Dialektika: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

Vol. 8 No.1 March 2020 – August 2020

Page 80 - 88

SYLLABLE STRUCTURE ANALYSIS ON

EMMA WATSON’S SPEECH

Nidya Adi Ristiana 1

S.R. Pramudyawardhani 2
1
the Graduate of English Education Study Program
Universitas Peradaban Bumiayu – Brebes
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +62 852 8020 0275
2
the Lecturer of English Education Study Program
Universitas Peradaban Bumiayu – Brebes
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +62 815 663 5360

Abstract
This study is descriptive qualitative about syllable
structure analysis on Emma Watson’s speech. To collect
the data, the writers use Simak Bebas Libat Cakap
method. The writers use McMahon theory (2002) to
analyse the syllable structure, make tree diagram, and
then define the type of syllable structure according to its
word use in Emma Watson’s speech. From the result of
the analysis, it can be concluded that there are 192
words with 47 types of syllable structure. The highest
numbers of the types of syllable structure in each
number of syllables are: one syllable CVC (Consonant-
Vowel-Consonant) with 42 numbers, two syllables CV.
CVC with 19 numbers, three syllables CV. CV. CVC

80 Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani

with 3 numbers, four syllables CV. CV. CV. CVC with
3 numbers, and five syllables VC. V. CCV. CV. CV
with 1 number.

Keywords: Syllable Structure, Types of Syllable, Emma

Watson’s speech

A. Introduction
A syllable is a phonological unit of sounds that
establishes an onset, nucleus and coda (Mwaliwa,
2014: 32). A syllable is a very important unit. Each
word has one, two, three or more syllables.
Understanding the syllable can help to understand
the stress placement in English word. Based on
Mwaliwa (2014: 32), a syllable has an onset and
rhyme. Rhyme has constituent nucleus and coda, but
both the onset and coda are optional constituent, and
each, if filled will contain one or more consonant.
There are many types of syllable but the most
universal basic type is therefore CV (Consonant-
Vowel): all known languages allow this, whether they
have other or more complex syllable type in
addition or not (McMahon, 2002: 106).
Furthermore, Mahmoud (2012: 10) states that
the syllable has a function in determining
phonological realization in accents and vice versa.
An accent can give influences to the syllable
division and syllable structure. There are accents in
English that are American and British Accents. Here
the writers are interested in analyzing the syllable
structure in British accent because it has special
treatment towards the consonant /r/ and the writers
use the speech of Emma Watson which uses British
accent.
On 20th September, 2014 Emma Watson as
the UN (United Nation) Woman Goodwill

Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani 81

 Ambassador delivered her speech at special event
for the HeforShe campaign, UN Headquarter, in
New York. She gave a smart, important, and moving
speech about gender inequality and how to fight it.
In doing so, she had a purpose to get men and boys
to join the feminist for gender equality.
When Emma Watson delivered her speech
word by word there are many varieties of syllable
amount and she gave variety for the stress placement
which was influenced by the syllable, especially for
the long word. If some people pronounce one word
with the varieties of syllable amount, it gives a
variety of the stress placement and it can make
misinterpretation of the word meaning. Moreover, it
can make the internal structure of the syllable
change.
To find out how many syllable in each word
is very important. By drawing the syllable
constituent we will know how many syllable and
what type of syllable in those words. Finding out the
syllable structure, it will improve our pronunciation
because we know where to give stress in English
word. Thus, the purposes of this research are to
draw the syllable constituent in each word by using
tree diagram from McMahon’s theory (2002) and to
find out the syllable type in each word.

B. Literature Review
Mwaliwa (2014: 32) states that syllable is a
phonological unit of sounds that establishes an
onset, nucleus, and coda. Each syllable must have a
nucleus which can be filled by a vowel or consonant.
The onset and the coda are optional and they are
filled by consonants. The onset is the initial position
within a syllable. The nucleus is the position
following the onset. The coda is the final position

82 Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani

 within a syllable. The nucleus must be there for a unit
to qualify as a syllable. However, the onset and coda
are not always be filled by segments.
Hyman in Mwaliwa (2014: 40) says that the
relevant part of the syllable is the rhyme, whose
nucleus and coda must be filled. This is because the
rhyme plays important role to distinguish between
the light and heavy syllable. A syllable whose rhyme
consists of short vowel is a light syllable, for
example is CV (Consonant-Vowel). A syllable whose
rhyme consists of a long vowel V: or has a VV (in
Diphtongs) or VC segment is a heavy syllable. The
property of being light or heavy is, naturally
enough, referred to as syllable weight. This means
that any non-branching nucleus will have light
weight, while a branching nucleus will have heavy
weight.
Syllable weight is important in determining
stress placement in different languages (Mwaliwa,
2014: 42). Before determining where stress is
marked in a syllable, the syllable boundaries must be
marked and the syllable weight be identified. Spencer
(2005: 75) says that syllable weight is a syllable
that has a type either light or heavy syllable.
Moreover, according to McMahon (2002: 114),
syllable weight is a major factor in determining the
position of stress placement in a word.
There are some constituents to represent the
syllable, but the universal syllable template
accepted by most phonologists is given in the
following tree diagram. McMahon (2002: 105) also
uses this tree diagram for segmenting the syllable
and it will also be used by the writer for analyzing
the syllable structure. Note that small sigma (σ) is
shorthand for ‘syllable.’

Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani 83

 σ

Onset
Rhyme

Nucleus Coda

C. Method of Investigation
The writers use the descriptive qualitative
method. The source of data in this research is taken
from transcript of Emma Watson’s Speech get from
the website http://www.doshisha.ed.jp (Accessed on
December 25, 2018 at 5:00 a.m.) and the speech video
is taken from the website:
https://www.englishspeecheschannel.com/english-
speeches/emma-watson-speech (Accessed on
December 13, 2018 at 6:00 a.m.). In collecting the
data, the writers use documentation method called
Simak Bebas Libat Cakap technique.
To analyze the data, the writers use Teknik
Bagi Unsur Langsung. It is a technique by which
a construction is divided into several parts or
constituents. The following steps are used in
analyzing the data are: downloading the speech script
and video, listing the words, listening to the speech
for ensuring the number of syllable pronounced by
Emma Watson, drawing the syllable constituents by
using tree diagram from McMahon’s theory (2002),
describing the analysis in each identification, and
drawing conclusion from the analysis as interpretation
of the findings.

84 Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani

D. Findings and Discussion
There are 192 words which are contained in
Emma Watson’s speech. Below is the table of words
based on the amount of syllable and the total words in
every syllable:
No Syllable Amount Total Words
1 One Syllable 113
2 Two Syllable 58
3 Three Syllable 10
4 Four Syllable 10
5 Five Syllable 1
Total of all words 192

Based on the identification and the analysis of

syllable structure and the type of syllable of the
word in Emma Watson’s speech, it can be
interpreted that an accent is influenced by the
syllable division and eventually is also influenced to
the syllable structure. Furthermore, the stress of a
word in Emma Watson’s speech mostly appears in
a word that has more than one syllable. In two
syllables the mostly stress placement is in the
second syllable. In three syllables the mostly stress
placement is in both of the first syllable and second
syllable. In four syllables the mostly stress
placement is in the second syllable. Then, in five
syllables there is no conclusion about the mostly
stress placement because of the limited of data so
it cannot be formulated. Moreover, the stress
placement of the words in Emma Watson’s speech
depends on its syllable weight which rhyme consists
of Vowel. Vowel in diphthong and Vowel.
Consonant.
There are 47 types of syllable which are
contained in Emma Watson speech. They are divided
into 9 types in one syllable, 22 types in two syllables,

Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani 85

 7 types in three syllables, 8 types in four syllables,
and 1 type in five syllables.
One syllable has 9 types of syllable structure,
which are V with 4 numbers, VV with 1 number,
VC with 14 numbers, VCC with 3 numbers, CCV
with 1 number, CVCC with 9 numbers, and CV
with 31 numbers, CVC with 42 numbers, and
CCVC with 8 numbers. The highest number of the
type of syllable structure in one syllable is CVC
with 42 numbers.
Two syllables have 22 types of syllable
structure, which are V.CC with 1 number, V.CVCC
with 1 number, V.CV with 3 numbers, V.CVC with
1 number, V.CCVC with 3 numbers, CV.CVC with
19 numbers, CV.VC with 1 number, CV.CVCC with
3 numbers, CV.CV with 4 numbers, CVC.CVC
with 6 number, CV.CC with 1 number, CCV.CVC
with 3 numbers, CVC.CCVCC with 2 numbers,
CVC.CCV with 1 number, VC.CCVCC with 1
number, CVC.CV with 2 numbers, VC.CVCCC with
1 number, CVC.CVCC with 1 number, VC.CVC
with 1 number, CV.CCC with 1 number,
CCVCC.CVC with 1 number, and CV.CVCCC with
1 number. The highest number of the type of
syllable structure in two syllables is CV.CVC with 18
numbers.
Three syllables have 7 types of syllable
structure, which are CVC.CV.CV with 1 number,
CV.CV.CVC with 3 numbers, VC.CV.CVC with 2
numbers, CV.CV.CC with 1 number, CV.CV.CVCC
with 1 number, CCV.CV.CVCC with 1 number, and
CCVC.CV.CVC with 1 number. The highest
number of the type of syllable structure in three
syllables is CV.CV.CVC with 3 numbers.
Four syllables have 8 types of syllables
structure, which are CVC.CV.CV.CC with 1

86 Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani

 number, CV.CV.CV.CC with 1 number,
CV.CV.CV.CVC with 3 numbers, V.CVC.CV.CV
with 1 number, VC.VC.CV.CVCC with 1 number,
VC.CCV.VC.CVC with 1 number, VC.CV.CV.CV
with 1 number, VC.CVCC.CV.CC with 1 number.
The highest number of the type of syllable
structure in four syllables is CV.CV.CV.CVC
with 3 numbers.
Five syllables have one type of syllable
structure that is VC.V.CCV.CV.CV with 1 number.

E. Conclusion
The total amount of word that are analyzed
here are 192 words, which are divided into one
syllable (113 words), two syllable (58 words), three
syllable (10 words), four syllable (10 words), and
five syllable (1 words). The writers find that there are
47 types of syllable structure which are contained in
Emma Watson speech. They are divided into 9 types
in one syllable, 22 types in two syllables, 7 types in
three syllables, 8 types in four syllables, and 1 type
in five syllables. The most frequent types of
syllable structure in each number of syllables are: one
syllable CVC with 42 numbers, two syllables CV.
CVC with 19 numbers, three syllables CV. CV.
CVC with 3 numbers, four syllables CV. CV. CV.
CVC with 3 numbers, and five syllables VC. V.
CCV. CV. CV with 1 number.

Acknowledgement

The writers would like to express the deepest

gratitude to some people who have assisted the process of
writing this article, especially Yuniar Fatmasari, S.S.,
M.A. as the Head of English Education Study Program.

Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani 87

 Bibliography
Doshisha. 2014. Transcript of Emma Watson Speech.
Accessed from
http://www.doshisha.ed.jp/information/attached/ne
w s20180212_07.pdf on December 25, 2018.

English Speeches. 2017. Emma Watson: Gender Equality.

Accessed from
https://www.englishspeecheschannel.com/english-
speeches/emma-watson-speech on December 13,
2018 at 6:00 a.m.

Mahmoud, Cheryl. 2012. The Importance of the Syllable

in the Phonological Analysis of Accents. Not
Published. (Accessed from
https://www.academia.edu.com).

McMahon, April. 2002. An Introduction to English

Phonology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.

Mwaliwa, Hanah Chaga. 2014. An Analysis of the Syllable

Structure of Standard Kiswahili Loanwords from
Modern Standard Arabic. A Thesis. Department
of Linguistics and Languages of Nairobi
University: Not Published. (Accessed from
www.pdfdrive.com on December 17, 2018 at 7.00
a.m.).

88 Nidya Adi Ristiana, S.R. Pramudyawardhani