hablar and verdad are closed,
but the last syllables of hablo and casa are open
Generalisation:
In Spanish, stress falls on the final syllable of the
word if it is a closed syllable; otherwise, stress falls on
the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.
STRESS IN SUFFIXED WORDS IN ENGLISH
DATA SET 1:
-ic
'athlete ->
ath'letic
'system ->
sys'temic
'phoneme -> pho'nemic
'microscope ->micro'scopic
ca'tastrophe ->catas'trophic
-ity
'tranquil ->
tran'quility
'stupid ->
stu'pidity
'fluid ->
flu'idity
'uniform -> uni'formity
senti'mental ->sentimen'tality
GENERALISATION: For words ending in suffixes like
–ic or -ity, the stress falls on:
__________________________________
DATA SET 2:
-ate
'generate
'delegate
com'municate
as'similate
pro'pitiate
-tude
'multitude
'solitude
'attitude
si'militude
ine'xactitude
GENERALISATION: For words ending in suffixes
like -ate or -tude, the stress falls on:
____________________________________
DATA SET 3:
a)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
stem
'suicide
'detriment
'sentiment
'anecdote
'universe
'dialect
stem + al
sui'cidal
detri'mental
senti'mental
anec'dotal
uni'versal
dia'lectal
b)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
stem
'magic
'music
sen'sation
'medicine
'origin
pro'fession
stem + al
'magical
'musical
sen'sational
me'dicinal
o'riginal
pro'fessional
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS:
Heavy syllable -- a syllable with a complex rime,
i.e. containing either (i) a short vowel plus one or
more consonants in the coda (as in bet [bet] and best
[best]), or (ii) a diphthong or long vowel, with or
without a coda (as in bay [bei], bait [beit], bee [bi:],
beast [bi:st]).
Focus on the penultimate syllable in terms of ‘light’ or ‘heavy’:
SET I
SET II
MONOSYLLABIC WORDS IN ENGLISH
A
B
C
D
Generalisation: Only _______ syllables can stand on their
own as words.
STRESS IN SIMPLE WORDS
(i)
A
B
o'bey
tor'ment
po'lite
col'lapse
hu'mane
dis'gust
re'ly
e'xist
ad'mire
at'tract
(ii)
A
o'bey
po'li(t)e
hu'ma(n)e
re'ly
ad'mire
B
tor'men(t)
col'lap(se)
au'gus(t)
ex'is(t)
at'trac(t)
C
'utter
'happy
'angry
'carry
'murder
D
'gallop
'promise
'normal
'exit
'rapid
C
'utter
'happy
'angry
'carry
'murder
D
'gallo(p)
'promi(se)
'norma(l)
'exi(t)
'rapi(d)
OTHER USEFUL CONCEPTS
‘extrametrical’ -- i.e. ignored by (or 'invisible'
to) stress-assignment rules
English Stress Rule (ESR):
‘Stress the final syllable of a word if it is heavy;
otherwise, stress the penultimate syllable.’
Consonant Extrametricality (CE):
‘The final consonant of a word is extrametrical
VERB
in'crease
ex'port
re'cord
sur'vey
sub'ject
re'ject
con'flict
ad'dict
con'test
tor'ment
ac'cent
com'pound
NOUN
'increase
'export
'record
'survey
'subject
'reject
'conflict
'addict
'contest
'torment
'accent
'compound
GENERALISATION: For purposes of stress assignment, the final
syllable of a noun is ________________________________
MORE NOUNS
QUESTION: How do we explain the above stress assignments,
using the concepts we’ve arrived at so far?