24. The definition of the syllable. The expiratory theory of syllable formation.
The definition of the syllable. The expiratory theory of syllable formation.
Syllables may be defined as the smallest pronounceable units into which sounds tend to group themselves and which in their turn are joined into meaningful language units that are morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. There are several theories of syllable formation and syllable division and none of them is shared by all linguists.
The so-called “breath-puff” (expiratory, chest-pulse, or pressure) theory is based on the fact that expiration in speech is not a continuous and uninterrupted process as it is in ordinary breathing, but a pulsating one. According to this theory there are as many syllables in a word as there are expiration pulses made during its utterance, because each syllable corresponds to a single expiration. Each vowel sound is pronounced with a fresh expiration, so vowel sounds are always syllabic. The borderline between the syllables is, according to this theory, at the point where a fresh expiratory pulse begins that is the moment of the weakest expiration. The American scholar Stetson tried to prove the validity of the expiratory theory of the syllable by an instrumental investigation of syllable formation and syllable division.
The expiratory theory is strongly criticized by both Russian and foreign linguists. Thus N.I. Zhinkin questions the correctness of the instrumental techniques used by Stetson and doubts the validity of his conclusions which run counter to easily observable facts, because more than ten syllables are easily uttered with a single expiration. G.P. Torsuyev writes that in a phrase a number of words and consequently syllables can be pronounced with a single expiration without breaking it up into pulses. This theory is inconsistent also because of the impossibility of explaining all cases of syllable formation on its basis.
25. The definition of the syllable. The relative sonority theory of syllable formation.
The definition of the syllable. The relative sonority theory of syllable formation.
Syllables may be defined as the smallest pronounceable units into which sounds tend to group themselves and which in their turn are joined into meaningful language units that are morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. There are several theories of syllable formation and syllable division and none of them is shared by all linguists.
The so-called relative sonority theory of the syllable was put forward by O. Jespersen and further developed by other western linguists who often refer to it also as the “prominence” theory. By the term “sonority” is meant here the prevalence in a speech sound of musical tone over noise (hence the word “sonorant”). In this theory the term “sonority” is used in the meaning which is conveyed by the precise acoustic term “carrying power”. The latter means the acoustic property of speech sounds which determines the degree of their perceptibility. Thus, sonority theory is based upon the fact that each sound has a different carrying power. Jespersen by means of linguistic experiments proved that the most sonorous sounds are the vowels, the low vowels are more sonorous than the high and the back vowels are more sonorous than the front of corresponding height. Next lower in sonority are semi-vowels [w, j], the frictionless continuants [l, r, m, n, ŋ], the voice fricatives [v, ð, z, 3], the voice stops (plosives) [b, d, g], the voiceless fricatives [f, θ, s, ∫] and least sonorous of all the voiceless stops (plosives) [p, t, k] which apart from their closure and release have no sound at all. The sonority theory states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are peaks of prominence according to the scale of sonority.
Ex. In the word “sudden” the most sonorous is the vowel [Λ], then goes the nasal sonorant [n], which forms the second peak of prominence, [s] and [d] are sounds of low sonority, they cannot be considered as syllable forming:
[s Λ d n]
So in any sequence the most sonorous sounds tend to form the center of the syllable and the least sonorous – the marginal segments; a syllable contains one peak of sonority (or prominence) separated from other peaks by “valleys” of lower sonority (or prominence).
The sonority theory helps to establish the number of syllables in a word, but fails to explain the actual mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division, because it does not state to which syllable the weak sound at the boundary of two syllables belongs. Besides it is valid only for the artificial conditions under which it was established. But in speech, length, force and pitch are constantly varying, so that the sonority of different speech sounds in actual use varies considerably from the established scale of sonority. Thus in the word “puzzle” [z] can be made much more “sonorous” than [l]. The drawbacks of this theory were admitted by its creator and its adherents D. Jones, A. Gimson.