Skeletal Generative CV-Phonological Approach

In its widest sense, the term ‘syllable’, is studied from the phonological and phonetic point of view as it symbolizes one of the basic components in phonology as well as phonetics. Nevertheless, the syllable theories are based on evidence taken from diverse fields of knowledge, for instance psycholinguistics which includes the study of language universals and child language acquisition (Fallows, 1980, p. 76). According to Katamba (1989), the syllable is at the core of phonological representations. It is seen as a purely phonological unit, and even with a semantic or grammatical unit, it cannot be identified. It is the entity in terms of which phonological systems are organized or not. A syllable in basic terms is a unit of organization for

Durand & Katamba (2014) state that one of the two approaches to the skeletal tier is that adopted by, among others, Clements and Keyser (1983). This approach was first proposed by McCarthy (1979) and this approach is frequently referred to as the CV approach. This approach makes an assertion that the elements on the skeletal tier are of two diverse types and that the dissimilarity between them plays an essential role in phonological representations. Together with a fundamentally flat syllable structure, both Cs and Vs are employed which displays no internal hierarchy. For example, the English word ‘bit’ would be characterized as shown in Figure 5 below in Clements and Keyser’s CV approach. The representation in Figure 5 indicates that ‘bit’ is construed as consisting of a single closed syllable, with the vowel (V) establishing the nucleus or peak of that syllable and the two consonants (C) inhabiting non-peak positions within the syllable (Durand & Katamba, 2014, p.

The syllable is the basic phonotactic unit. It is the structure of complex segments such as diphthongs and long vowels. It has a domain on phonological rules. The syllable is an indispensable building block for higher phonological domains. Glide formation, vowel elision and compensatory lengthening. There are three more final functions of the syllable and these are; phonotactic regulation which is captivating combinations of Cs and Vs. Regulation of sub segmental structure through the CV tier, and finally, serving as the entity of phonological hierarchy in terms of which performance of higher units of the prosodic hierarchy such as stress, tone and duration (Katamba, 2007).

According to Katamba (2007), there is an algorithm for building syllables, and these are as follows: every V-component is linked to the syllable node ‘σ’, and this suggests that no syllable can exist without a nucleus. Each C-component is linked to its closest V-component to its right; only providing that it does not violate rules (creates onsets). And finally by connecting C’s to V’s on the left, creates codas. An example can be seen in Figure 8