Hyphenation ofcérébro-spinales

Linguistic Analysis of "cérébro-spinales"

1. Examination & Pronunciation:

The word "cérébro-spinales" is a compound adjective in French, meaning "cerebrospinal." It combines elements relating to the brain ("cérébro-") and the spinal cord ("spinales"). Pronunciation involves careful attention to liaison and elision, common in French.

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid breaking consonant clusters unless they are complex, the division is as follows (using only original letters):

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: cérébro- (from Latin cerebrum - brain). Morphological function: specifies the location or origin relating to the brain.
• Root: spinal- (from Latin spina - spine). Morphological function: relates to the spinal cord.
• Suffix: -ales (French adjectival suffix, derived from Latin). Morphological function: forms an adjective.

4. Stress Identification:

In French, stress typically falls on the last syllable of a word or phrase. In this case, the stress falls on "-les".

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/se.ʁe.bʁo.spi.nal/

6. Edge Case Review:

The compound nature of the word presents a slight complexity. However, French generally treats compound words as a single phonological unit for stress purposes.

7. Grammatical Role:

"Cérébro-spinales" functions primarily as an adjective. As an adjective, the stress pattern remains consistent.

8. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: Relating to both the brain and the spinal cord.
• Translation: Cerebrospinal
• Grammatical Category: Adjective
• Synonyms: None readily available as it's a specific anatomical term.
• Antonyms: None readily available.
• Examples:
  • "Le liquide cérébro-spinal" (The cerebrospinal fluid)
  • "Une infection cérébro-spinale" (A cerebrospinal infection)

9. Phonological Comparison:

• "automobile": au-to-mo-bile. Similar vowel-consonant structure. Stress on the final syllable.
• "universitaire": u-ni-ver-si-taire. Similar suffix structure (-aire). Stress on the final syllable.
• "responsable": res-pon-sa-ble. Similar syllable structure with vowel-consonant alternation. Stress on the final syllable.

The consistency in final syllable stress across these words reinforces the general rule in French.

Detailed Syllable Breakdown & Rules:

Division Rules Applied:

1. Vowel Nucleus Rule: Each syllable must contain a vowel sound.
2. Consonant Cluster Rule: Consonant clusters are generally kept together within a syllable unless they are complex and disrupt the flow of pronunciation.
3. Final Syllable Rule: French words generally have stress on the final syllable.

Special Considerations:

The hyphenated structure reflects the compound nature of the word, but the syllabification follows standard French rules.

Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

While the standard pronunciation is as transcribed, slight regional variations in vowel quality might occur. However, these variations do not significantly alter the syllable division.