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Longman Pronunciation Dictionary transcription for those words favor separating /b/ (or /p/) and /r/ so "represent" is transcribed as /ˌrep.rɪ.ˈzent/.

Though at the beginning of the book, Prof. Wells also noted that there's no pause between syllable divisors when pronouncing words, this transcription however makes the /r/ voiced (due to the unaspirated /p/) which, from some popular dictionaries such as Oxford, I don't hear any voice for it.

Suppose I hear it correctly, i.e. the /r/ in "represent" is pronounced voiceless, then should the transcription change to /ˌrepr.ɪ.ˈzent/ or even slightly better /ˌre.ˌprɪ.ˈzent/?

Note: I don't have much experience and the tool to analyze the formants of sounds, so I can only resort to my ears to predict if the sound /r/ is voiced or voiceless.

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    Syllabification is not a straightforward matter. Doing it the way you suggest has the downside that the vowel in re- is the checked vowel /ε/, where ‘checked’ means that (outside of onomatopoeia a few rare exceptions) it only appears in closed syllables. So wherever you put the syllable boundary, you’re left with a problem. Assuming the /p/ is ambisyllabic might help.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Sep 2 at 11:55
  • Ohm, you're right! I forgot the checked/unchecked vowels rule.
    – Tran Khanh
    Commented Sep 2 at 12:45

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