VI. SYLLABLE

Though the basic phonological elements are phonemes, human in­tercommunication is actualized in syllables.

The syllable as a unit is difficult to define, though native speakers of a language are usually able to state how many syllables there are in a particular word.

According to J. Kenyon the syllable is one or more speech sounds, forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance, which may be a word, or a commonly recognized subdivision of a word.

The syllable can be a single word: chair /tfea/, a part of a word: English /'in-gliJV, a part of the grammatical form of a word: later /ilei-ta/.

The syllable can be analysed from the acoustic and auditory, ar-ticulatory and functional points of view. The syllable can be viewed in connection with its graphic representation.

Acoustically and auditorily the syllable is characterized by the force of utterance, or accent, pitch of the voice, sonority and length, that is by prosodic features.

Acoustic properties of syllables are studied with the help of intono-graph and spectrograph. Electroacoustic analysis made it possible to formulate some rules of syllable division (see below). Spectrograms of Russian ГС syllabic structures show, that such syllables are char­acterized by some noise in the beginning of the vowel and by a vow­el-like termination of the consonant: ^СГС^Г, it is of great importance for syllable division.

Auditorily the syllable is the smallest unit of perception: the lis­tener identifies the whole of the syllable and only after that the sounds contained.

The articulatory energy which constitutes the syllable results from the combined action of the power, vibrator, resonator and ob-structor mechanisms.

Phonological! у the syllable is regarded and defined in terms of its structural and functional properties.

Syllables in writing are called syllabographs and are closely con­nected with the morphemic structure of words.

A syllable can be formed by a vowel: (V) in English, (Г) in Rus­sian; by a vowel and a consonant: (VC) in English, (ГС) in Russian; by a consonant and a sonorant (CS).

Г, V — types of syllable called uncovered open,

ГС, VC — types of syllable called uncovered closed,

СГС, CVC — types of syllable called covered closed,

СГ, CV — types of syllable called covered open.

G. P. Torsuyev suggests a differentiation of the following types of syllabic structures:

Г, V type: fully open,

СГС, CVC type: fully closed,

СГ, CV type: initially covered,

ГС, VG type: finally covered.

The structure of the English and Russian syllable is similar.

English

Russian

V	err	Г
cvc	pit	crc
cvcc	fact	СГСС
cvccc	lapsed	СГССС
ccvc	plan	ССГС
cccvc	spleen	СССГС
CCVCG	twist	ССГСС
ccvccc	stamps	ССГССС
cccvcc	spleens	СССГСС
cvcccc	texts	СГСССС
cv	dew	СГ
ccv	spy	ccr
cccv	straw	cccr
vc	eat	ГС
vcc	act	ГСС
vccc	asks	ГССС