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5. Functions of Syllable
As a linguistic unit the syllable performs the following functions.
The constitutive function. The syllable is a constituent element of larger units – words, rhythmic group, utterances. Two aspects of this function can be emphasized. On the one hand the syllable is a unit which segmental phonemes are materialized and perform their functions. On the other hand, within a syllable (or a number of syllables) prosodic (or suprasegmental) features of speech are also realized. These are the phenomena of stress, pitch, tempo, etc. Syllables may be stressed and unstressed, long or short, high- or low-pitched, etc. The prosodic characteristics of the syllable depend on its position in an utterance and on its function, i.e. on whether it is the first stressed syllable (the head) of the utterance, the nuclear syllable (the nucleus), the initial or the final unstressed syllable (the pre-head or the tail).
Thus the syllable is a unit which serves to convey both segmental phonemes and prosodic phenomena of speech, thus constituting hierarchically higher units.
In the system of language units the syllable can be placed between the phoneme and the word. The relations between the units can be illustrated in the following diagram.
Being a semantic unit, the word can be regarded at the same time as a phonetic structure within which several substructures may be distinguished: the sound (phonemic) substructure, the syllabic substructure and the accentual substructure.
In forming words and utterances the syllable performs the delimitative function which is inseparable from the constitutive function. Some syllables can occur only word-initially and others only word-finally: thus marking the boundaries between words. For instance, the syllables /dn/, /zl/, /stl/ cannot occur at the beginning of English words, and can only occur at the end or in the middle of words /gɑ:-dn/, /pou-stl/.
The distribution and grouping of phonemes in syllables and words are fixed in each individual language. They are dealt with in the area of phonology which is called “phonotactis”
The distinctive function. The syllable is a unit that serves to differentiate words. It has been mentioned that phonemes exist and function within the syllable. Therefore words are actually differentiated by the syllable as a whole, as one articulatory and perceptible unit. For instance, the words /ri:də/ “reader” and /li:də/ are distinguished not only by /r/ and /l/ phonemes but also by the syllables /ri:/ and /li:/. Such words as /gɑ:dn/ “garden, /gɑ:dz/ “guards”, /bi:tn/ “beaten”, /bi:ts/ beats are distinguished not only by the phonemes /n/ versus /z/ and /n/ versus /s/ but also by their syllables as bisyllabic and monosyllabic words.
V.A. Vassilyev gives the following example where syllabicity alone is responsible for the differentiation of the words:
/laItnIŋ/ lightening (освещение) and /laItnIŋ/ lightening (молния).
V.A. Vassilyev says that the existence of such pairs of words makes it possible to consider syllabicity the only distinctive feature and, therefore, it may be considered a separate phonological unit – the “syllabeme”.
Syllable division (syllabification) is very important too in distinguishing words and utterances.
The distinctive role of syllabification is illustrated by examples like
/naItreIt/ nitrate - /naItreIt/ night-rate, /ə neIm/ a name – /ən eIm/ an aim, /wIloun/ we’ll own – /wI loun/ we loan, /aI skri:m/ I scream – /aIs kri:m/ ice-cream, /ənaIs haus/ a nice house – /ənaIshaus/ an ice house, /aIsɔ:hər aIz/ I saw her eyes – /aI sɔ:hər aIz / I saw her rise.
Due to the distinctive importance of syllable division the syllabic boundary is often regarded as a separate phonological unit – juncture phoneme.
There are two types of juncture: 1) open; 2) close. Open juncture (or open transition, or plus juncture, according to H.A. Gleason) occurs between syllables and may also be called intersyllabic juncture. This juncture is signaled by a new articulatory effort. Thus, in “we’ll own” /wIl+oun/ the open juncture is between /l/ and /ou/ and in “we loan” / wI+loun / it is between /I/ and /l/.
Close juncture occurs between sounds within one syllable, i.e. within one articulatory arc. Therefore the transitions form one sound to another are closer within the syllable than between the syllables. Thus, in “we loan” / wI loun / the close juncture is between /l/ and /ou/, /ou/ and /n/.
This juncture may also be called intrasyllabic juncture.
The latest acoustic investigations of juncture show that the factors determining the presence of a juncture are the duration of the sounds, their intensity and formant transitions. Thus, according to the data obtained by I. Lehiste the initial /n/ in “a nice man” is longer than the final /n/ in “an iceman”. The prejunctural /n/ has falling intensity, while the postjunctural /n/ has rising intensity. Formant transitions of /n/ and /ɑ:/ are different in the contrasted pairs. While the phonetic realization of open juncture is desorbed in approximately the same terms, there is less uniformity in the phonological interpretation of the phenomena. The following interpretations of open juncture appear to be current.
The open juncture is a segmental phoneme.
The open juncture is a suprasegmental phoneme.
The open juncture is a phoneme in its own right – a “juncture phoneme”.
Juncture is a contrastive feature of high-level units but not a phonological unit in its own right.
As a result of a comprehensive experimental investigation of juncture I. Lehiste has come to the conclusion that the status of a phonological unit is attributed to a bounded sequence, (a word, or a group of words), and not to a juncture.
Further investigation of junctures of all kinds between words, utterances and parts of utterances (including pauses) may help to clarify the junctures of the syllable in an utterance and contribute to the solution of the problems of speech segmentations, rhythm and other problems of prosody. The problem of juncture can also be studied from the point of view of interpenetration between the levels of the language – phonology, morphology and syntax, i.e. from the point of view of what phonological, morphological and syntactical units are separated by junctures as phonetic phenomena.
The indemnificatory function of the syllables is conditioned by the bearer’s perception of syllables as entire phonetic units with their concrete allophones and by the perception of the syllabic boundaries. This is why shifting of syllabic boundaries, especially at the junction of words as, for instance, in /mɔ:rouvə/ “more over” instead of /mɔ:r ouvə/ and in /sI-tI/ “city”, /ʃI-lIŋ/ “shilling” instead of /sItI/ and /ʃIlIŋ/ produces a strong phoneme accent in English speech. This should be borne in mind by Russian learners of English.
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