Closed and open syllables in English: what do they influence?

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

Syllables in English

Some theoretical aspects of linguistics are not always required for beginners. Perhaps, the number of optional skills for those who do not learn English at a professional level, is the syllabus. Usually this does not present serious difficulties, however 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 vowel sounds. This means that you do not have to look at the letters, but listen to the pronunciation of the word, because in English there are a lot of mute vowels, diphthongs, etc. In addition, the so-called sonorous consonants can also be syllabic, so that the word "mild" Is divided thus: mi | ld. In the future it becomes clear why this is happening.

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

The consonant, which is on the border of two syllables, is thus adjacent to the next vowel behind it. Doubled sounds are divided. All this matters if you need to find out how to pronounce one or another unfamiliar word. Also, you need to know about the closed and open syllables in English.

Influence on reading rules

Types of syllables in English differ from the classification in Russian. There are four varieties, while in others, as a rule, only two.

First, it's an open syllable. In English, it ends in a vowel sound. The rules of reading 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 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.

Incidentally, first of all, for the correct pronunciation of the word, it is necessary to determine the stressed syllable, because either it is open or closed, is of paramount importance. Vowels in the rest, as a rule, are pronounced fairly neutrally or at all become dumb. But with accents usually there are problems, because English refers to languages with their free placement.

Open

To this type of syllables are those that end in a vowel. Analyzing the word visually, it is necessary to take into account the presence of the mute "e" at the end, since it opens the previous syllable. In this case, most of the vowels are diphthongs.

The general rules of reading in this case are 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 "to come" phonetically "o" does not comply with the rules, despite the mute "e" at the end of the word. In this case, it is read on 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, the 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;

- y [i] - myth.

Closed syllables in English are, perhaps, somewhat less common than open syllables. This is due to the fact that at the end of the word there is often a mute "e". 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 consider when studying the rules for reading vowels.

Conditionally open

These two types of syllables are sometimes also called semi-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 the vowels, being in front of these 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 [ə:] - term, her;

- i [ə:] - bird;

- o [ɔ:] - port, short, world;

- u [ə:] - to burn;

- y [ə:] - Myrtle.

In the second, if after the vowels is "re", they will sound different:

- a [ɛə] - to care, nightmare;

- e [iə] - here, mere;

- i [aiə] - fire;

- o [ɔ:] - core;

- u [juə] - cure, sure, pure;

- y [aiə] - tyre.

In addition to the fact that open and closed syllables in English, as well as third and fourth types, influence the reading of certain vowels, there is a huge number of letters that also have a special sound. This knowledge can be obtained both in theory and simply memorize the transcription of words, meeting with them in practice.

For simple use of the language in everyday communication or correspondence, you may not even know such subtleties as 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 English are more interesting and useful for linguists than for ordinary people.