Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The cluster /mx/ is also rare, but occurs in Russian words such as мха (/mxa/). Consonant clusters at the ends of syllables are less common but follow the same principles. Clusters are more likely to begin with a liquid, approximant, or nasal and end with a fricative, affricate, or stop, such as in English "world" /wə(ɹ)ld/.
Final consonant clusters starting with /s/ sometimes undergo metathesis, meaning that the order of the consonants is switched. For example, the word ask may be pronounced like "ax", with the /k/ and the /s/ switched.
NG-coalescence – reduction of the final cluster [ŋɡ] to [ŋ], in words like hang, which has occurred in all but a few English dialects. G-dropping – reduction of the final cluster [ŋɡ] to [n] in weak syllables, principally in the verb ending -ing, which has occurred in many English dialects, although not in the modern standard varieties.
The medial groups phonologically with the rime rather than the onset, and the combination of medial and rime is collectively known as the final. Some linguists, especially when discussing the modern Chinese varieties, use the terms "final" and "rime" interchangeably.
Not only is cluster reduction common in specific languages, but it occurs in world Englishes, as well. For example, final consonant cluster reduction is common among those speaking dialects of Singapore English, and they may use cluster reduction strategies known as metathesis, glottalization, and deletion.
Word-final /m/ became /n/. Word-final /n/ was then lost after unstressed syllables with nasalization of the preceding vowel. Hence Pre-PGmc * dʰogʰom > early PGmc *dagam > late PGmc *dagą > Old English dæġ "day (acc. sg.)". The nasalisation was retained at least into the earliest history of Old English. Word-final /t/ was lost after an ...
The following table shows the 24 consonant phonemes found in most dialects of English, plus /x/, whose distribution is more limited. Fortis consonants are always voiceless, aspirated in syllable onset (except in clusters beginning with /s/ or /ʃ/), and sometimes also glottalized to an extent in syllable coda (most likely to occur with /t/, see T-glottalization), while lenis consonants are ...
Compound words in which the first element ends or the second element begins with th frequently have /θ/, as these elements would in isolation: bathroom, Southampton; anything, everything, nothing, something. The only other native words with medial /θ/ would seem to be brothel (usually) and Ethel. Most loan words with a medial th have /θ/.