Based pronunciation standards of English

11)Syllable: Definition; Parts of syllable; Types and functions of syllables; The structure of the syllable.
Speech can be broken into minimum pronounceable units where the sp sounds can reveal themselves- into syllables. Words can be monosyllabic and polysyllabic.
Syllable- is language unit which consists of one or more sounds and that is smaller than a word.
Vasyliev: Syll- is 1 or more sounds forming an uninterruptable unit of utterance which can form a whole word or a part of it. Kenyon: Syll- is 1 or more sounds forming an uninterruptable unit of utterance which may be a word or commonly recognized subdivision of a word.
The articulation that constitutes the syll results from the combined work of 4 mechanisms. The contraction of certain chest muscles accompanied with air pressure make up a syll. In pronouncing the syll the energy of articulation increases until it reaches its climax- the most energetically articulated phoneme in the syll. The valley of prominence- the weakest articulation marks boundary between 2 syllables. Sonorants and vowels are mostprominent in the syll and are produced in the peak. Peak is formed by sonorants and vowels. Slope- a sound that precedes the peack. Syllabograph- a syll in writing. Acoustically and auditorily the syll is characterized by the force of utterance, the pitch, sonority, length, the smallest unit of perception.
Types of syll: Acc to whether they end in v/c – open/closed. Acc to whether they begin in v/c- uncovered/covered. Torsuyev: V- fully open, VC- finally covered, CVC- fully closed, CV- initially covered.
The structure of the syll. Syll can be divided into: Onset- the beginning of the syll. Coda- the central part of the syll (nucleous). Syllabic segments- form nucleous of the syll. Phonotactics- the rules of syllabic arrangement.
The functions of the syll. The syll as a phonological unit performs 3 functions. 1) Constitutive. Syllables constitute words, phrases and sentences through the combination of their prosodic features: stressed/ unstressed (loudness), falling/ rising tone (pitch, intonation), length and tempo (duration). Prosodic features constitute prosodic patterns of words. 2) Distinctive. Lightening and lightning – the only minimal distinctive feature is their syllabicity. In English there are many combinations distinguished by means of difference in syllabic boundary ( a name- an aim, I scream- ice cream). Layjuncture (conjuncture) – occurs between sounds within one syll. Open juncture (disjuncture) – occurs between 2 syllables. 3) Identificatory function – is conditioned by the pronunciation of the speakers. The listener can understand the exact meaning of the utterance only if he perceives the correct syllabic boundary (pea stalks- peace talks, my train- might rain).