Phonics #11

Summary: Syllables and accents go hand in hand. First, one must understand that a syllable is the unit of pronunciation and there exists one vowel phoneme per syllable. Accents appear on one syllable out of a two-or-more syllable word and receives more emphasis or stress than the other syllables. This accent, or stress point, affects the vowel sound. 

After reviewing all the rules on accents and syllables, it is obvious that one must first learn all the rules of phonics first because they play such a big influence in the patterns.  Rather than memorizing syllables based on hearing a word pronounced, it is key to understand what makes a syllable and why and also what makes part of a word accented and why.  In the long run, it is more about understanding the why of the rule rather than focusing on memorizing a list of rules because there are far too many just to memorize the rules. 

Here are the most important rules I picked out in regards to Accents:

1. The vowel phoneme is the most prominent part of the syllable
2. When a word contains an affix the accent usually falls on the root word
3. The accent usually falls on the first word of a compound word
4. In a two-syllable word that functions as both a noun and verb, the accent is different such that: the accent usually falls on the first syllable of a noun and the second syllable o a verb
5. When there exists a double consonant within a word, the accent usually falls on the syllable that ends with the first letter of the double consonant
6. If a word has the suffix: -tion, -sion, -ic the primary accent falls on the syllable preceding the suffix
7. When the vowel phoneme within the last syllable of a two-syllable word is composed of two vowel letters, the syllable is usually accented
8. When there is no other clue, the accent usually falls on the first syllable

Syllable Division:

1. In a compound word, the syllabic division usually comes between the two words
2. Affixes usually form separate syllables from the root word
3. If the last syllable of a word ends in le preceded by a consonant, that consonant usually begins the last syllable
4. If the first vowel in a two-syllable word is followed by a single consonant, that consonant often begins the second syllable
5. When two vowel letters are separated by two consonants, the syllabic division usually occurs between the consonants
6. In syllabication, digraphs are treated as representing single phonemes

While it may seem natural to someone fluent in English to understand syllables and how words are broken up, it is very difficult for a ESL student. However, I think these basic rules will really help them.  Once students understand generalizations of how words are broken up and how the accents fall, it is much easier for them to learn pronunciations. I will definitely be taking this book with me to Thailand!