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Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:03 pm Post subject: Triple consonant clusters

Fun fact: in English, all triple consonant clusters begin with the letter s.

Or, is it?

Hic!

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Strewth !

johnslat · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:05 pm Post subject:

Screw it.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

Scram, more like it.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Scratch that itch! Wink

What about threw, throw, throat... and words that end in ght (e.g., thought, fought, brought)? There's also breadth and width.

schwa · Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 164 Location: yap

I think "th" would constitute a single consonant sound, likewise "ght."

OP might be right about triple clusters that start words, but there are countless exceptions in the middle & at the end.

helps
burnt
unkempt
hipster
etc

Hey, heres a quadruple cluster: dumpster

buravirgil · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:42 pm Post subject:

Some linguists argue that the term can only be properly applied to those consonant clusters that occur within one syllable.

In English, the longest possible initial cluster is three consonants, as in split /ˈsplɪt/ and strudel /ˈʃtruːdəl/, all beginning with /s/ or /ʃ/ and ending with /l/ or /r/;[3] the longest possible final cluster is five consonants, as in angsts /ˈæŋksts/ and in the Yorkshire place-name of Hampsthwaite /hæmpsθweɪt/, though that is rare and four, as in twelfths /ˈtwɛlfθs/, sixths /ˈsɪksθs/, bursts /ˈbɜrsts/ and glimpsed /ˈɡlɪmpst/, is more common. In compound words, longer clusters are possible, as in handspring /ˈhændspriŋ/.

However, it is important to distinguish clusters and digraphs. Clusters are made of two or more consonant sounds, while a digraph is a group of two consonant letters standing for a single sound. For example, in the word ship, the two letters of the digraph ⟨sh⟩ together represent the single consonant [ʃ]. Conversely, the letter ⟨x⟩ can produce the consonant clusters /ks/ (annex), /gz/ (exist), /kʃ/ (sexual), or /gʒ/ (some pronunciations of "luxury".). Also note a combination digraph and cluster as seen in length with two digraphs ⟨ng⟩, ⟨th⟩ representing a cluster of two consonants: /ŋθ/; lights with a silent digraph ⟨gh⟩ followed by a cluster ⟨t⟩, ⟨s⟩: /ts/; and compound words such as sightscreen /ˈsaɪtskriːn/ or catchphrase /ˈkætʃfreɪz/.

schwa · Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 164 Location: yap

Pfft!