Phonotactics
From Academic Kids
Phonotactics (in Greek phone = voice and tactic = course) is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes. Phonotactics define permissible syllable structure, consonant clusters, and vowel sequences.
For example, in Japanese, consonant clusters like Template:IPA are not allowed, although they are in English. Similarly, the sounds Template:IPA and Template:IPA are not permitted at the beginning of a word in English but are in German and Dutch.
Syllables have the following internal segmental structure:
Both onset and coda may be empty (a vowel-only syllable).
The English syllable (and word) twelfths Template:IPA is divided into the onset Template:IPA, the nucleus Template:IPA, and the coda Template:IPA, and it can thus be described as CCVCCCC (C = consonant, V = vowel). On this basis it is possible to form rules of which representations of phoneme classes may fill the cluster. For instance, English allows at most three consonants in an onset, but phonemes in such an onset are strictly limited as follows:
In general, the rules of phonotactics operate around the sonority hierarchy, stipulating that the nucleus has maximal sonority and that sonority decreases as you move away from the nucleus. The voiceless alveolar fricative Template:IPA is lower on the sonority hierarchy than the alveolar lateral approximant Template:IPA, so the combination Template:IPA is permitted in onsets and Template:IPA is permitted in codas, but Template:IPA is not allowed in onsets and Template:IPA is not allowed in codas. Hence slips Template:IPA and pulse Template:IPA are possible English words while *lsips and *pusl are not. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but in general it holds for the phonotactics of most languages.de:Phonotaktik
