The Syllable in English and Arabic: a contrastive Study

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764
رتمؤلما عئاقو
ينلعلا
لولاا
وولعلل
ةيىاشىلاا
يضاترفلاا
ةعمالجا /ةيساسلاا ةيبترلا ةيلك /
ٌواعتلابو ةيرصيتشلما
عم
ةعماج /ةيساسلاا ةيبترلا ةيلك
راق يذ
02
- 
02
ٌاريزح
0202
و
( راعش تتح
ًكنتيل..... هلعتى
)
رتمؤلما عئاقو
ينلعلا
لولاا
وولعلل
ةيىاشىلاا
يضاترفلاا
/
ةيرصيتشلما ةعمالجا /ةيساسلاا ةيبترلا ةيلك
عم ٌواعتلابو
ةعماج /ةيساسلاا ةيبترلا ةيلك
راق يذ
02
 -
02
 
زح
ٌاري
0202
خيراتب
61
/
4
/
0202
ةيساسلاا ةيبترلا ةيلك ةلمج
ةيرصيتشلما ةعمالجا
The Syllable in English and Arabic: 
A Contrastive Study
 
Asst. Prof. Dr. Estabraq R. Ibrahim Asst. Prof.Dr. Nesaem Mehdi Al-Aadili
 
[e-mail]

 
[e-mail]

 
University of Mustansiriyah/ University of Babylon/
College of Basic Education .
College of Education for Human 
Sciences. 
Abstract 
One of the notions that are repeatedly used in phonetics and phonology is 
the notion of the syllable. This unit proved its importance in the history of 
writing. Historically, it was the Greek who first modified the Semitic 
syllabary to represent consonants and vowels as separate symbols. The later 
writing systems like those of Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Indic and others have 
followed the principles first and last established by the Greeks (Ladefoged, 
1982: 237).The syllable is the phonological building block of words and the 
basic unit of organization in all languages including English and Arabic. 
Thus, the present study is set to explore the structure of the syllable in 
English and Arabic assuming that it is the basic unit of organization for a 
sequence of speech sounds. As such, the study is intended to answer the 
following questions: 
1. Is syllable a phonetic or a phonological unit? 
2. What is the structure of the syllable in both languages? 
3. Is there any theory about the syllable, its nature, and structure in both 
languages? 
4. Which language is more explicit in its treatment of the syllable? 
The study aims to contrast English and Arabic with regard to the 
phonological structure of the syllable, its nature, and its structure in both 
languages. In this regard, it is hypothesized that the syllable is the basic unit 
of organization for a sequence of speech sounds in both languages. It is also 
hypothesized that Arabic syllable patterns are more limited than those of 
English because of the constraints on consonant clusters. To fulfill the 
aforementioned aim and verify or reject the stated hypotheses, a theoretical 
literature is surveyed on the notion of the syllable in English and Arabic as 
well as its nature, theories, and structure. Then, the two languages will be 
contrasted with regard to the surveyed literature. 
Key words: Syllable, Phonetic unit, Phonological unit, and Contrastive Study. 

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