1096: Defining Syllables: the MOP and SSP (s.s.w.1) Dec 9, 2017
This post marks the 3rd year of Word Facts', and the start of Syllable and Stress Week (SSW). Thank you for the support
There are two principles that allow people to determine how a word is broken up into syllables, at least generally in English. First, there is the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) which was discussed here last week, and then there is the Maximum Onset Principle (MOP). Simply put, the MOP states that, between vowels, consonants are assigned to be the onset i.e. it is the first part of a syllable along with the vowel it precedes. It is for this reason that it has been found that people will almost certainly divide tatatata... as ta•ta•ta•ta... as opposed to tat•at•at•at.... Nevertheless, there are language-specific constraints on this, which is why syllables can end in consonants, because, according to the SSP, if a phoneme's sonority (how loud it is) falls between what is immediately lower in sonority (possibly the onset: optional) and what is higher in sonority (possibly the nucleus, usually a vowel), or vice versa (meaning the final phoneme is possible a coda: optional) that phoneme will not be part of a new syllable. If that is confusing, there is a graphic from bluelook.net that should hopefully clear up what those peaks and valleys look like in syllables, but also this will be explained further in the next few days.
There are two principles that allow people to determine how a word is broken up into syllables, at least generally in English. First, there is the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) which was discussed here last week, and then there is the Maximum Onset Principle (MOP). Simply put, the MOP states that, between vowels, consonants are assigned to be the onset i.e. it is the first part of a syllable along with the vowel it precedes. It is for this reason that it has been found that people will almost certainly divide tatatata... as ta•ta•ta•ta... as opposed to tat•at•at•at.... Nevertheless, there are language-specific constraints on this, which is why syllables can end in consonants, because, according to the SSP, if a phoneme's sonority (how loud it is) falls between what is immediately lower in sonority (possibly the onset: optional) and what is higher in sonority (possibly the nucleus, usually a vowel), or vice versa (meaning the final phoneme is possible a coda: optional) that phoneme will not be part of a new syllable. If that is confusing, there is a graphic from bluelook.net that should hopefully clear up what those peaks and valleys look like in syllables, but also this will be explained further in the next few days.