Syllabic consonants and phonotactics Syllabic consonants
Consonants that stand as the peak of the syllable, and perform the functions of vowels, are called syllabic consonants. For example, in words like sudden and saddle, the consonant [d] is followed by either the consonant [n] or [l] without a vowel intervening. The [n] of sadden and the [l] of saddle constitute the centre of the second, unstressed, syllable and are considered to be syllabic peaks. They typically occur in an unstressed syllable immediately following the alveolar consonants, [t, s, z] as well as [d]. Examples of syllabic consonants
Cattle [kæțɬ] wrestle [resɬ]
Couple [kʌpɬ] knuckle [nʌkɬ]
Panel[pæņɬ] petal [petɬ]
Parcel [pa:șɬ] pedal [pedɬ]
It is not unusual to find two syllabic consonants together. Examples are:
national [næʃņɬ]
literal [litrɬ]
visionary [viʒņri]
veteran [vetrņ] Phonotactics
Phonotactic constraints determine what sounds can be put together to form the different parts of a syllable in a language.
Examples:
English onsets /kl/ is okay: “clean” “clamp”
/pl/ is okay: “play” “plaque”
*/tl/ is not okay: *tlay *tlamp. We don’t often have words that begin with /tl/, /dm/, /rk/, etc. in English.
However, these combinations can occur in the middle or final positions. So, what is phonotactics?
Phonotactics is part of the phonology of a language. Phonotactics restricts the possible sound sequences and syllable structures in a language. Phonotactic constraint refers to any specific restriction To understand phonotactics, one must first understand syllable structure. Permissible language structures
Languages differ in permissible syllable structures. Below are some simplified examples. Hawaiian: V, CV Japanese: V, CV, CVC Korean: V, CV, CVC, VCC, CVCC English: V CV CCV CCCV VC CVC CCVC CCCVC VCC CVCC CCVCC CCCVCC VCCC CVCCC CCVCCC CCCVCCC English consonant clusters sequences
English allows CC and CCC clusters in onsets and codas, but they are highly restricted. English Onset Clusters (simplified) CC stop, fricative + liquid, glide [s] + voiceless stop, nasal CCC [s] + voiceless stop + liquid, glide Resolving constraint violations
In codas, nasals may precede voiceless plosives, but only if they share the same place of articulation. jump [ʤʌmp], stunt [stʌnt], stink [stIɳk] Prohibited sounds sequences may arise for various reasons, including: borrowing from another language, e.g. tsunami [sunami] or [tsunami], from Japanese [tsuinami] Putting affixes, words together sequentially cost + s→*sts next store→*stst Resolving identical constraints
Consider the constraint *sts from some dialects of English.
Dialect A: resolve via deletion ghosts /gəʋst/→[gəʋss]
Dialect B: resolve via insertion ghosts /gəʋst/→[gəʋstəz] or [gəʋstəsəz] Constraints have different scopes in different dialects. e.g. a constraint may apply within a word only, across word boundaries, or both.