In an open syllable, the vowel A is pronounced as . Here are examples of words with A in an open syllable: snake - snake (Fig. 2.), lake - lake, plane - plane, plate - plate, name - name.
If the vowel letter A comes before the vowels Y and I, then such combinations AY, AI will be read as. Here are examples of words with such combinations: rain - rain, train - train, tail - tail, wait - wait, sail - sail, May - May, play - play, day - day, way - way. If the vowel letter A is combined with the letters W and L, then the pairs AW and AL are pronounced [ɔː]. Here are examples of such words: ball - ball (Fig. 3.), tall - high, all [ɔːl] - everything, small - small, wall - wall, paw - paw, draw - draw, straw - straw, law - law, flaw - crack.
In a closed syllable, the vowel letter E is read as a short sound [e]. Here are examples of words with E in a closed syllable: pen - pen, red - red, bed - bed, egg - egg, hen - chicken. In an open syllable, the vowel E is pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of words with E in an open syllable: she [ʃiː] - she, he - he, be - to be, Pete - Pete, we - we.
If there are two vowel letters E next to each other in a word, then this combination EE will be read as a long sound. Here are examples of words with this combination: tree - tree, sweet - candy (Fig. 4.), green - green, meet - to meet, bee - bee. 
If the vowel letter E is combined with the letter A, then the pair EA is also pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of such words: read - to read, please - please, mean - to keep in mind, tea - tea, sea - sea.
So, we got acquainted with the rules for reading the vowels A and E in open and closed syllables, as well as in their combinations.
The vowel letter A is read in two ways. In an open syllable it is read as a sound, for example plane - airplane. In a closed syllable, the vowel letter A is read as the sound [æ], for example flat - apartment.
The vowel letter E in a closed syllable is read as the sound [e], for example red - red, and in an open syllable - as a long sound, for example we - we.
Bibliography
- Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
- Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
- Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.
- Alleng.ru ().
- Alleng.ru ().
- learnathome.ru ().
Homework
- Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
- For each learned rule for reading the vowels A and E, find two English example words.
- Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.
As a rule, modern standard school program The English language does not provide for some important aspects in learning, and among them is the ability to determine the type of syllable and, accordingly, correctly read the entire word. How to do this?
Syllables in English
Some theoretical aspects linguistics is not always required for beginners. Perhaps among the optional skills for those who do not study English in professional level, is a syllable division. Usually this does not present serious difficulties, but in in this case it is necessary to know the basic rules, since they differ significantly from those accepted in Russian phonetics.
The general rule is that the number of syllables corresponds to the number of vowel sounds. This means that you don’t need to look at the letters, but listen to the pronunciation of the word, because English language silent vowels, diphthongs, etc. are present in abundance. In addition, so-called sonorant consonants can also form syllabics, so the word “mild” will be divided in this way: mi|ld. In the future it will become clear why this happens.
The syllable division is made from the end of the word: student - stu|dent, money - mo|ney, permission - per|mis|sion.
A consonant that is on the boundary of two syllables is thus adjacent to the vowel that follows it. Doubled sounds are divided. All this matters if you need to figure out how to pronounce a particular unfamiliar word. Also, for this you need to know about closed and open syllables in English.
Impact on reading rules
The types of syllables in English differ from the classification in Russian. Here there are four varieties, while in others, as a rule, there are only two.
Firstly, it is an open syllable. In English it ends in At this point, the reading rules 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 rules. Closed and open syllables in English do not guarantee that the vowels will be read one way or another. However, such cases do not occur very often.
By the way, first of all, you need to determine the stressed syllable for a word, because whether it is open or closed is of paramount importance. Vowels in the rest, as a rule, are pronounced quite neutrally or become completely mute. But problems usually arise with accents, because English is a freely placed language.
Open
This type of syllables includes those that end in a vowel. When analyzing a word visually, it is imperative to take into account the presence of a silent “e” at the end, since it is this that opens the previous syllable.
In this case, most of the vowels are diphthongs.
The general reading rules in this case will be as follows:
A - pale, name;
E - to be, she;
I - to bite, kite;
O - to go, so;
U - to use, pupil;
Y - to type.
But this does not always work, for example, in the word “to come” the phonetically “o” does not correspond to the accepted rules, despite the presence of a silent “e” at the end of the word. In this case, it is read according to 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, 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;
A closed syllable in English is perhaps somewhat less common than an open one. This happens precisely due to the fact that there is often a silent “e” at the end of the word. 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 take into account when studying the rules of reading vowels.
Conditionally open
These two types of syllables are sometimes also called half-closed. They end in "r" or "re". In theory, in this case these will be closed and open syllables, respectively. In English, everything is different, and vowels, being in front of these letter 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 - 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 there is a “re” after the vowels, they will sound differently:
A [ɛə] - to care, nightmare;
E - here, here;
I - fire;
O [ɔ:] - core;
U - cure, sure, pure;
Y - tire.
In addition to the fact that open and closed syllables in English, as well as the third and fourth types affect the reading of certain vowels, there are a huge number of letter combinations that also have a special sound. This knowledge can be obtained both in theory and simply by memorizing the transcription of words by encountering them in practice.
For easy to use language in everyday communication or correspondence, you may not know such subtleties as the rules for dividing words and the classification of 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 to linguists than to ordinary people.
A trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables. For children who are just starting to learn English letters, it is very difficult to learn English sounds.
The simulator is used to practice open and closed syllables and is intended for 2nd grade students. According to Biboletova’s educational complex (4th quarter). According to Vereshchagina's teaching materials (end of the second quarter - beginning of the second quarter). According to the Starlight educational complex (end of September). This simulator will not only help you remember vowel letters and sounds, but will also help you distinguish in what position a letter is read in an open or closed syllable.
Aa
cake, Kate, name, plane, plate, snake, take, Jane, sale
hat, cat, bat, fat, Sam, cap, bad, parrot, carrot, rat, ant, many, black, map, can
a black cat, a bad snake, many parrots, a fat rat, a black rat and a fat cat, a cake and a plate, a black bat hat
Take a cat. Take a plate. Take a black rat and a fat cat. Take a map.
Take a cake, Kate. Jane, take a parrot and a carrot. Take a fat cat and a black hat, Sam.
What's your name? How many plates has Jane got? Has Sam got a map?
[əʊ] no, rose, stone, open, home, go, globe
[ͻ] on, not, hot, dog, frog, doll, hop, robot, box, clock
Rose, doll, frog, home, robot, dog, stone, box
No, go, globe, hop, hot, doll, doll, home
go home, a big dog, a big doll, a big box, a small clock, a box and a dog
Go home. A big dog has a big clock. A small frog has a big box.
Open a box. A frog opens a small box. I have at a doll at home.
Have they got a doll at home? - No, they haven’t. They have got a robot at home.
Kite, mice, bike, hi, Mike, nice, fine, like, white, nine
[i] Tim, Bill, pink, kitten, big, little, pig, milk, it, his, with
a little kite, a little cat, a little pig, a little hat, little mice
a nice bike, a nice cat, a nice pet, nice mice
a big kitten, a big pink kitten, a big fat cat, a big plane
I like my bike. I like my cat. I like my big fat cat. I like my nice little pink pig. I am fine.
I like my little nice mice. I like my nice pink kite. I like it.
I like to play with my nice little kitten. Let's play with his big bike.
Ee
see, be, Pete, he, beet, she, bee, keep, we, green, sweet,
Ned, pet, let"s, hen, ten, pen, desk, red, bed, Bet, lemon,
Pete, bed, Ted, let, green, pen, bee
Peg, desk, see, keep, red, hen, beet
Green pen, red desk, Pete and a bee, Ted and his pet,
A black desk, a big red hen on the little black desk
See a red beet. Take a pen. Take a hen. Keep a green pen. See a black desk.
Take a pen, Pete. His pen is bad. His desk is big. Ted, see a big bee.
Let's play with a pet, Pete. What green toys has Peg got?
Computer, pupil, tube, due, student, tulip, music
Up, cup, bus, cut, sun, sunny, plus, puppy, funny
Computer, bus, cup, pupil, plus, student
Up, puppy, tube, student, pupil, sun, cut
A sunny day, a sunny smile, a big bus and a little cup,
A big funny puppy, a funny puppy and a sunny smile
Get up, puppy. Let's listen to the music. Students are funny.
Let's play computer games with the students. They are funny.
My, fly, why, try, cry, type
Funny, puppy, sunny, system, myth, baby
Funny, why, cry, funny, try, fly, system, myth
A big fly, my big fly, a big fat funny fly, a big thin funny puppy
Don't cry. Don't try. Don't fly. Fly my little kite.
Try to cry, my baby. I want you to try to cry. Why do you cry?
Why don't you try to cry? Fly! Fly a kite. Fly my little funny kite.
For the full text of the material on the Trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables, see the downloadable file.
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The pronunciation of words in any language is largely determined by the norms of syllability. Having understood the basic provisions, you will not only learn the rules of competent hyphenation, but also begin to better understand the language.
The practical necessity of syllable division
A syllable is a phonetic-phonological unit. Simply put, it stands out only during pronunciation, but does not play any role in semantic word formation. Therefore, this unit is called pronunciation.
The easiest way for Russian speakers to understand the rules for dividing words in English is by analogy. The fact is that the norms for highlighting syllables in both languages are similar. The main similarity of syllabization is the leading role of vowels; they are called syllable-forming vowels.
A simple way of dividing words is told in primary school. The hand is raised to the chin, after which the word is pronounced. The number of times the hand touches the chin determines the number of syllables.
Rules for syllable division in English
Depending on the sound with which the word ends, open and closed syllables are distinguished. Open ones always end in vowels. In addition, when a syllable is formed with a long stressed vowel or diphthong, it will also be open.
Closed syllables always end in a consonant. If the syllable is formed by a short vowel, it will also be closed.
The main feature of syllable division is the need to divide the word not from the beginning, but from the end. The rules of English syllables become more clear when studying specific examples.
1. As a rule, the number of syllables depends on the vowels used: po-ta-to.
2. The presence of one vowel already forms a syllable: a-bo-ut.
3. Two consonants at the syllable boundary are the basis for division into parts: po-et.
4. A word that has several vowels formed by a diphthong, i.e. one sound, has only one syllable: like, it cannot be divided into parts.
5. The appearance of a consonant at the border of syllable separation leads to its separation into the second syllable: i-ma-gine; if several consonants appear at the junction, then the first one is assigned to one syllable, and the rest to another: ab-sent.
6. Syllables are formed by the combination –er, located after w: flow-er.
7. The appearance of the letter l at the boundary of syllables refers it to the next syllable along with the adjacent consonant: ta-ble.
8. Combinations of consonants ld and nd draw the boundary of the syllable before them: mi-ld, ki-nd.
Syllability and its role:
1. Standards for correct transfer. It is thanks to knowledge of the provisions of syllable division that you can correctly divide words into parts that need to be highlighted in writing when transferred between lines.
2. Criteria for dividing a word into components. In the English language there is no single standard for syllabification, so morphological, phonetic or orthographic principles of division can be used.
3. Language development. The ongoing processes of correlation of syllabic morphemes set new parameters for the division of words.
We have outlined the basic rules for syllable division in the English language. In general, they are quite simple and do not pose any particular difficulties to master. Although, everyone who strives to improve their language and write correctly needs to not only learn them, but also understand them.
Brief and clear course by syllable division