The Phonotactic Impact of Heterosyllabic Consonants and English Silent Letters in L2 Context

Abstract

For many people learning English as a second language, the language’s irregular spelling system poses real challenges, unlike Yorùbá, Hausa, or Igbo, where words sound the way, they are written. The mismatch between letters and sounds often leads to tricky pronunciation slips. Silent letters, like the soft “th” in asthma, make spelling even tougher. This study explores how the position of consonants within or across syllables affects second‑language speakers’ pronunciation of those silent letters. This paper examines two key features: consonant clusters inside a single syllable, and consonant clusters spanning two syllables. The researcher analysed perceptual cues, phonological traits, phonotactic patterns, and the spelling of silent letters. The finding revealed that some Yorùbá learners tend to misplace syllable breaks and pronounce silent letters unknowingly. Therefore, understanding how phonotactics, syllable patterns, and silent letters interact becomes inevitable to overcoming the articulatory problems faced by L2 English learners.