Closed sound in English. Types of syllables in English in a nutshell

English system vowels seems very confusing at first glance. Of course, there are only 6 letters in the alphabet, but 20 sounds! But everything obeys certain rules that are not so difficult to understand. The whole secret is in the syllables into which each word is divided.

It is impossible to learn to read without knowing the basics of syllabification, which is the number of vowels in a word. So, for example, a syllable is considered: a-tom, i-tem. Letter l+e and r+e, where “e” is not pronounced – also separate part words: ta-ble, ti-tle.

Types of syllables in English language are divided into stressed and unstressed.

Drums are formed into specific groups:

1st. Open

First of all, mentally divide the word into syllables, then look at which letter it ends with:

- a vowel at the end indicates an open syllable, which means it is pronounced as in the alphabet (“a” - hey, “o” - oh): see, go, he.

- if the word ends with “e”, it is called silent e, then the syllable is also open: pale, sake, like.

2nd. Closed

Almost all English syllables ending in a consonant can be classified as closed (the exception is the letter “r”): bag, fun, plan.

3rd. Syllable with letter “r”

If after a stressed vowel there is an “r”, which is not pronounced, then the vowel becomes long: firm, sport, car.

4th. Syllable with letter “r” + “e”

The letter “e” is silent, it is not pronounced, just like “r”. It is these letter combinations that are called diphthongs and triphthongs: parents, fire, pure.

Each vowel is pronounced differently depending on whether the syllable is open or closed. All of them must be learned by heart and practiced through various phonetic exercises.

1st: Aa – – correspond to the Russian “ey”, Ee – – similar to the extended Russian “i”, Yy – – to “ai”, Ii – – “ay”, Uu – – to the extended “yu”, Oo – – pronounced like “ OU" .

Aa – make, Ee – we, Ii – time, Yy – type, Uu – tube, Oo – note.

2nd: Aa – [æ] – average of the sound of Russian letters “e and a”, Ee – [e] – “e”, Yy – [i] – “and”, Ii – [i] – “and”, –Uu – [ʌ] – “a”, Oo – [ɔ] – reads like the Russian “o”.

Aa - cat, Ee - bed, Ii - sit, Yy - system, Uu - cup, Oo - not.

3rd: Aa – – correspond to the extended Russian “a”, Ee – [e] – “e”, Yy – [ə:] resembles something cross between Russian “e and o”, a little “ё” sound, Ii – [ə: ] – a mixture of “e and o”, a little from the sound “e”, Uu – [ə:] – “e and o”, Oo – [ɔ:] – extended “o”.

Aa – car, Eee – her, Ii – girl, uu – cure, Oo – more.

4th:: Aa – [ɛə] – sounds like Russian “ea”, Ee – – “ie”, Yy – – “aya”, Ii – – “aya”, Uu – – “yue”, Oo – [ɔ :] – long “o”.

Aa – share, Ee – here, Ii – fire, Yy – tyrant, Oo – more.

Another type of syllable in English is without stressed syllable.

From the name it is clear that this is a syllable that is not stressed. Without stress, English vowels are read especially. So let's see:

Aa, Oo, Uu– read as sound [ə]: a gain, c o ntrol, diffic u lt.
Ee, Ii, Yy- read as sound [i]: b e come, d e cide, cit y.

But:
- e+n+ consonant = [ə] student
- e+ l, n at the end = [-] (disappears, not pronounced) seven
- i+ final l = [-] (disappears, not pronounced) pupil
- o + final n = [-] (disappears, not pronounced): lesson

A lot of? Yes? Training and more training. Gradually, you will easily notice open and closed syllables and develop phonetic intuition.

You will come across such words in almost any English textbook. What syllables are is more or less clear. Why are they open and closed? And why do you need to know this at all?

Open syllables end with a vowel (for example, ma-ma). Closed , respectively, to a consonant (for example, briefcase). To read Russian, it doesn’t matter what type of syllable it is. But in English this will determine how to read the word correctly.

So here it is. Percussion vowel reads in an open syllable Also, what is the name of in alphabet ( attention: not any vowel, but only stressed!). Except for the letter Yy (wow), which reads simply (ouch).

Happens three open syllable options:

1)C G SG - a stressed vowel is separated from the next vowel in a word by only one consonant. It does not matter whether there are any further consonants. For example:

i=ai l i ke-[l aI k ] ( like - like it)

a=hey K a te[k eI t ] (Kate)

u =yu p u pil[p ju pl] (puple - student)

By the way: letter Her (AND) at the end of the word is not readable if there are other vowels besides it.

2) C G- the only vowel at the end of a word. For example:

i =аyh i[ h aI ] (hi - hi)

e = and: h e[ h J ] (hee - he)

y =ai m y[ m aI ] (May is mine)

3) C G G - two vowels stand next to each other. Then the first (stressed) vowel is in an open syllable, and the second is not readable at all. For example:

o= ou c o at ( cote - coat)

e = и: s e e[s J ] (si - see)

a= hey p a int ( paint - dye)

IN closed syllable (that is, one that ends with a consonant - one (and there is no vowel immediately after it) or several at once)vowels are read like this :

That is, each letter has its own sound, except for letters II- Ayi Yy- Wy, who read the same- (And).

For example:

What happens?

1. 1) There are syllables open(end with a vowel or immediately after them there is a vowel) and closed(ends with a consonant).

2. 2) B open we read the stressed vowel in a syllable like this: what is it called in the alphabet. IN closed vowels in a syllable indicate brief sounds.

3. 3) Letters II-Ay and Yy-Way read the same: in an open syllable - (ai), in a closed syllable - (i).

:) If it is not clearer, please ask questions!

As a rule, modern standard school program English does not provide some important points in learning, and among them the ability to determine the type of syllable and, accordingly, correctly read the entire word. How to do this?

Syllables in English

Some theoretical aspects of linguistics are not always required for beginners. Perhaps among the optional skills for those who do not study English in professional level, is a syllable division. Usually this does not present serious difficulties, but in this case it is necessary to know the basic rules, since they differ significantly from those accepted in Russian phonetics.

The general rule is that the number of syllables corresponds to the number of vowel sounds. This means that you don’t need to look at the letters, but listen to the pronunciation of the word, since the English language contains an abundance of silent vowels, diphthongs, etc. In addition, so-called sonorant consonants can also be syllabic, so the word “mild” will turn out to be divided this way: mi|ld. In the future it will become clear why this happens.

The syllable division is made from the end of the word: student - stu|dent, money - mo|ney, permission - per|mis|sion.

A consonant that is on the boundary of two syllables is thus adjacent to the vowel that follows it. Doubled sounds are divided. All this matters if you need to figure out how to pronounce a particular unfamiliar word. Also, for this you need to know about closed and open syllables in English.

Impact on reading rules

The types of syllables in English differ from the classification in Russian. Here there are four varieties, while in others, as a rule, there are only two.

Firstly, it is an open syllable. In English it ends in At this point, the reading rules come into play.

The second type is a closed syllable. It ends with one or more consonants (except for "r"). In this case, the vowels are read briefly.

The third and fourth types of syllables are conditionally open. They end in “r” or “re”; the preceding vowels are read in a special way, which will be discussed below.

Of course, there are exceptions to all rules. Closed and open syllables in English do not guarantee that the vowels will be read one way or another. However, such cases do not occur very often.

By the way, first of all, you need to determine the stressed syllable for a word, because whether it is open or closed is of paramount importance. Vowels in the rest, as a rule, are pronounced quite neutrally or become completely mute. But problems usually arise with accents, because English is a freely placed language.

Open

This type of syllables includes those that end in a vowel. When analyzing a word visually, it is imperative to take into account the presence of a silent “e” at the end, since it is this that opens the previous syllable.

In this case most of vowels are diphthongs.

The general reading rules in this case will be as follows:

A - pale, name;

E - to be, she;

I - to bite, kite;

O - to go, so;

U - to use, pupil;

Y - to type.

But this does not always work, for example, in the word “to come” phonetically “o” does not correspond accepted rules, despite the presence of a silent "e" at the end of the word. In this case, it is read according to the principle of a closed syllable. What is this principle?

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 [æ] - bad, cat;

E [e] - to let, pen;

I [i] - list, to sit;

O [ɔ] - to lock, pot;

U [ʌ] - must, sun;

A closed syllable in English is perhaps somewhat less common than an open one. This happens precisely due to the fact that there is often a silent “e” at the end of the word. But closed and open syllables in English, unlike Russian, are not the only types. There are two more varieties that are not always considered. But their features are also important to take into account 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 these will be closed and open syllables, respectively. In English, everything is different, 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're talking about about syllables ending in r, everything will be like this:

A - park, dark;

E [ə:] - term, her;

I [ə:] - bird;

O [ɔ:] - port, short, world;

U [ə:] - to burn;

Y [ə:] - Myrtle.

In the second, if there is a “re” after the vowels, they will sound differently:

A [ɛə] - to care, nightmare;

E - here, here;

I - fire;

O [ɔ:] - core;

U - cure, sure, pure;

Y - tire.

In addition to the fact that open and closed syllables in English, 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 simply by memorizing the transcription of words when encountering them in practice.

To simply use the language in everyday communication or correspondence, you may not even know such subtleties as the rules for dividing words and the classification of syllables.

The rules for reading vowels have so many exceptions that they almost lose all meaning. That is why closed and open syllables in English are more interesting and useful to linguists than to ordinary people.

Closed syllable

Dictionary-reference book of linguistic terms. Ed. 2nd. - M.: Enlightenment. Rosenthal D. E., Telenkova M. A.. 1976 .

See what a “closed syllable” is in other dictionaries:

SYLLABLE, syllable, plural. syllables, syllables, husband. 1. A sound or combination of sounds in a word, pronounced with one exhalation (ling.). Open syllable (ending in a vowel). Closed syllable (ending with a consonant). Divide words into syllables. 2 units only Style,… … Dictionary Ushakova

I. 1) Physiologically (from the educational point of view), a sound or several sounds are pronounced with one impulse of exhaled air. 2) Acoustically (from the sonority side), a segment of speech in which one sound stands out the most... ... Dictionary of linguistic terms

syllable- I a; pl. syllables/gi, o/v; m. see also. by syllables, syllabic Sound or combination of sounds in a word, pronounced with one impulse of exhaled air. Divide words into syllables. The emphasis is on the last syllable. Closed syllable. (ending in a consonant) ... Dictionary of many expressions

1. SYLLABLE, a; pl. syllables, ov; m. A sound or combination of sounds in a word, pronounced with one impulse of exhaled air. Divide words into syllables. The emphasis is on the last syllable. Closed village (ending in a consonant). Open s. (ending with... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

SYLLABLE, a, plural. and, ov, husband. A sound or combination of sounds produced by a single impulse of exhaled air. Divide words into syllables. Read syllable by syllable. Shock s. Open s. (ending in a vowel sound). Closed village (ending in a consonant).… … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

The minimum pronunciation unit of speech, consisting of one or more sounds that form a close phonetic unity. An open syllable ends with a vowel, a closed consonant ends with sounds... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

SYLLABLE 1, a, plural. and, ov, m. a sound or combination of sounds pronounced by one impulse of exhaled air. Divide words into syllables. Read syllable by syllable. Shock s. Open s. (ending in a vowel sound). Closed village (ending in a consonant).… … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

The pronunciation of words in any language is largely determined by the norms of syllability. Having understood the basic provisions, you will not only learn the rules of competent hyphenation, but also begin to better understand the language.

The practical necessity of syllable division

A syllable is a phonetic-phonological unit. Simply put, it stands out only during pronunciation, but does not play any role in semantic word formation. Therefore, this unit is called pronunciation.

The easiest way for Russian speakers to understand the rules for dividing words in English is by analogy. The fact is that the norms for highlighting syllables in both languages ​​are similar. The main similarity of syllabization is the leading role of vowels; they are called syllable-forming vowels.

A simple way of dividing words is told in primary school. The hand is raised to the chin, after which the word is pronounced. The number of times the hand touches the chin determines the number of syllables.

Rules for syllable division in English

Depending on the sound that the word ends with, they are distinguished open syllables and closed. Open ones always end in vowels. In addition, when a syllable is formed with a long stressed vowel or diphthong, it will also be open.

Closed syllables always end in a consonant. If the syllable is formed by a short vowel, it will also be closed.

The main feature of syllable division is the need to divide the word not from the beginning, but from the end. The rules of English syllables become more clear when studying specific examples.

1. As a rule, the number of syllables depends on the vowels used: po-ta-to.

2. The presence of one vowel already forms a syllable: a-bo-ut.

3. Two consonants at the syllable boundary are the basis for division into parts: po-et.

4. A word that has several vowels formed by a diphthong, i.e. one sound, has only one syllable: like, it cannot be divided into parts.

5. The appearance of a consonant at the border of syllable separation leads to its separation into the second syllable: i-ma-gine; if several consonants appear at the junction, then the first one is assigned to one syllable, and the rest to another: ab-sent.

6. Syllables are formed by the combination –er, located after w: flow-er.

7. The appearance of the letter l at the boundary of syllables refers it to the next syllable along with the adjacent consonant: ta-ble.

8. Combinations of consonants ld and nd draw the boundary of the syllable before them: mi-ld, ki-nd.

Syllability and its role:

1. Standards for correct transfer. It is thanks to knowledge of the provisions of syllable division that you can correctly divide words into parts that need to be highlighted in writing when transferred between lines.

2. Criteria for dividing a word into components. In the English language there is no single standard for syllabification, so morphological, phonetic or orthographic principles of division can be used.

3. Language development. The ongoing processes of correlation of syllabic morphemes set new parameters for the division of words.

We have outlined the basic rules for syllable division in the English language. In general, they are quite simple and do not pose any particular difficulties to master. Although, everyone who strives to improve their language and write correctly needs to not only learn them, but also understand them.

A short and clear course on syllabification