A syllable consists of a vocalic
nucleus and attached consonants and carries an obligatory tone. Letting N
stand for the nucleus, C1 for the consonant or
consonant cluster preceding it and C2 for the consonant or consonant cluster
following it, the structure of the syllable can be symbolized as + C1
+ N + C2. C1 is called
the onset of the syllable and C2 the coda. In the
absence of C2, the syllable termed an open syllable,
Ex :
/tyo/
`tawny frogmouth’
and in the presence of C2, it is
termed a closed syllable.
Ex:
/n/
`we’
The tone does not play any
significant role in determining the syllabic structure.
pl-
g
/
