Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T19:01:57.916Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Syllable Structure

from Part 1 - Prosody and Phonology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Alexei Kochetov
Edited by
Danko Šipka  and
Wayles Browne
Danko Šipka
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Wayles Browne
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of Slavic syllable structure from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. It begins by introducing some general phonological background on the syllable and reviewing key concepts, such as syllabification and sonority. The discussion further focuses on specific aspects of Slavic syllable structure: inventories of syllable-initial and syllable-final consonants and consonant clusters, and the composition of syllable peaks (vowels and syllabic consonants). This is done by situating patterns characteristic of Slavic in the context of cross-linguistic typology of syllable structure, as well as by highlighting common historical sources and more recently developed differences among individual Slavic languages. The chapter concludes with a short review of recent experimental and corpus work on Slavic syllable structure.

Keywords

syllableonsetcodanucleusclusterssyllabification
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics , pp. 64 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berent, I., Steriade, D., Lennertz, T., & Vaknin, V. (2007). What we know about what we have never heard: Evidence from perceptual illusions. Cognition, 104, 591–630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bethin, C. Y. (2011). Polish syllable structure. In van Oostendorp, M., Ewen, C., Hume, E., & Rice, K. D. (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Phonology, Vol. 5, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 2609–2630.Google Scholar
Bojadžiev, T., Georgieva, E., Penčev, J., Stankov, V., & Tilkov, D. (1998). Gramatika na săvremennija bălgarski knižoven ezik. Fonetika, Sofia: Abagar.Google Scholar
Browne, W. (1993). Serbo-Croat. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 306–387.Google Scholar
Burlyka, I. R. & Padlužny, A. І. (1989). Fanetyka belaruskaj litaraturnaj movy, Minsk.Google Scholar
Carlton, T. R. (1991). Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages, Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Chociej, J. (2019). Exceptional Faithfulness and Exceptional Alternation: A Case Study of Polish Vowel-Zero Alternations as Deletion and Epenthesis. PhD dissertation, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Clements, G. N. (1990). The role of the sonority cycle in core syllabification. In Kingston, J. & Beckman, M. E., eds., Papers in Laboratory Phonology I: Between the Grammar and Physics of Speech, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 283–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds. (1993). The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cyran, E. & Gussmann, E.. (1999). Consonantal clusters and governing relations: Polish initial consonant sequences. In van der Hulst, H. & Ritter, N. A., eds., The Syllable: Views and Facts, Berlin & New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 219–247.Google Scholar
Davidson, L. (2006). Phonology, phonetics, or frequency: Influences on the production of non-native sequences. Journal of Phonetics, 34, 104–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, L. & Shaw, J. A.. (2012). Sources of illusion in consonant cluster perception. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 234–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derksen, R. (2008). Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden & Boston, MA: Brill.Google Scholar
Easterday, S. (2019). Highly Complex Syllable Structure: A Typological and Diachronic Study [Studies in Laboratory Phonology 9], Berlin: Language Science Press, https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/249.Google Scholar
Fortson, B. W. IV (2011). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. Vol. 30, London: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Friedman, V. A. (1993). Macedonian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 249–305.Google Scholar
Gordon, M. K. (2016). Phonological Typology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouskova, M. & Becker, M. (2013). Russian yer alternations are governed by the grammar. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 31, 735–765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzer, G. (2007). Historische Grammatik des Kroatischen. Einleitung und Lautgeschichte der Standardsprache, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Hooper, J. B. (1976). An Introduction to Natural Generative Phonology, New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Iskarous, K. & Kavitskaya, D. (2018). Sound change and the structure of synchronic variability: Phonetic and phonological factors in Slavic palatalization. Language, 94, 43–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarosz, G., Calamaro, S., & Zentz, J. (2017). Input frequency and the acquisition of syllable structure in Polish. Language Acquisition, 24, 361–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabasanov, St. (1963). Star i nov nazalizǎm v neproučen dosega bǎlgarski govor. Slavistični studii, 173–184.Google Scholar
Kahn, D. (1976). Syllable-Based Generalizations in English Phonology, Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.Google Scholar
König, E. & Van der Auwera, J., eds. (1994). The Germanic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kochetov, A. (2002). Production, Perception, and Emergent Phonotactic Patterns: A Case of Contrastive Palatalization, London & New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kochetov, A. (2006). Syllable position effects and gestural organization: Articulatory evidence from Russian. In Goldstein, L., Whalen, D., & Best, C., eds., Papers in Laboratory Phonology VIII [Phonology and Phonetics Series 4–2], Berlin & New York, NY: Mouton, pp. 565–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kučera, H. & Monroe, G. K. (1968). A Comparative Quantitative Phonology of Russian, Czech, and German, No. 4, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Lehmann, C. (2005). Latin syllable structure in typological perspective. In Calboli, G., ed., Latina lingua! Proceedings of the Twelfth International Colloquium on Latin Linguistics (Bologna, 9–14 June 2003), 2 vols. [Papers on Grammar, 9, 1], Rome: Herder, pp. 127–147.Google Scholar
Maddieson, I. (2013). Syllable structure. In Dryer, M. S. & Haspelmath, M., eds., The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, http://wals.info/chapter/12.Google Scholar
Mayo, P. (1993). Belorussian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 887–946.Google Scholar
Murray, R. W. & Vennemann, T.. (1983). Sound change and syllable structure in Germanic phonology. Language, 59, 514–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orzechowska, P. & Wiese, R.. (2015). Preferences and variation in word-initial phonotactics: A multi-dimensional evaluation of German and Polish. Folia Linguistica, 49, 439–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, S. (2011). Sonority. In van Oostendorp, M., Ewen, C. J., Hume, E., & Rice, K., eds., The Blackwell Companion to Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 1160–1184.Google Scholar
Pouplier, M. & Beňuš, Š. (2011). On the phonetic status of syllabic consonants: Evidence from Slovak. Journal of Laboratory Phonology, 2, 243–273.Google Scholar
Pouplier, M., Marin, S., Hoole, P., & Kochetov, A. (2017). Speech rate effects in Russian onset clusters are modulated by frequency, but not auditory cue robustness. Journal of Phonetics, 64, 108–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. & Booij, G. E. (1990). Edge of constituent effects in Polish. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 8, 427–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawicka, I. (1995). Gramatyka współczesna języka polskiego. Fonetyka i fonologia, Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN.Google Scholar
Scheer, T. (2004). A Lateral Theory of Phonology. Vol. 1: What Is CVCV, and Why Should It Be?, Berlin & New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheer, T. (2007). Distributional gaps in Slavic initial clusters are accidental. In Compton, R., Goledzinowska, M., & Savchenko, U., eds., Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics 15. The Toronto Meeting, 2006, Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Slavic Publications, pp. 12–14.Google Scholar
Shevelov, G. Y. (1964). A Prehistory of Slavic, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.Google Scholar
Shevelov, G. Y. (1993). Ukrainian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 947–998.Google Scholar
Short, D. (1993a). Czech. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 455–532.Google Scholar
Short, D. (1993b). Slovak. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 533–592.Google Scholar
Škarić, I. (2007). Fonetika hrvatskoga književnoga jezika. Velika Hrvatska Gramatika, Knjiga prva, Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus.Google Scholar
Srebot-Rejec, T. (1975). Začetni in končni soglasniški sklopi v slovenskem knjižnem jeziku. Slavistična revija, 23(3–4), 289–320.Google Scholar
Starosta, M. (1999). Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik/Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Budyšin/Bautzen: Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina/Domowina-Verlag, www.niedersorbisch.de/ndw/.Google Scholar
Stone, G. (1993). Sorbian (Upper and Lower). In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 759–794.Google Scholar
Surdučki, M. I. (1964). The distribution of Serbo-Croatian consonants. The Slavic and East European Journal, 8, 159–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sussex, R. & Cubberley, P. (2006). The Slavic Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timberlake, A. (2004). A Reference Grammar of Russian, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tolstaja, S. M. (1968). Fonologičeskoe rasstojanie i sočetaemost’ soglasnyx v slavjanskix jazykax. Voprosy jazykoznanija, 3, 66–81.Google Scholar
Townsend, C. E. & Janda, L. A. (1996). Common and Comparative Slavic: Phonology and Inflection: With Special Attention to Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian, Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Vidoeski, B. (1981). Visoka (Ossa; OLA 112). In Ivić, P., ed., Fonološki opisi srpskohrvatskih/hrvatskosrpskih, slovenačkih i makedonskih govora obuhvaćenih Opšteslovenskim lingvističkim atlasom, Sarajevo, pp. 801–810.Google Scholar
Zec, D. (2007). The syllable. In de Lacy, P., ed., The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 161–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×