CLUSTERS OF TWO CONSONANTS OCCUR INITALLY & FINALLY

In many Nigeria languages, there is no consonant cluster but in English, there may be an initial cluster of two or three consonants. In some English vowels, it is not easy to identify consonant cluster by merely looking at the written form of the word. Such words manifest the cluster only when they are pronounced. The following are example: bitten, coffin, garden, raffle, peddle, little, bangle,

Word                                       Correct pronunciations

New                                         / nju: /

Few                                         / fju: /

Tune                                        / tju:n /

View                                        / vju: /

Stew                                        / stju: /

Stupid                                      / stju:pld /

Cluster of two consonants

Bride                            crime

Dwell                           flame

Glad                            crop

Play                             tray

Thrice                          spice

Shrink                          stand.

Cluster of three consonant

Sprint                           spring

Splash             stray

Scrap                          scream

Squire                          squeeze

Strong                         stripe.

In an English word, there may be a consonant at the end of a word. While two or three consonant can occur at the beginning of a word in English the language permits at most four consonants in a cluster at the end of a word. This can be expressed as: ( C ^{0 – 3} ) v ( C ^{0 – 4} ) or ( CCC) V (CCCC).

Cluster of four consonant

Tempts                        exempts

Sixths              texts

Prompts                      sculpts

Glimpsed                     twelfths.

See also

Adverb

FORMAL AND INFORMATION LETTERS

MONOTHONGES AND DIPHTHONGS

ADJECTIVE AS NOMINALS

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY