Linguists distinguish such a thing as syllables. Language learners need to be able to correctly determine their boundaries in words and distinguish them by type. Consider the most basic types of syllables, as well as the rules for division.
Syllables - what are they?
There are different approaches to the definition of this concept. From a phonetic point of view, a syllable is one sound or a group of sounds accompanied by an expiratory push. There are always exactly as many syllables in a word as there are vowels in it. We can say that a syllable is the smallest pronunciation unit.
Syllabic (or syllable-forming sound) is a vowel. The consonant, respectively, is considered non-syllabic.
Types of syllables
Syllables are also classified into open and closed. Closed syllables end in a consonant, while open syllables end in a vowel. In Russian, there is a tendency towards openness of the syllable.
Also, if a syllable begins with a vowel, it is uncovered, and if it starts with a consonant, then it is covered.
Select more syllables according to their acoustic structure:
- ascending, where from a less sonorous (deaf consonant) comes and / or a sonorous consonant, and / or a vowel (pa-pa).
- descending, where, unlike ascending, the syllable begins with a vowel, and then sonorous consonants and / or voiceless (mind) go.
- ascending-descending, where a kind of "slide" is obtained, in which consonants first go according to the degree of sonority, then the top is a vowel sound, and then - "descent" down, starting with the most sonorous consonants (ping-pong).
- even syllables - one vowel, that is, bare and open syllables are even and consist of only one vowel (a).
Stressed and unstressed syllables
A stressed syllable is a syllable whose vowel is stressed, that is, the vowel is in a strong position. Stress does not fall on unstressed syllables.
And unstressed syllables, in turn, are divided into two types in relation to the stressed syllable: stressed and pre-stressed. It is not difficult to guess that the pre-stressed ones stand before the stressed syllable, the stressed ones, respectively, after. They are also divided into pre-stressed / post-stressed syllables of a different order in relation to the stressed one. The first pre-shock or pre-shock is closest to the one being struck, the second in order is behind the first pre-shock and pre-shock, and so on.
Let's take for example the word che-re-do-va-ni-e, where all syllables, it should be noted, are open. The fourth syllable -va- will be stressed, the first pre-stressed - the syllable -do-, the second - -re-, the third - che-. But the first shock will be -ne-, the second - -e.
How to divide a word into syllables?
All words can be divided into syllables. In different languages, division canhappen differently. But how does the division work in Russian? What are the nuances of the rule?
In general, the division follows the general principles:
- How many vowels, so many syllables. If a word has one vowel sound, then this is one syllable, since vowels are syllable-forming. For example, these are the words: cat, whale, that, current, which consist of one syllable.
- Only a vowel can be a syllable. For example, the word "this" is divided into syllables as e-that.
- Open syllables end in vowels, closed syllables end in consonants. Examples of openness: mo-lo-ko, de-le-ni-e, ko-ro-va. Closed syllables are found, as a rule, at the end of a word or at the junction of consonants (com-pot, mole, give). In Russian, as already mentioned, there is a tendency to open the syllable.
- If there is a letter "y" in the word, then it goes to the previous syllable. For example, mine.
- At the junction of two vowels there is a division in the middle, because there cannot be two vowels in one syllable. In this case, it turns out that the first syllable is open, and the second is open (ha-os).
- All sonorants (m, n, l, r) at the junction of consonants before voiceless ones usually "stick" to the sounds preceding them, forming a syllable.
Syllable division theories
Nevertheless, there is no clear framework for what exactly is a syllable and where its boundaries go. The main thing is the presence of a vowel, but the definition of boundaries can occur in different ways. There are several basic theories of syllable division.
- Sonora theory, inwhich is based on the principle of a syllable sonority wave. It was developed by a scientist from Denmark, Otto Jespersen, and for the Russian language, the idea was continued by R. I. Avanesov. He singled out four degrees of sonority, starting with more sonorant ones and ending with non-sonor ones. At the top are vowels, then sonorants go in the second degree, voiced noisy ones in the third degree, and completely deaf consonants in the fourth place. That is, a syllable is a combination of a vowel with less sonorous sounds, up to non-sonorous ones.
- Expiratory theory (expiratory) implies that a syllable is one expiratory push. How many pushes, so many syllables. However, the minus of this theory lies in the uncertainty of the syllable boundary at the junction of consonants. In this theory, you can use a candle to figure out how many syllables (air pushes) are in a word.
- The theory of "muscular tension" carries the idea that the syllable combines levels of maximum and minimum muscular tension (ie, tension of the organs of speech). The syllable boundary will be the sounds of minimal muscular tension.
Now that you know the rules for dividing words into syllables, you won't have any problems wrapping words.
