Editing Consonant cluster

{{Short description|Group of consonants without a vowel in between}} 
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In [[linguistics]], a '''consonant cluster''', '''consonant sequence''' or '''consonant compound''' is a group of [[consonant]]s which have no intervening [[vowel]]. In English, for example, the groups {{IPA|/spl/}} and {{IPA|/ts/}} are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education field it is variously called a consonant cluster or a '''consonant blend'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National reading panel, page 2-99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonics-and-word-recognition-instruction-early-reading-programs-guidelines-children-reading|title =Phonics and Word Recognition Instruction in Early Reading Programs, Reading Rockets|date =5 August 2013}}</ref>

Some linguists{{who|date=April 2015}} argue that the term can be properly applied only to those consonant clusters that occur within one [[syllable]]. Others claim that the concept is more useful when it includes consonant sequences across syllable boundaries.  According to the former definition, the longest consonant clusters in the word ''extra'' would be {{IPA|/ks/}} and {{IPA|/tr/}},<ref>J.C. Wells, [http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/syllabif.htm ''Syllabification and allophony'']</ref> whereas the latter allows {{IPA|/kstr/}}, which is phonetically {{IPA|[kst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷ]}} in some accents.

== Phonotactics ==
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Each language has an associated set of [[phonotactics| phonotactic constraints]]. Languages' phonotactics differ as to what consonant clusters they permit. Many languages are more restrictive than English in terms of consonant clusters, and some forbid consonant clusters entirely.

For example, [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], like most [[Oceanic languages]], forbids consonant clusters entirely. [[Japanese language|Japanese]] is almost as strict, but allows a sequence of a [[nasal consonant]] plus another consonant, as in {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Honshū]]}} {{IPA|ja|hoꜜɰ̃ɕɯː|}} (the name of the largest island of Japan). It also permits [[Gemination|geminate]] /kk/, /pp/, /ss/, and /tt/. However, palatalized consonants, such as [kʲ] in {{lang|ja-Latn|Tōkyō}} {{IPA|ja|toːkʲoː|}}, are single consonants. 

[[Standard Arabic]] forbids initial consonant clusters and more than two consecutive consonants in other positions, as do most other [[Semitic languages]], although [[Modern Hebrew|Modern Israeli Hebrew]] permits initial two-consonant clusters (e.g. {{lang|he-Latn|pkak}} "cap"; {{lang|he-Latn|dlaat}} "pumpkin"), and [[Moroccan Arabic]], under [[Berber languages|Berber]] influence, allows strings of several consonants.<ref>The extent of consonant clusters in Moroccan Arabic depends on the analysis. Richard Harrell's grammar of the language postulates [[schwa]] sounds in many positions that do not occur in other analyses.  For example, the word that appears as {{lang|ary-Latn|ktbu}} "they wrote" in Jeffrey Heath's ''Ablaut and Ambiguity: Phonology of a Moroccan Arabic Dialect'' appears as {{lang|ary-Latn|ketbu}} in Harrell's grammar.</ref> 

Like most [[Austroasiatic languages|Mon–Khmer languages]], [[Khmer language|Khmer]] permits only initial consonant clusters with up to three consonants in a row per syllable. [[Finnish language|Finnish]] has initial consonant clusters natively only on South-Western dialects and on foreign loans, and only clusters of three inside the word are allowed. Most spoken languages and dialects, however, are more permissive. In [[Burmese language|Burmese]], consonant clusters of only up to three consonants (the initial and two medials—two written forms of {{IPA|/-j-/}}, {{IPA|/-w-/}}) at the initial onset are allowed in writing and only two (the initial and one medial) are pronounced; these clusters are restricted to certain letters. Some [[Burmese dialects]] allow for clusters of up to four consonants (with the addition of the {{IPA|/-l-/}} medial, which can combine with the above-mentioned medials).

At the other end of the scale,<ref name="easterday">{{Cite book | author=Easterday, S. | title =  Highly Complex Syllable Structure: A Typological and Diachronic study  | place = Berlin | publisher = Language Science Press | date = 2019 | format = PDF | url = http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/249 | url-access=| isbn = 9783961101955| access-date = 30 July 2022| page = }}{{page needed | date = July 2022}}</ref> the [[South Caucasian languages|Kartvelian]] languages of Georgia are drastically more permissive of consonant clustering. Clusters in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] of four, five or six consonants are not unusual—for instance, {{IPA|/brtʼqʼɛli/}} (''flat''), {{IPA|/mt͡sʼvrtnɛli/}} (''trainer'') and {{IPA|/prt͡skvna/}} (''peeling'')—and if grammatical [[affix]]es  are used, it allows an eight-consonant cluster: {{IPA|/ɡvbrdɣvnis/}} (''he's plucking us''), {{IPA|/gvprt͡skvni/}} (''you peel us''). Consonants cannot appear as syllable nuclei in Georgian, so this syllable is analysed as CCCCCCCCVC. Many [[Slavic languages]] may manifest almost as formidable numbers of consecutive consonants, such as in the [[Czech language|Czech]] tongue twister {{lang|cs|Strč prst skrz krk}} ({{IPA|cs|str̩tʃ pr̩st skr̩s kr̩k|pron|Prst a krk.ogg}}), meaning 'stick a finger through the neck', the [[Slovak language|Slovak]] words {{lang|sk|štvrť}} {{IPA|/ʃtvr̩c/}} ("quarter"), and {{lang|sk|žblnknutie}} {{IPA|/ʒbl̩ŋknucɪɛ̯/}} ("clunk"; "flop"), and the [[Slovene language|Slovene]] word {{lang|sl|skrbstvo}} {{IPA|/skrbstʋo/}} ("welfare"). However, the [[liquid consonant]]s {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/l/}} can form syllable nuclei in West and South Slavic languages and behave phonologically as vowels in this case.

An example of a true initial cluster is the [[Polish language|Polish]] word {{lang|pl|wszczniesz}} ({{IPA|/fʂt͡ʂɲɛʂ/}} ("you will initiate"). In the [[Serbo-Croatian]] word {{lang|sh|opskrbljivanje}} {{IPA|/ɔpskr̩bʎiʋaɲɛ/}} ("victualling") the {{angbr|lj}} and {{angbr|nj}} are [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] representing single consonants: {{IPA|[ʎ]}} and {{IPA|[ɲ]}}, respectively. In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], clusters of six or even seven consonants are possible (e.g. {{lang|nl|angstschreeuw}} ("a scream of fear"), {{lang|nl|slechtstschrijvend}} ("writing the worst") and {{lang|nl|zachtstschrijdend}} ("treading the most softly")).

Some [[Salishan languages]] exhibit long words with no vowels at all, such as the [[Nuxálk language|Nuxálk]] word {{IPA|/xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ/}}: ''he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant''.<ref>Hank F. Nater (1984), ''The Bella Coola Language'', Mercury Series, Canadian Ethnology Service (No. 92) (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada), cited in Bruce Bagemihl (1991), "Syllable Structure in Bella Coola", in the ''Proceedings of the New England Linguistics Society'' 21: 16–30</ref> It is extremely difficult to accurately classify which of these consonants may be acting as the syllable nucleus, and these languages challenge classical notions of exactly what constitutes a [[syllable]]. The same problem is encountered in the [[Northern Berber languages]].

There has been a trend to reduce and simplify consonant clusters in [[Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area|the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area]], such as [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]. [[Old Chinese]] was known to contain additional [[Syllable medial|medials]] such as {{IPA|/r/}} and/or {{IPA|/l/}}, which yielded retroflexion in [[Middle Chinese]] and today's [[Mandarin Chinese]]. The word {{lang|zh|江}}, read {{IPA|/tɕiɑŋ˥/}} in Mandarin and {{IPA|/kɔːŋ˥⁻˥˧/}}in [[Cantonese]], is reconstructed as ''*klong'' or ''*krung'' in [[Old Chinese]] by Sinologists like [[Zhengzhang Shangfang]], [[William H. Baxter]], and [[Laurent Sagart]]. Additionally, initial clusters such as "tk" and "sn" were analysed in recent reconstructions of Old Chinese, and some were developed as palatalised [[sibilant]]s. Similarly, in [[Thai Language|Thai]], words with initial consonant clusters are commonly reduced in colloquial speech to pronounce only the initial consonant, such as the pronunciation of the word {{lang|th|ครับ}} reducing from {{IPA|/kʰrap̚˦˥/}} to {{IPA|/kʰap̚˦˥/}}.<ref>{{Cite journal | author=Beebe, Leslie M. | title =  Occupational Prestige and Consonant Cluster Simplification in Bangkok Thai | journal = International Journal of the Sociology of Language | date = 1975 | issue = 5 | format = PDF | url = https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1975.5.43 | url-access=subscription|access-date = 23 January 2023| page = | doi = 10.1515/ijsl.1975.5.43 }}{{page needed | date = January 2023}}</ref>

Another element of consonant clusters in Old Chinese was analysed in coda and post-coda position. Some "departing tone" syllables have cognates in the "entering tone" syllables, which feature a -p, -t, -k in Middle Chinese and Southern Chinese varieties. The departing tone was analysed to feature a post-coda sibilant, "s". Clusters of -ps, -ts, -ks, were then formed at the end of syllables. These clusters eventually collapsed into "-ts" or "-s", before disappearing altogether, leaving elements of [[diphthongisation]] in more modern varieties. Old Vietnamese also had a rich inventory of initial clusters, but these were slowly merged with plain initials during Middle Vietnamese, and some have developed into the palatal nasal.

== Origin ==
Some consonant clusters originate from the loss of a vowel in between two consonants, usually (but not always) due to vowel reduction caused by lack of stress.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1017/S0022226714000486|title = Syncope, syllabic consonant formation, and the distribution of stressed vowels in English|year = 2015|last1 = Polgárdi|first1 = Krisztina|journal = Journal of Linguistics|volume = 51|issue = 2|pages = 383–423|doi-access = free}}</ref> This is also the origin of most consonant clusters in English, some of which go back to Proto-Indo-European times. For example, {{angbr|glow}} comes from Proto-Germanic *glo-, which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-ó, where *gʰel- is a root meaning 'to shine, to be bright' and is also present in {{angbr|glee}}, {{angbr|gleam}}, and {{angbr|glade}}.

Consonant clusters can also originate from assimilation of a consonant with a vowel. In many Slavic languages, the combination mji, mje, mja etc. regularly gave mlji, mlje, mlja etc. Compare Russian {{lang|ru|zemlyá}}, which had this change, with Polish {{lang|pl|ziemia}}, which lacks the change, both from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źemē.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} See [[Proto-Slavic language#Alternations|Proto-Slavic language]] and [[History of Proto-Slavic#Iotation|History of Proto-Slavic]] for more information about this change.

== Clusters in languages ==
All languages differ in syllable structure and cluster template. A loanword from [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] in the extinct [[Ubykh language]], {{lang|uby|psta}} ('to well up'), violates Ubykh's limit of two initial consonants. The English words ''sphere'' {{IPA|/ˈsfɪər/}} and ''sphinx'' {{IPA|/ˈsfɪŋks/}}, [[Greek language|Greek]] loanwords, break the rule that two fricatives may not appear adjacently [[word-initially]].  Some English words, including thrash, three, throat, and throw, start with the voiceless dental fricative /θ/, the liquid /r/, or the /r/ cluster (/θ/+/r/). This cluster example in Proto-Germanic has a counterpart in which /θ/ was followed by /l/. In early North and West Germanic, the /l/ cluster disappeared. This suggests that clusters are affected as words are loaned to other languages.  The examples show that every language has syllable preference<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dziubalska-Kołaczyk |first1=K. |title=On the structure, survival and change of consonant clusters |journal=Folia Linguistica |date=2019 |volume=53(s40-s1) |issue=53 |page=107|doi=10.1515/flih-2019-0006 |s2cid=199546117 }}</ref> based on syllable structure and segment harmony of the language. Other factors that affect clusters when loaned to other languages include speech rate, articulatory factors, and speech perceptivity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Côté |first1=M. |title=Consonant cluster simplification in Québec French |date=2004 |journal=Probus |volume=16 |issue=2 |page=151 |doi=10.1515/prbs.2004.16.2.151|s2cid=170972749 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guy |first1=G. R. |last2=Boyd |first2=S. |title=The development of a morphological class |journal=Language Variation and Change |date=1990 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=1|doi=10.1017/S0954394500000235 |s2cid=145289008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=C. |title=Consonant cluster neutralisation and targeted constraints |journal=Phonology |date=2001 |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=147|doi=10.1017/S0952675701004043 |s2cid=62574684 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jun |first1=J. |title=Positional effects in consonant clusters |journal=The Blackwell Companion to Phonology |date=2011 |volume=2 |page=1103 }}</ref> Bayley has added that social factors such as age, gender, and geographical locations of speakers can determine clusters when they are loaned crosslinguistically.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bayley |first1=R. |title=Consonant cluster reduction in Tejano English |journal=Language Variation and Change |date=1994 |volume=6 |issue=3 |page=303|doi=10.1017/S0954394500001708 |s2cid=145407662 }}</ref>

== English ==
In [[English language|English]], the longest possible initial cluster is three consonants, as in ''split'' {{IPA|/ˈsplɪt/}}, ''strudel'' {{IPA|/ˈstruːdəl/}}, ''strengths'' {{IPA|/ˈstrɛŋkθs/}}, and "squirrel" {{IPA|/ˈskwɪrəl/}}, all beginning with  {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/ʃ/}},  containing {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, or {{IPA|/k/}}, and ending with {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/r/}}, or {{IPA|/w/}}{{efn|If the {{angbr|ew}} {{IPA|/juː/}} is thought of as consonant plus vowel rather than as a diphthong, three-consonant clusters also occur in words such as ''skew'' {{IPA|/ˈskjuː/}}}}; the longest possible final cluster is five consonants, as in ''angsts'' ({{IPA|/ˈæŋksts/}}),{{cn|date=September 2023}} though this is rare (perhaps owing to being derived from a recent German loanword<ref name="AngstEtymology">{{cite web|last1=Harper|first1=Douglas|title=angst|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=angst|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=17 March 2016|ref=4}}</ref>). However, the {{IPA|/k/}} in ''angsts'' may also be considered [[epenthesis|epenthetic]]; for [[prince–prints merger|many speakers]], nasal-sibilant sequences in the [[syllable#Coda|coda]] require insertion of a voiceless stop [[homorganic consonant|homorganic]] to the nasal. For speakers without this feature, the word is pronounced without the {{IPA|/k/}}. Final clusters of four consonants, as in ''angsts'' in other dialects ({{IPA|/ˈæŋsts/}}), ''twelfths'' {{IPA|/ˈtwɛlfθs/}}, ''sixths'' {{IPA|/ˈsɪksθs/}}, ''bursts'' {{IPA|/ˈbɜːrsts/}} (in [[Rhoticity in English|rhotic accents]]) and ''glimpsed'' {{IPA|/ˈɡlɪmpst/}}, are more common. Within compound words, clusters of five consonants or more are possible (if cross-syllabic clusters are accepted), as in ''handspring'' {{IPA|/ˈhændsprɪŋ/}} and in the Yorkshire place-name of ''[[Hampsthwaite]]'' {{IPA|/hæmpsθweɪt/}}.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

It is important to distinguish clusters and [[Digraph (orthography)|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 {{angbr|sh}} together represent the single consonant {{IPA|[ʃ]}}. Conversely, the letter {{angbr|x}} can produce the consonant clusters {{IPA|/ks/}} (annex), {{IPA|/gz/}} (exist), {{IPA|/kʃ/}} (sexual), or {{IPA|/gʒ/}} (some pronunciations of "luxury"). It is worth noting that {{angbr|x}} often produces sounds in two different syllables (following the general principle of saturating the subsequent syllable before assigning sounds to the preceding syllable).  Also note a combination digraph and cluster as seen in ''length'' with two digraphs {{angbr|ng}}, {{angbr|th}} representing a cluster of two consonants: {{IPA|/ŋθ/}} (although it may be pronounced {{IPA|/ŋkθ/}} instead, as {{angbr|ng}} followed by a voiceless consonant in the same syllable often does); ''lights'' with a silent digraph {{angbr|gh}} followed by a cluster {{angbr|t}}, {{angbr|s}}: {{IPA|/ts/}}; and compound words such as ''sightscreen'' {{IPA|/ˈsaɪtskriːn/}} or ''catchphrase'' {{IPA|/ˈkætʃfreɪz/}}.

== Frequency==
Not all consonant clusters are distributed equally among the languages of the world. Consonant clusters have a tendency to fall under patterns such as the [[Sonority Sequencing Principle|sonority sequencing principle]] (SSP); the closer a consonant in a cluster is to the syllable's vowel, the more [[Sonority hierarchy|sonorous]] the consonant is. Among the most common types of clusters are initial stop-[[liquid consonant|liquid]] sequences, such as in [[Thai language|Thai]] (e.g. {{IPA|/pʰl/}}, {{IPA|/tr/}}, and {{IPA|/kl/}}). Other common ones include initial stop-approximant (e.g. Thai {{IPA|/kw/}}) and initial fricative-liquid (e.g. English {{IPA|/sl/}}) sequences. More rare are sequences which defy the SSP such as [[Proto-Indo-European phonology|Proto-Indo-European]] {{IPA|/st/}} and {{IPA|/spl/}} (which many of its descendants have, including English). Certain consonants are more or less likely to appear in consonant clusters, especially in certain positions. The [[Tsou language]] of Taiwan has initial clusters such as {{IPA|/tf/}}, which doesn't violate the SSP, but nonetheless is unusual in having the labio-dental {{IPA|/f/}} in the second position. The cluster {{IPA|/mx/}} is also rare, but occurs in [[Russian language|Russian]] words such as {{lang|ru|мха}} ({{IPA|/mxa/}}).

Consonant clusters at the ends of syllables are less common but follow the same principles. Clusters are more likely to begin with a liquid, approximant, or nasal and end with a fricative, affricate, or stop, such as in English "world" {{IPA|/wə(ɹ)ld/}}. Yet again, there are exceptions, such as English "lapse" {{IPA|/læps/}}.

== See also ==
* [[English consonant cluster reductions]]
* [[Vowel cluster]]
* [[Conjunct consonant]]
* [[Consonant stacking]]

==Notes==
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== References ==
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[[Category:Phonotactics]]
[[Category:Phonetics]]
[[Category:Phonology]]