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11
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In the case of the word caprice, by the rules that we have defined so far, it would seem that both of the following structures are possible.
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(a)
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(b)
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How could both structures be possible in caprice, but not in cutlass?
Remember how structure (b) was disallowed for cutlass. Structure (b) was disallowed, because it would include a [tl] as a tautosyllabic consonant cluster. We knew that [tl] was not a good onset cluster in English because of the fact that it could not appear at the beginning of English words.
In the case of caprice, structure (b) would have a [pr] as a tautosyllabic consonant cluster. Words such as price, pride, probably, etc. show us that [pr] is a perfectly acceptable onset cluster, because each of those words begin with [pr].
Therefore, we could not rule out structure (b) for caprice, as we did for cutlass.
So, which is it then? One possible answer is that structure (b) is the correct structure, because it fills up the onset of the second syllable with as much content as is possible, given the restrictions on onset clusters. This is known as the Maximum Onset Principle, which states that as many consonants as possible will be syllabified into the onset. This principle is an extension of the idea that onsets are syllabified before codas. This is generally accepted as a universal concept: syllables prefer onsets, and disprefer codas.
In the next section, syllabic resonants will be discussed.