As a rule, the modern standard school curriculum of the English language does not provide for some important points in learning, and among them the ability to determine the type of syllable and, accordingly, correctly read the whole word. How to do this?
Syllables in English
Some theoretical aspects of linguistics are not always required by beginners. Perhaps one of the optional skills for those who do not learn English at a professional level is self-creation. Usually this does not present serious difficulties, but in this case it is necessary to know the basic rules, since they are significantly different from those adopted in Russian phonetics.
The general rule is that the number of syllables corresponds to the number of vowels. This means that you do not need to look at the letters, but listen to the pronunciation of the word, because in English there are abundant dumb vowels, diphthongs, etc. In addition, the so-called sonor consonants can also be syllabic, so the word "mild" turns out to be divided like this: mi | ld. In the future, it will become clear why this happens.
The syllable is done from the end of the word: student - stu | dent, money - mo | ney, permission - per | mis | sion.
The consonant, which is located on the border of the two syllables, thus adjoins the next vowel. Double sounds are shared. All this matters if you need to figure out how to pronounce this or that unfamiliar word. Also for this you need to know about closed and open syllables in English.
Impact on reading rules
Types of syllables in English differ from the classification in Russian. Four varieties are distinguished here, while in others, as a rule, only two.
Firstly, it is an open syllable. In English, it ends in a vowel. At the same time, reading rules take effect.
The second type is a closed syllable. It ends with one or more consonants (with the exception of โrโ). In this case, vowels are read briefly.
The third and fourth types of syllables are conditionally open. They end with "r" or "re", the previous vowels are read in a special way, which will be discussed below.
Of course, there are exceptions to all the rules. Closed and open syllables in English are not a guarantee that vowels will be read in one way or another. However, such cases are not so common.
By the way, first of all, for the correct pronunciation of a word, you need to determine the stressed syllable, because then, whether it is open or closed, is of paramount importance. Vowels in the rest, as a rule, are pronounced quite neutral or become completely dumb. But stresses usually cause problems, because English refers to languages โโwith their free arrangement.
Open
This type of syllable is one that ends in a vowel. When analyzing a word visually, it is necessary to take into account the presence of a dumb "e" at the end, since it is it that opens the previous syllable.
In this case, most of the vowels are diphthongs.
The general reading rules in this case will be as follows:
- a [ei] - pale, name;
- e [i:] - to be, she;
- i [ai] - to bite, kite;
- o [ou] - to go, so;
- u [ju] - to use, pupil;
- y [ai] - to type.
But this does not always work, for example, in the word โto comeโ the phonetically โoโ does not correspond to the accepted rules, despite the presence of a dumb โeโ at the end of the word. In this case, it is read on the principle of a closed syllable. What does this principle consist of?
Closed
Syllables of this type, unlike open ones, always end in consonants (except r).
Accordingly, vowels in this case are pronounced briefly and easily.
- a [รฆ] - bad, cat;
- e [e] - to let, pen;
- i [i] - list, to sit;
- o [ษ] - to lock, pot;
- u [ส] - must, sun;
- y [i] - myth.
The closed syllable in the English language is, perhaps, somewhat less common than the open. This is due to the fact that at the end of the word there is often a dumb "e". But the closed and open syllable in the English language, in contrast to Russian, are not the only types. There are two more varieties that are not always considered. But their features are also important to consider when studying the rules of reading vowels.
Conditionally Open
These two types of syllables are sometimes also called half-closed. They end in "r" or "re". In theory, in this case it will be, respectively, closed and open syllables. In English, everything is not so, and vowels, being in front of these letter combinations, acquire a new, more complex sound, before "re" some of them even become diphthongs.
In the first case, if we are talking about syllables ending in r, everything will be like this:
- a [a:] - park, dark;
- e [ษ:] - term, her;
- i [ษ:] - bird;
- o [ษ:] - port, short, world;
- u [ษ:] - to burn;
- y [ษ:] - Myrtle.
In the second, if there is โreโ after the vowels, they will sound differently:
- a [ษษ] - to care, nightmare;
- e [iษ] - here, mere;
- i [aiษ] - fire;
- o [ษ:] - core;
- u [juษ] - cure, sure, pure;
- y [aiษ] - tire.
In addition to the fact that open and closed syllables in the English language, as well as the third and fourth types, affect the reading of certain vowels, there are a huge number of letter combinations that also have a special sound. This knowledge can be obtained both in theory and just remember the transcription of words, meeting with them in practice.
For the simple use of the language in everyday communication or correspondence, you may not know such subtleties as the rules for dividing words and classifying syllables.
The rules for reading vowels have so many exceptions that they almost lose all meaning. That is why closed and open syllables in the English language are more interesting and more useful to linguists than ordinary people.