Syllables are groups of sounds that function together as a unit. Each syllable centers around a single vowel. Every syllable can be broken up into three components: the onset (O), the nucleus (N), and the coda (C). Syllables only require a nucleus. Some notation is as follows:
- σ (sigma): stands for the syllable layer.
- O: stands for onset, containing the consonants before the vowel in the syllable
- R: stands for rhyme, which contains the nucleus and the coda
- N: stands for nucleus, containing the vowel
- C: stands for coda, containing the remaining consonants in the syllable
We can diagram syllables as follows.
One Syllable Words
We provide syllables using the IPA. In English spelling, syllable divisions can be not be made clear. For example, in the word "foxes", the syllable break is pronounced in the "x" between the two sounds [k] and [s]. It does not make sense for us to draw syllables for standard English spelling.
With monosyllabic words, it's as simple as transcribing the word into IPA then dumping each sound into its spot.
- The consonants before the vowel go into the onset.
- The vowel goes into the nucleus.
- The consonants after the vowel go into the coda.
Because we deal with whole words, we connect all of our syllables (in this case only one) to the Wd (word) level to show that we have a complete word. Here is an example for the word "steaks".
And here is another example for the word "strengths".
When words have two or more syllables, there's a question of how to determine where consonants go. Are they pronounced in the coda of a previous syllable, or the onset of a following syllable?
All languages have a tendency for consonants to be pronounced in onsets rather than codas. Each language has its own sets of rules for which consonants can appear together called phonotactics. In the word "informants", we can see phonotactics at play. First we show the diagram then we explain it.
In the second syllable, we ideally want all consonants to be in the onset. However, English words can't start with [nf], so we can't put both in the onset. Therefore, we leave [n] in the coda of the previous syllable and place [f] in the onset of the second.
In the third syllable we see a similar pattern. We want all consonants after the last vowel to be in the onset. However, English words can't start with [rm], so we can't put both in the onset. Therefore, we leave [r] in the coda of the previous syllable and place [m] in the onset of the third.
Since the last consonants in the word [ns] have no onset to join into (no syllable after), we put it in the coda of the final syllable.
For the last example, we show the syllabic structure for "antigravitation", which is quite a long word.
You can see in this example that many syllables lack codas. That's because the sounds after vowels can all be starts of English words, so they want to be in the onsets instead. This is exactly how we pronounce these words.