A open or closed. Types of syllables in English
Before we begin to understand what an open and closed syllable is, I would like to immediately warn - in English language reading rules have so many exceptions that it's best to just memorize the reading as best you can more words, and read the rest by analogy.
But at school they teach the rules and give grades ... To correctly apply the rules, first we will deal with syllables.
In English, as well as in Russian, words are divided into syllables. Very often, in order to correctly read a vowel in a syllable, it is necessary to determine the type of syllable - open or closed syllable.
Let's take the usual Russian word « book Let's divide it into syllables: BOOK. Both syllables end in a vowel, so both syllables OPEN.
Let's take the word trap", divide into syllables: TRAP. In this example, both syllables end in a consonant, so both CLOSED.
But determining the syllable of an English syllable is not as easy as in Russian. A typical English word contains 2, maximum 3 syllables, so finding a syllable is not difficult.
If you take a word name, then you might think that it has 2 syllables, but we all know that this is read, that is, there is one syllable. Let's take a closer look at why this is so.
open syllable
1. If there is no consonant in a syllable after a vowel.
For example: go, no, ago, my, hi, be, me.
2. If after the vowel immediately there is an "e" at the end of the word
For example: pie, lie, toe, blue, bye, dye.
3. If there is a consonant, but it is immediately followed by a “mute” vowel “e”, which is not readable.
For example: name, blade, take, these, mine, time, type.
3. After a stressed vowel - consonant + le
For example: table, noble.
Remember!!! In an open syllable, vowels are read same way, as they are called in .
Closed syllable
If a syllable has one or more consonants after a vowel (except for the letter r).
For example: bad, cat, vet, strip, stop, camp, battle, end, center, pink.
But in English there are "tricky" vowels and consonants. They can be read differently depending on how they are placed in the word.
In an open syllable, the vowel A is pronounced like . Here are examples of words with A in the open syllable: snake - snake (Fig. 2.), lake - lake, plane - plane, plate - plate, name - name.
If the vowel A is 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 - path. If the vowel A is in combination with the letters W and L, then the pairs AW and AL are pronounced as [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 - a crack.
In a closed syllable, the vowel 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 - be, Pete - Pete, we - we.
If there are two vowels E side by side in a word, then such a combination of 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 - meet, bee - bee. 
If the vowel letter E is in combination with the letter A, then the pair EA is also pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of such words: read - read, please - please, mean - keep in mind, tea - tea, sea - sea.
So, we got acquainted with the rules for reading the vowels A and E in an open and closed syllable, as well as in their combinations.
The vowel A is pronounced in two ways. In an open syllable, it is read as a sound, for example plane - an airplane. In a closed syllable, the vowel A is read as the sound [æ], for example flat - flat.
The vowel letter E in a closed syllable is read as a sound [e], for example red - red, and in an open syllable - as a long sound, for example we - we.
Bibliography
- Afanas'eva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. Grade 2 - M: Bustard, 2014.
- Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. Grade 2 - Title, 2008.
- Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. etc. English language. Grade 2 - Enlightenment, 2013.
- Alleng.ru ().
- Alleng.ru ().
- Learnathome.ru ().
Homework
- Learn how to read all the words from the video lesson correctly.
- For each learned rule for reading vowels A and E, find two English words a-example.
- Learn the words from the video lesson and the new words you find.
The English vowel system at first glance seems very confusing. Of course, because there are only 6 letters in the alphabet, and 20 sounds! But everything is subject to certain rules, which are not so difficult to understand. The whole secret is in the syllables into which each word is divided.
Learning to read is impossible without knowing the basics of syllable division, which consists in the number of vowels in a word. So, for example, a syllable is: a-tom, i-tem. The letter l + e and r + e, where “e” is not pronounced - also separate part words: ta-ble, ti-tle.
Types of syllables in English divided into shock and unstressed.
Drums are formed into specific groups:
1st. Open
First of all, we mentally divide the word into syllables, then look at which letter it ends with:
- the vowel at the end indicates an open syllable, which means it is pronounced as in the alphabet (“a” - hey, “o” - oh): see, go, he.
- if the word ends with “e”, it is called dumb e, then the syllable is also open: pale, sake, like.
2nd. Closed
Almost all English syllables, ending in a consonant, can be classified as closed (the exception is the letter “r”): bag, fun, plan.
3rd. Syllable with letter “r”
If after the stressed vowel there is an “r”, which is not pronounced, then the vowel becomes long: firm, sport, car.
4th. Syllable with the letter “r” + “e”
The letter “e” is silent, it is not pronounced, just like “r”. It is these letter combinations that are called diphthongs and triphthongs: parents, fire, pure.
Each vowel, depending on the open or closed syllable, is pronounced differently. All of them must be learned by heart and practiced through various phonetic exercises.
1st: Aa - - correspond to the Russian "hey", Ee - - is similar to the extended Russian "and", Yy - - to "ai", Ii - - "ai", Uu - - to the extended "yu", Oo - - pronounced like " OU" .
Aa - make, Ee - we, Ii - time, Yy - type, Uu - tube, Oo - note.
2nd: Aa - [æ] - the average of the sound of Russian letters "e and a", Ee - [e] - "e", Yy - [i] - "and", Ii - [i] - "and", -Uu - [ʌ] - "a", Oo - [ɔ] - reads like Russian "o".
Aa - cat, Ee - bed, Ii - sit, Yy - system, Uu - cup, Oo - not.
3rd: Aa - - correspond to the extended Russian "a", Ee - [e] - "e", Yy - [ə:] resembles something in between Russian "e and o", a little sound "e", Ii - [ə: ] - a mixture of “e and o”, a little from the sound “e”, Uu - [ə:] - “e and o”, Oo - [ɔ:] - extended “o”.
Aa - car, Eee - her, Ii - girl, uu - cure, Oo - more.
4th:: Aa - [ɛə] - sounds like Russian "ea", Ee - - "ie", Yy - - "th", Ii - - "ay", Uu - - "yue", Oo - [ɔ :] - long "o".
Aa - share, Ee - here, Ii - fire, Yy - tyrant, Oo - more.
Another type of syllable in English is unstressed syllable.
From the name it is clear that this is a syllable that does not fall under stress. Without stress, English vowels are read especially. So let's see:
Aa, oo, uu- read as sound [ə]: a gain, s o ntrol, diffic u lt.
Ee, Ii, Yy- read as sound [i]: b e come, d e cide, cit y.
But:
- e + n + consonant = [ə] student
- e + l, n at the end = [-] (disappears, not pronounced) seven
- i + final l \u003d [-] (disappears, not pronounced) pupil
- o + final n \u003d [-] (disappears, not pronounced): lesson
Lot? Yes? Training and more training. Gradually, you will easily notice open and closed syllables, develop phonetic intuition.
As a rule, the modern standard English school curriculum does not provide for some important points in learning, and among them the ability to determine the type of syllable and, accordingly, correctly read the whole word. How to do it?
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 for professional level, is syllable division. Usually this does not present serious difficulties, but 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 vowels. This means that you should not look at the letters, but listen to the pronunciation of the word, since silent vowels, diphthongs, etc. are abundant in the English language. In addition, the so-called sonorous consonants can also be syllabic, so the word "mild" will turn out to be divided thus: mi|ld. It will become clear later why this is so.
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 border 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 this or that 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. Four varieties are distinguished here, while in others, as a rule, only two.
First, it is an open syllable. In English, it ends in At the same time, the rules of reading come into play.
The second type is a closed syllable. It ends with one or more consonants (with the exception of "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", while 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 are not a guarantee that vowels will be read one way or another. However, such cases are not very common.
By the way, first of all, you need to determine the stressed syllable for the word, because whether it is open or closed is of paramount importance. The vowels in the rest, as a rule, are pronounced quite neutrally or even become mute. But there are usually problems with stresses, because English is one of the languages \u200b\u200bwith their free arrangement.
open
This type of syllables includes those that end in a vowel. Analyzing a word visually, it is imperative to take into account the presence of a mute "e" at the end, since it is it that opens the previous syllable.
In this case most of vowels are diphthongs.
The general rules for reading 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" phonetically "o" does not comply with the accepted rules, despite the presence of a mute "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 for r).
Accordingly, the 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 mute "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 consider when studying the rules for reading vowels.
Conditionally open
These two types of syllables are sometimes also called semi-closed. They end in "r" or "re". In theory, in this case it will be, respectively, closed and open syllables. 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 "re" after the vowels, they will sound differently:
A [ɛə] - to care, nightmare;
E - here, mere;
I - fire;
O [ɔ:] - core;
U - cure, sure, pure;
Y-tyre.
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 memorize the transcription of words, meeting them in practice.
For simple use of the language in everyday communication or correspondence, you may not know such subtleties as the rules for dividing words and classifying syllables.
The rules for reading vowels have so many exceptions that they almost lose their meaning. That is why closed and open syllables in English are more interesting and useful for linguists than for ordinary people.