영어 음운론 음성학: Syllable Division

"How can we divide on the division? No single rule will tell us what to do without bringing up problems. 
 One of the most widely accepted guideline is what is known as the maximal onsets principle. This principle states that where two syllables are to be divided, any consonants between them should be attached to the right-hand syllable, not the left, as far as possible."(I think this explanation is rather erroneous comparing to the definition of 'the maximal onsets principle' in other websites and pronouncing dictionary.) 
(English Phonetics and Phonology by Peter Roach p. 61)


" What's in a Syllable?

In terms of consonants and vowels, the following words represent the following structures:
tea [tiː] CV
a  [ʌ] V
at [æt] VC
tree [triː] CCV
ask  [æsk/aːsk] VCC
skit [skɪt] CCVC

task [tæsk] CVCC
stamp [stæmp] CCVCC
strap  [stræp] CCCVC
stray  [streɪ] CCCV   (??)
strength [streŋθ] CCCVCC
strengths [streŋθs] CCCVCCC

One fact that one may notice from these structures is that they all contain a vowel. This vowel is known as the nucleus of the syllable. 핵 nucleus(peak 정점)

Another fact is that a syllable may have a consonant or string of consonants before the vowel. These consonants that are before the vowel are called onsets. 두음頭音: 음절의 첫소리. onset
Finally, a syllable may have a consonant or string of consonants after the vowel. These consonants that are after the vowel are called codas. 말음末音:음절의 끝소리 coda
( . . .)

Syllabification

In this section, there will be a discussion on how to separate polysyllabic words into syllables. This is called syllabification.

Let's take a word like banana :

Now, we can look at the word banana in terms of consonants and vowels: CVCVCV.

The first step is to find the nuclei of the syllables in the word. There are three vowels, and since vowels are usually nuclei, there are three nuclei, and thus, three syllables.

Therefore, at this point, we have the following structure:


Now, we have to decide which consonants are onsets, and which consonants are codas.

In working with English, it is usually best to give every syllable an onset, where possible. So, if we give every syllable an onset, we have the following structure


 In the above structure, every segment is syllabified, and thus, we are done.


( . . .)

Maximum Onset Principle
 (a)  (b)



How could both structures be possible in caprice, but not in cutlass?

. . .
So, which is it then? One possible answer is that structure (b) is the correct structure, because it fills up the onset of the second syllable with as much content as is possible, given the restrictions on onset clusters. This is known as the Maximum Onset Principle, which states that as many consonants as possible will be syllabified into the onset.
. . .

Finally, this lesson provided instruction on the syllabification of words in English. The basic process is as follows:

• find a nucleus for each syllable in the word
• give every syllable an onset, and fill up the onset position with as many consonants as are allowed in the syllable structure the maximal onset principle
• associate any remaining consonants to the coda position of the syllable."

(What are syllables?)

"Two or more phonemes (segments) are tautosyllabic (with each other) if they occur in the same syllable."
(Sihler, Andrew L (2000). Language History. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory)

"(a) As far as possible, syllables should not be divided in a way that violates what is known of English syllable structure. The 'Maximal Onsets Principle', which is widely recognised in contemporary phonology, is followed as far as possible. This means that, where possible, syllables should be divided in such a way that as many consonants as possible are assigned to the beginning of the syllable to the right (if one thinks in terms of how they are written in transcription), rather than to the end of the syllable to the left. However, when this would result in a syllable ending with a stressed /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɒ/, or /ʊ/, it is considered that this would constitute a violation of English phonotactics, and the first (or only intervocalic consonant is assigned to the preceding syllable: thus the word 'better' is divided /bet. ə/, whereas 'beater' is divided /'biː.tə/. In the case of unstressed short vowels, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/ and /ɒ/ are also prevented from appearing in syllable-final position: however, unstressed /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are allowed the same "privilege of occurrence" as /ə/ when a consonant begins a following syllable, and may therefore occur in final position in unstressed syllables except pre-pausally. thus in a word such as 'develop', the syllable division is /di'vel.əp/.

(b) Notwithstanding the above, words in compounds should not be re-divided syllabically in a way that does not agree with perceived word boundaries. For example, 'hardware' could in theory be divided /'hɑː.d weəʳ/, but most readers would find this counter-intuitive and would prefer /'hɑːd. weəʳ/. This principle applies to open, closed and hyphenated compounds.

(English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones, edited by Peter Roach, James Hartman&Jane Setter)

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