Editing English language (section)

=== Phonotactics ===
An English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in ''sprint'' {{IPA|/sprɪnt/}}, and end with up to five, as in (for some dialects) ''angsts'' {{IPA|/aŋksts/}}. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCCC), where C represents a consonant and V a vowel; the word ''strengths'' {{IPA|/strɛŋkθs/}} is thus close to the most complex syllable possible in English. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in ''play''; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in ''fly'' or ''sly''; ''s'' and a voiceless stop, as in ''stay''; and ''s'', a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in ''string''.{{sfn|Brinton|Brinton|2010|page=60}} Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree in voicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: {{IPA|/h/}} can only occur in syllable-initial position, and {{IPA|/ŋ/}} only in syllable-final position.{{sfn|König|1994|pages=537–538}}