English Onset and Coda Consonant Clusters

English has many consonant clusters. They can consist of either two, three or four consonants. Consonant clusters with four syllables are restricted to the coda. Consonant clusters with three and four consonants always include /s/.

Examples of consonant clusters with four consonants include glimpsed and twelfths. If the definition of consonant cluster includes consonant sequences which occur across syllable boundaries, the word extra can also be used as an example. However, not all linguists consider extra an example of a word with a sequence of four consonants because they prefer to restrict consonant clusters to a single syllable.

Consonant clusters can be classified according to sonority. Rising consonant clusters usually occur at the beginning of words and syllables. Examples include drink, three and flight. The second consonant is more sonorant than the first. However, falling consonant clusters are usually found at the end of words and syllables. Examples include belt, lens and wind. Here the first consonant is more sonorant than the second.

In word-medial position, both rising and falling consonant clusters occur. The words athlete has a rising consonant cluster, but dancer has a falling one. The consonant clusters in words such as athlete, only and recently can only occur word-medially.

Though word-initial clusters in English are restricted to those with rising sonority, word-final clusters are not always restricted to those with falling sonority. For example, the words axe and act do not exemplify falling sonority. Voiceless plosives are the least sonorant on the sonority scale.

The English language allows many types of consonant clusters. This is in fact true of all Germanic languages. The consonant clusters permissible in the onset and coda are often different. Onset consonant clusters are rising consonant clusters and coda consonant clusters are usually falling consonant clusters.