Examples of a conditionally closed syllable in English. The rule for reading open and closed syllables in English

Consider the open and closed syllable in English language. As you already understand, reading vowels in English is closely related to this concept.

The main point here is that vowels can be pronounced differently depending on which syllable they are present in. In English there are only two syllables: open and closed.

Open syllable in English

What is open syllable? This is the syllable that ends in a vowel (usually e, but it itself is not pronounced). In such a syllable, vowel letters are read only as they are called in the alphabet (see table No. 1).

🔊m e [M AND:] "to me" ;
🔊n i ce [H AI C] "pleasant";
🔊sk y [SK AI] "sky";
🔊s o da [CO U DE] "carbonated drink".

Closed syllable in English

Finally, let's look at the vowels in a closed syllable. Here their pronunciation may seem more familiar to you, perhaps with the exception of the letter u, which is pronounced as a sound similar to [A]. A letter a- [E] (see table No. 2).

🔊l i p[L AND P] “lip”;
🔊 b u t[B A T] “but”;
🔊p e t [P E T] "pet";
🔊 h o t [X ABOUT T] "hot".

Comment: Consonants at the end of words in a closed syllable are not devoiced, as in Russian. So, we write “horn” and pronounce [ROK]. There is no such thing in English, otherwise there would be confusion:

🔊ma d [ME D] "crazy" - 🔊ma t [ME T] "rug".

Letter combinations with letters require special attention r(see table No. 3):

Examples of words with syllables from the table:

🔊 bar[BA:] "bar";
🔊 her[HYO:] "her"
🔊fir[FYO:] “spruce”;
🔊 for[FO:] "for" ;
🔊 fur[FYO:] “wool”;
🔊 Byrne [BY:N] “Byrne” (proper noun).

The letter itself r is not pronounced, but the vowel preceding it takes a long time to pronounce.

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

1. Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
2. Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
3. Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.

1. Alleng.ru ().
2. Alleng.ru ().
3. Learnathome.ru ().

Homework

1. Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
2. For each learned rule for reading the vowels A and E, find two English example words.
3. Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.

Closed syllable. In a closed syllable, a stressed vowel is followed by one or more consonants (except r); a vowel in a closed syllable conveys a short sound.

Example words with open type syllables

• pen - [ pen ] - feather
• cat - [ kæt ] - cat

There are four types of syllables in English, more on that. Types of syllables

Rules for reading vowels in open and closed syllables.

The most common rules for reading English vowels are the rules for reading them in four syllable types.

The vowels i and y are, as it were, duplicating each other (in the sense of the rules for reading them). The letter y is found mainly at the end of words, and the letter i is found in the middle of words and almost never at the end.

1 Alphabetical reading, i.e. The pronunciation corresponding to the name of the letter in the alphabet has vowels only in the second type of syllable, which is also called open, since it ends with a vowel.

2 A syllable becomes closed if a vowel is followed by one or more consonants.

3 In polysyllabic words according to the rules English syllables one consonant, finding itself on the syllable boundary between the readable vowels, moves to the next syllable. For example, in the word lad [ læd ] guy, the consonant d refers to the first and only syllable, “closing” it. In the word lady [ ˈleɪdi ] Lady the same consonant belongs to the second syllable, while the first remains open.

4 If there are two or more consonants at the boundary of syllables, then at least one of them necessarily goes to the previous syllable, making it closed: splendid [ ˈsplɛndɪd ] magnificent, luxurious.

This also applies to cases where combinations of consonants produce only one sound: funny [ ˈfʌni ] funny, amusing ticket [ ˈtɪkɪt ] ticket, coupon

The syllable boundary then passes directly along this sound. The preceding syllable becomes closed, although the sound itself belongs to the following syllable.

5 The letter x conveying two sounds is considered as two consonants boxer [ ˈbɒksə ] boxer

6 The final silent vowel e serves to indicate the openness of syllables ending with the consonants made [ ˈmeɪd ] made . The letter e at the end of a word is read only when it is the only vowel: be [ bi] be .

7 Sound [ (j) u: ] after sibilants, consonants [ r] and combinations of consonants ending in [ l ], pronounced [ u: ]

• rule [ ruːl ] rule, rule, power
• blue [ bluː ] blue, light blue
• shoot [ ʃuːt ] shoot, shoot.

In other cases, [ juː ]

• few [ fjuː ] little, a little
• use [ ˈjuːs ] benefit, use, application

In American English the sound [ juː ] occurs much less frequently than in British, which in the following transcriptions is designated as [ (j) u: ].

8 Syllables closed with a consonant r or letter combinations r + consonant are distinguished into a separate, third type of syllable, with special reading rules. In disyllabic words, with several consonants starting with r at the boundary of syllables, r goes to the preceding syllable, the rest to the subsequent one (including cases of rr):

• [German] ˈdʒəːmən ] German
• porridge [ ˈpɒrɪdʒ ] porridge .

9 Finally, if immediately after the r, which closes the syllable, there is again a vowel, an open syllable of the fourth type is formed. If one letter r stands on a syllable boundary in two-syllable words, then general rule syllable division it goes to the subsequent syllable, but at the same time it is an indicator of reading the preceding vowel according to the rules of syllables of the fourth type:

staring [ ˈsteərɪŋ ] bright .

10 The rules for reading open syllables of types 2 and 4 have quite a few exceptions regarding polysyllabic words in which the vowels in the indicated syllables are read according to the rules of closed type syllables.

11 The consonant r after vowels in syllables of the third and fourth type is not readable in British English. However, if the next word begins with a vowel, the final silent -r or -re ceases to be silent:

to take care of [ təˈ teɪk ker əv ] take care . In the American version, the consonant r is always pronounced.

12 The vowels e, i, y and u in syllables of the third type produce the same sound [ ə: ] , and their reading in syllables of the fourth type is easily obtained from the alphabetic by adding the sound [ ə ] .

13 The vowel o in syllables of the third and fourth types is read the same [ ɔː ]

14 Letter combinations -er -re at the end of words that produce the same vowel sound [ ə ] , are considered as the vowel opening the previous syllable: metre [ ˈmiːtə ] meter The letter combination -le at the end of words has a similar property: table [ ˈteɪbl] table . Sonorant consonant [ l ]. similar in sound characteristics to vowels, acts in such cases as a syllabic vowel.

To do this, you need to know the types of syllables in English. Knowing a few simple rules will take you one step closer to the desired pronunciation like native speakers. Let's first remember the basic things, a syllable is or several vowel sounds combined with a consonant/consonants, which are pronounced with one push of exhaled air. There are four types of syllables: an open syllable, a closed syllable, and two conventionally open (or half-closed) types of syllables. Open and closed syllables are the most common in English, so it’s worth talking about them in more detail with examples and exceptions, but we’ll also definitely tell you about the rest.

Closed syllables

This is the syllable that occurs most often. It ends in a consonant (one or more), and the vowel letter in the syllable is read briefly. We have selected several examples for you that will help you remember the rule better:

bad- bad
cat- cat
lip- lip
sad- sad
black- black

Exceptions:

As always, there are a few exceptions to this rule that you need to keep in mind:

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• The letter “a” before “s” and the combination “th” is always read as a long “a”: past, master, glass, father, path.
• The letter “a” after “w” is always read as a short “o”: was, want, wasp.
• In some words, the letter “u” is read exactly the same as in an open syllable: put, pull, bull, push.
• The letter “o” in combination with “–st” is also read briefly: most, lost, host.

Open syllables

The main rule of an open syllable in English is that it must end in a vowel. In this case, the vowel is read exactly the same as in the alphabet and ultimately produces a long sound.

Main characteristics of a syllable:

• Such a syllable does not have a consonant after the vowel in the syllable. (for example in the words: go, my, no);
• Usually has the letter e at the end of the word, which comes immediately after the vowel (for example in the words: pie, toe, bye);
• Immediately after the consonant letter there is a silent (or unreadable) vowel e (for example in the words: name, take, pupil);
• Immediately after the stressed vowel there is a consonant + le (for example in the words: table, noble).

The same rule may apply to some monosyllabic words, such as: me, go, she and some others.

Example words:

male- male
type- type
bite- bite
go- go
late- late
rude- rude
like- like how

Exceptions:

There are also exceptions to this rule. It is very important to remember that in words: love, some, done, none, dove– the letter “o” in the first syllable is read exactly the same as the short “a”.

Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables

Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables come in several types:

1. Syllables that end with a vowel + r;


2. Syllables that end with a vowel + re;


3. Syllables that end in a consonant + le.

In the first case, the vowel makes a long sound, and the letter r is not readable.

car- automobile
girl [ɡɜːl]- girl

In the second case, the consonant r is also unreadable, but the vowel is converted into a diphthong.

pure - clean

The third case (consonant + le) can be either an open or a closed syllable, depending on how many consonants come before le. There are two cases:

1. There is one consonant before le.

   table [ˈteɪbl]- table
   title [ˈtaɪtl]- Name

2. Before le there are two consonants.

   struggle [ˈstrʌɡl]- struggle
   sniffle [ˈsnɪfl]- sniffling

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