SYLLABLE Syllable is a unit of sound which is bigger than a sound but smaller than word Syllables are usually described as consisting of a centre vowel which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud, before and after this centre What we might call a minimum syllable would be a single vowel in isolation, the worlds “are” /a:/, “err” /3:/ Some syllables have an onset, coda and both onset and coda The structure syllables include onset, coda and peak If the first syllable of the word in question begins with vowel we say that this initial syllable has a zero onset Initial two-consonant clusters are of two sorts in English One sort is composed of /s/ in these clusters is call the pre-initial consonant and the other consonant The /s/ is the pre-initial consonant, the /p/, /t/ and /k/ that follow /s/ in the three example words are the initial consonant and the /l/, /r/ and /w/ are post-initial We find the possibility of up to four consonants at the end of a word If there is no final consonant we say that there is a zero coda On the other hand, there are two sorts of two-consonant final cluster, one being a final consonant preceded by a pre-final consonant and the other a final consonant follow by post-final consonant The final consonant is /p/, /k/, /d/, /f/ Finally, peak is the vowel