Distribution of Consonant Clusters

1. ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
CONSONANT CLUSTERS
DEAR MELODY
SYEREN CHRISTIN

2. CONSONANT CLUSTERS
Consonant clusters are groups of two or more
consonants. A consonant cluster can appear
at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end
of a word.

3. INITIAL CLUSTERS
 Initial two-consonant clusters are of two sorts in English
1. One sort is composed of /s/ followed by one of a small set
of consonants; examples of such clusters are found in
words such as 'sting' /stɪŋ/, 'sway‘ /sweɪ/ , 'smoke‘
/sməʊk/.
The /s/ in these clusters is called the pre-initial
consonant and the other consonant (/t/, /w/, m/ in the
above examples) the initial consonant.

4. 2. The other sort begins with one of a set of about fifteen
consonants, followed by one of the set /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/ as
in, for example, 'play’ /pleɪ/, 'try’ /trʌɪ/, 'quick’ /kwɪk/,
'few’ /fjuː/.
We call the first consonant of these clusters the initial
consonant and the second the post-initial.

5. THREE-CONSONANT INITIAL CLUSTERS
Post-Initial
l r w J
s plus initial p /spleI/ /spreI/ - /spju:/
t - /strɪŋ/ - /stju:/
k /sklɪəˈrəʊsɪs/ /skriːn/ /skwiːk/ /skju:/

6. CONSONANT CLUSTERS AT BEGINNING OF WORDS
/p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /d/ /g/
+/l/ Play
ˈplāɪ
- Class
ˈklas
Black
ˈblak
- Glass
ˈglas,
ˈgläs
+/r/ Pray
ˈprāɪ
Trip
ˈtrip
Crime
ˈkrīm
Brown
ˈbrau̇ n
Drop
ˈdräp
Grow
ˈgrō
+/w/ - Twin Queen
ˈkwēn
- Dwell
ˈdwel
-
+/j/ Pure
ˈpyu̇ r
Tube
ˈtüb,
ˈtyüb
Queue
ˈkyü
Beauty
ˈbyü-tē
Due
ˈdü,
ˈdyü
-

7. /m/ /n/ /f/ /v/ /Ɵ/ /ʃ/ /h/
+/l/ - - Fly
ˈflī
- - - -
+/r/ - - Fry
ˈfrī
- Three
Ɵri:
Shrink
ʃriȠk/
-
+/w/ - - - - - - -
+/j/ Music
ˈmyü-zik
News
ˈnüz,
ˈnyüz
Few
ˈfyü
View
ˈvyü
- - Huge
ˈhyüj,
ˈyüj

8. MEDIAL CLUSTERS
The cluster of consonants in the middle position of the
word is called word middle consonant cluster.
Types of word medial consonant clusters.
a) Intra-syllabic consonant cluster: The sequence of
consonants in the word medial position which belong to the same
syllable is called intra-syllabic cluster. As for example;
-camping ; /ˈkampɪŋ/ -extra; /ˈɛkstrə/, etc.
-reply ; /rɪˈplʌɪ/ -windy ; /ˈwɪndi/

9. b) Inter-syllabic cluster: If the consonant
belonging to different syllables occurs
together, the cluster formed is called inter-
syllabic cluster. As for example;
-movement ; /ˈmuːvm(ə)nt/
-description ; /dɪˈskrɪpʃ(ə)n/
-import ; /ˈɪmpɔːt/
-blackboard; /ˈblakbɔːd/

10. FINAL CLUSTERS
 Any consonant may be a final consonant except h, w, j.
 There are two sorts of two-consonant final cluster
1. One being a final consonant preceded by a pre-final consonant
and the other a final consonant followed by a post-final consonant.
 The pre-final consonants form a small set: m, n, ŋ, l, s.
 The post-final consonants also form a small set: s, z, t, d, θ;
example words are: 'bets' betz, 'beds’ bedz.

11.  There are two types of final three-consonant
cluster; the first is pre-final plus final plus post-
final, as set out in the following table:
Pre-final Final Post-final
/hɛlpt/ hɛ l p t
/baŋks/ ba ŋ k s
/bɒndz/ bɒ n d z
/twɛlfθ/ twɛ l f θ

12.  The second type shows how more than one post-final
consonant can occur in a final cluster: final plus post-
final l plus post-final. Post-final is again one of s, z, t, d,
θ.
Pre-final Final Post-final 1 Post-final 2
/fɪfθs/ fɪ - f θ s
/nɛkst/ nɛ - k s t
/lapst/ la - p s t

13.  Most four-consonant clusters can be analysed
as consisting of a final consonant preceded by a
pre-final and followed by post-final and post-final,
as shown below:
Pre-final Final Post-final 1 Post-final 2
/twɛlfθs/ twɛ l f θ s
/prɒm(p)t/ prɒ m p t s

14.  A small number of cases seem to require a different
analysis, as consisting of a final consonant with no
pre-final but three post-final consonants:
Pre-
final
Final Post-
final 1
Post-
final 2
Post-
final 3
/sɪksθs/ sɪ - k s θ s
/tɛksts/ tɛ - k s t s

15. THE PRODUCTION OF CONSONANT
CLUSTERS
Some more examples of consonant clusters:
a) Nasal + stop – /kamp/, /stamp/, etc.
b) Nasal + fricative – /wɔːmθ/, /təːms/, etc.
c) Stop + stop – /kɛpt/, /trakt/, etc.
d) Stop + nasal – /ˈrɪtn/, /ˈbɪtn/, etc.
e) Stop + lateral – /ˈmɪdl/, /ˈhʌdl/, etc.
f) Nasal + affricate – /bɛn(t)ʃ/, /lʌn(t)ʃ/, etc.
g) Fricative + stop – /bɛst/, /drɑːft/, etc.

16. ANOTHER EXAMPLES OF CONSONANT
CLUSTERS
TWO &
THREE
CLUSTERS
The Distribution
Initial Medial Final
Bl Blame /bleɪm/ Ablutions /əˈbluːʃnz/ Capable/ˈkeɪpəbl/
Gr Green /ɡriːn/ Progress /ˈprəʊɡres/ -
Kj Curious /ˈkjʊəriəs/ Execution /ˌeksɪˈkjuːʃn/ -
Kl Clown /klaʊn/ Eclipse /ɪˈklɪps/ Chemical /ˈkemɪkl/
Pr Pride /praɪd/ Approach /əˈprəʊtʃ/ -
Tr Trip /trɪp/ Introvert /ˈɪntrəvɜːt/ -
St Stop /stɒp/ Instant /ˈɪnstənt/ Pianist /ˈpɪənɪst/
Str Stray /streɪ/ Extra /ˈekstrə/ -