The Syllable: A Conclusively Defined Phonological Unit?
The Syllable: A Conclusively Defined Phonological Unit?

Summary/Abstract: Definition of the syllable has been approached from several different angles.Various different theories have been proposed, based on respiratory activity, sonority or segmental composition, and more recently it has been suggested by J. C. Wells that the behaviour of allophones at syllable boundaries is a cue to where the boundaries lie. In the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary Wells maximizes the onsets and codas of stressed syllables, but still runs into difficulty with morpheme boundaries. This paper will ask if the syllable can be regarded as a satisfactorily and conclusively defined linguistic unit yet.

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