1100: Syllable Structures (s.s.w.5) Dec 13, 2017

So far in the Word Facts series, Syllable and Stress Week—the focus has mostly been on English. While English syllables are as interesting as any other perhaps, the rules for them are not universal. While English has, for instance, a limit (though not terribly strict) of how many consonants can cluster as a single onset—practically, it can have three, such as in 'spree' [spɹi]—other languages like certain Semitic or Slavic ones can have whole words composed of only consonants, including in the famous Czech tongue-twister 'strč prst skrz krk' ('stick a finger through the throat'). On the other hand, some languages such as polynesian languages like Hawai'ian can't have consonant clusters whatsoever to the point that syllables can't end in consonants because that could result in two consonants of separate syllables next to each other. Therefore, there are four types of syllables in Hawai'ian: V (vowel), VV, CV, (consonant-vowel), and CVV; this is called a 'null coda' or more generally, an 'open syllable'.

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