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Question no. 30389

What linguistic classification applies to the final /n/ sounds found in ‘sudden’ and ‘mutton’__________________?

Select your answer for: What linguistic classification applies to the final /n/ sounds found in ‘sudden’ and ‘mutton’__________________?
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Answer: A. Syllabic consonants

Explanation

In words like sudden and mutton, the nasal consonant functions independently as the syllable peak. When a consonant takes the place of a vowel in forming a syllable, it is syllabic. The phonetic transcription of these words shows the nasal sound acting as a syllable core. Syllabic consonants typically occur in unstressed syllables adjacent to obstruent sounds in English. Linguists use special diacritic marks in phonetic transcription to denote these unique syllabic sounds. This feature simplifies pronunciation by eliminating the need for an intervening schwa vowel sound.

Recognizing syllabic consonants helps speech pathologists understand natural connected speech patterns in adults. English learners benefit from studying these reductions to master natural rhythm and intonation. Such phonetic details demonstrate the immense complexity underlying everyday human language production. Sibilants are noisy frictional sounds like /s/ and /z/ rather than syllabic syllable peaks. Suffixes are morphemes added to the ends of words to alter grammatical function or meaning. None of the above is wrong because syllabic consonants correctly classifies the final nasal sounds.

Subject
English
Topic
—
Difficulty
medium

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