Phonology above the segment

We returned to the central issue, and the central task for phonologists, of assessing what speakers know about the structure of their language. We have concentrated on this knowledge, and the speech production that reflects it, at the level of the segment and below. That is, we have discussed vowels and consonants, the features of which they are composed and the judgements speakers make about them. However, as we shall see, speakers’ behavior and intuitions also indicate the presence of phonological organization at a series of higher levels, above the single segment. Vowels and consonants are not just strung together haphazardly into long, unstructured strands: instead, they form a series of larger units with their own internal structure and distribution, governed by their own rules.

The first and smallest of these superordinate units, the syllable, will be the main focus. Recognizing and understanding syllables helps us state some phonological processes (for example involving English /l/ and the aspiration of voiceless plosives) more accurately and succinctly. The syllable and the next unit, the foot, are also crucial in analyzing and determining the position of stress within each word. Finally, in whole utterances consisting of a sentence or more, phonological processes may apply between words, and rhythm and intonation produce the overall melody of longer stretches of speech.