Hello, dear friends! Today I will tell you about the types of syllables in English. Some readers will now close the article and say that they do not want to go so deep into learning the language. There's no need to rush. Only at first glance it seems that the English read completely differently from how they write. In fact, there is logic everywhere. Once you know it, you can learn to read with confidence. So let's figure it out.
Why is transcription needed?
Many people no longer teach it at school and you don’t have to memorize these incomprehensible symbols, but there is one secret. It is important to learn division into syllables.
The rule is:
If a stressed vowel is followed by a consonant (except r), then we give it to the next, unstressed one. As in the word stu/dent. When pronouncing, you emphasize u more clearly. The emphasis falls on it. Therefore d goes into the second part. If there are two or more consonants after a stressed word, the first is taken by the stressed part of the word, and the second by the unstressed part (pat/tern).
Do you have any doubts? Open your dictionary. The upper comma in the transcription indicates emphasis.
Open and shut
Now you need to know how to determine the type of syllable. Many of you learned at school, but few will confidently say what an open syllable means. This is the one that ends with a vowel.
Why is the letter r special?
Because she does not obey general rules, but dictates her own. In the third type, it comes after the letter under stress and makes it long. Pay attention to fur (fёёё), fork (fook), serve (syoev). Syllable type 4 is similar to type 3, but after the r there is also the letter e. As in care, mere, more.
Let's put all the information in a table:
Therefore, I recommend subscribing to my blog and getting acquainted with other articles. You will also receive as a gift, completely free of charge, an excellent basic phrasebook in three languages, English, German and French. Its main advantage is that there is Russian transcription, so even without knowing the language, you can easily master colloquial phrases.
A trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables. For children who are just starting to learn English letters, it is very difficult to learn English sounds.
The simulator is used to practice open and closed syllables and is intended for 2nd grade students. According to Biboletova’s educational complex (4th quarter). According to Vereshchagina's teaching materials (end of the second quarter - beginning of the second quarter). According to the Starlight educational complex (end of September). This simulator will not only help you remember vowel letters and sounds, but will also help you distinguish in what position a letter is read in an open or closed syllable.
Aa
cake, Kate, name, plane, plate, snake, take, Jane, sale
hat, cat, bat, fat, Sam, cap, bad, parrot, carrot, rat, ant, many, black, map, can
a black cat, a bad snake, many parrots, a fat rat, a black rat and a fat cat, a cake and a plate, a black bat hat
Take a cat. Take a plate. Take a black rat and a fat cat. Take a map.
Take a cake, Kate. Jane, take a parrot and a carrot. Take a fat cat and a black hat, Sam.
What's your name? How many plates has Jane got? Has Sam got a map?
[əʊ] no, rose, stone, open, home, go, globe
[ͻ] on, not, hot, dog, frog, doll, hop, robot, box, clock
Rose, doll, frog, home, robot, dog, stone, box
No, go, globe, hop, hot, doll, doll, home
go home, a big dog, a big doll, a big box, a small clock, a box and a dog
Go home. A big dog has a big clock. A small frog has a big box.
Open a box. A frog opens a small box. I have at a doll at home.
Have they got a doll at home? - No, they haven’t. They have got a robot at home.
Kite, mice, bike, hi, Mike, nice, fine, like, white, nine
[i] Tim, Bill, pink, kitten, big, little, pig, milk, it, his, with
a little kite, a little cat, a little pig, a little hat, little mice
a nice bike, a nice cat, a nice pet, nice mice
a big kitten, a big pink kitten, a big fat cat, a big plane
I like my bike. I like my cat. I like my big fat cat. I like my nice little pink pig. I am fine.
I like my little nice mice. I like my nice pink kite. I like it.
I like to play with my nice little kitten. Let's play with his big bike.
Ee
see, be, Pete, he, beet, she, bee, keep, we, green, sweet,
Ned, pet, let"s, hen, ten, pen, desk, red, bed, Bet, lemon,
Pete, bed, Ted, let, green, pen, bee
Peg, desk, see, keep, red, hen, beet
Green pen, red desk, Pete and a bee, Ted and his pet,
A black desk, a big red hen on the little black desk
See a red beet. Take a pen. Take a hen. Keep a green pen. See a black desk.
Take a pen, Pete. His pen is bad. His desk is big. Ted, see a big bee.
Let's play with a pet, Pete. What green toys has Peg got?
Computer, pupil, tube, due, student, tulip, music
Up, cup, bus, cut, sun, sunny, plus, puppy, funny
Computer, bus, cup, pupil, plus, student
Up, puppy, tube, student, pupil, sun, cut
A sunny day, a sunny smile, a big bus and a little cup,
A big funny puppy, a funny puppy and a sunny smile
Get up, puppy. Let's listen to the music. Students are funny.
Let's play computer games with the students. They are funny.
My, fly, why, try, cry, type
Funny, puppy, sunny, system, myth, baby
Funny, why, cry, funny, try, fly, system, myth
A big fly, my big fly, a big fat funny fly, a big thin funny puppy
Don't cry. Don't try. Don't fly. Fly my little kite.
Try to cry, my baby. I want you to try to cry. Why do you cry?
Why don't you try to cry? Fly! Fly a kite. Fly my little funny kite.
For the full text of the material on the Trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables, see the downloadable file.
The page contains a fragment.
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 to divide words is taught in elementary school. The hand is raised to the chin, after which the word is pronounced. The number of times your hand touches your chin determines the number of syllables.
Rules for syllable division in English
Depending on the sound the word ends with, open and closed syllables are distinguished. 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 syllability 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 already one vowel forms the 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 syllable division, 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
In an open syllable, the vowel A is pronounced as . Here are examples of words with A in an open syllable: snake - snake (Fig. 2.), lake - lake, plane - plane, plate - plate, name - name.
If the vowel letter A comes before the vowels Y and I, then such combinations AY, AI will be read as. Here are examples of words with such combinations: rain - rain, train - train, tail - tail, wait - wait, sail - sail, May - May, play - play, day - day, way - way. If the vowel letter A is combined with the letters W and L, then the pairs AW and AL are pronounced [ɔː]. Here are examples of such words: ball - ball (Fig. 3.), tall - high, all [ɔːl] - everything, small - small, wall - wall, paw - paw, draw - draw, straw - straw, law - law, flaw - crack.
In a closed syllable, the vowel letter E is read as a short sound [e]. Here are examples of words with E in a closed syllable: pen - pen, red - red, bed - bed, egg - egg, hen - chicken. In an open syllable, the vowel E is pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of words with E in an open syllable: she [ʃiː] - she, he - he, be - to be, Pete - Pete, we - we.
If there are two vowel letters E next to each other in a word, then this combination EE will be read as a long sound. Here are examples of words with this combination: tree - tree, sweet - candy (Fig. 4.), green - green, meet - to meet, bee - bee. 
If the vowel letter E is combined with the letter A, then the pair EA is also pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of such words: read - to read, please - please, mean - to keep in mind, tea - tea, sea - sea.
So, we got acquainted with the rules for reading the vowels A and E in open and closed syllables, as well as in their combinations.
The vowel letter A is read in two ways. In an open syllable it is read as a sound, for example plane - airplane. In a closed syllable, the vowel letter A is read as the sound [æ], for example flat - apartment.
The vowel letter E in a closed syllable is read as the sound [e], for example red - red, and in an open syllable - as a long sound, for example we - we.
References
- Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
- Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
- Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.
- Alleng.ru ().
- Alleng.ru ().
- learnathome.ru ().
Homework
- Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
- For each learned rule for reading the vowels A and E, find two English example words.
- Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.
Closed syllable. In a closed syllable, a stressed vowel is followed by one or more consonants (except r); a vowel in a closed syllable conveys a short sound.
Example of words with open syllable type
- pen - [ pen ] - feather
- cat - [ kæt ] - cat
There are four types of syllables in English, more on that. Types of syllables
Rules for reading vowels in open and closed syllables.
The most common rules for reading English vowels are the rules for reading them in four syllable types.
The vowels i and y are, as it were, duplicating each other (in the sense of the rules for reading them). The letter y is found mainly at the end of words, and the letter i is found in the middle of words and almost never at the end.
1 Alphabetical reading, i.e. The pronunciation corresponding to the name of the letter in the alphabet has vowels only in the second type of syllable, which is also called open, since it ends with a vowel.
2 A syllable becomes closed if a vowel is followed by one or more consonants.
3 In polysyllabic words, according to the rules of English syllable division, one consonant, being on the border of syllables between the readable vowels, goes to the next syllable. For example, in the word lad [ læd ] guy, the consonant d refers to the first and only syllable, “closing” it. In the word lady [ ˈleɪdi] Lady the same consonant belongs to the second syllable, while the first remains open.
4 If there are two or more consonants at the boundary of syllables, then at least one of them necessarily goes to the previous syllable, making it closed: splendid [ ˈsplɛndɪd ] magnificent, luxurious.
This also applies to cases where combinations of consonants produce only one sound: funny [ ˈfʌni ] funny, amusing ticket [ ˈtɪkɪt ] ticket, coupon
The syllable boundary then passes directly along this sound. The preceding syllable becomes closed, although the sound itself belongs to the following syllable.
5 The letter x conveying two sounds is considered as two consonants boxer [ ˈbɒksə ] boxer
6 The final silent vowel e serves to indicate the openness of syllables ending with the consonants made [ ˈmeɪd ] made . The letter e at the end of a word is read only when it is the only vowel: be [ bi] be .
7 Sound [ (j) u: ] after sibilants, consonants [ r] and combinations of consonants ending in [ l ], pronounced [ u: ]
- rule [ ruːl ] rule, rule, power
- blue [ bluː ] blue, light blue
- shoot [ ʃuːt ] take off, shoot.
In other cases, [ juː ]
- few [ fjuː ] little, a little
- use [ ˈjuːs ] benefit, use, application
In American English the sound [ juː ] occurs much less frequently than in British, which in the following transcriptions is designated as [ (j) u: ].
8 Syllables closed with a consonant r or letter combinations r + consonant are distinguished into a separate, third type of syllable, with special reading rules. In disyllabic words with several consonants starting with r at the boundary of syllables, r goes to the preceding syllable, the rest to the subsequent one (including cases of rr):
- [German] ˈdʒəːmən ] German
- porridge [ ˈpɒrɪdʒ ] porridge .
9 Finally, if immediately after r, which closes the syllable, there is again a vowel, an open syllable of the fourth type is formed. If one letter r stands on the syllable boundary in two-syllable words, then according to the general rule of syllabification it goes to the subsequent syllable, but at the same time it is an indicator of reading the preceding vowel according to the rules of syllables of the fourth type:
staring [ ˈsteərɪŋ ] bright .
10 The rules for reading open syllables of types 2 and 4 have quite a few exceptions regarding polysyllabic words in which the vowels in the indicated syllables are read according to the rules of closed syllables.
11 The consonant r after vowels in syllables of the third and fourth type is not readable in British English. However, if the next word begins with a vowel, the final silent -r or -re ceases to be silent:
to take care of [ təˈ teɪk ker əv ] take care . In the American version, the consonant r is always pronounced.
12 The vowels e, i, y and u in syllables of the third type produce the same sound [ ə: ] , and their reading in syllables of the fourth type is easily obtained from the alphabetic by adding the sound [ ə ] .
13 The vowel o in syllables of the third and fourth types is read the same [ ɔː ]
14 Letter combinations -er -re at the end of words that produce the same vowel sound [ ə ] , are considered as the vowel opening the previous syllable: metre [ ˈmiːtə ] meter The letter combination -le at the end of words has a similar property: table [ ˈteɪbl] table . Sonorant consonant [ l ]. similar in sound characteristics to vowels, acts in such cases as a syllabic vowel.
