6.2 Number of Syllables
6.2 Number of Syllable
(1) Speakers of English do not have a great deal of difficulty in identifying the
number of syllables in most words:
consumptiveness, docility → 4 syll.
divinatory, cosmographical → 5 syll.
(2) There are some words where there are disagreements due to dialectal
differences:
military [mɪ.lə.tɛ.ri] 4 syll. in AE / [mɪ.lə.tri] 3 syll. In BE
veteran [vɛ.tə.rən] 3 syll. / [vɛ.trən] 2 syll.
management [mæ.nəʤ.mənt] 3 syll. / [mænʤ.mənt] 2 syll.
(3) The number of syllables will vary depending on whether the nasal conso-
nant
is syllabic or not:
chasm [kæzm] 1 syll. Catholicism [kə.ɵa.lə.sɪzm] 4 syll.
[kæ.zṃ] 2 syll. [kə.ɵa.lə.sɪ.zṃ] 5 syll.
fire : monosyllable: [ ], disyllable: [ ]
(1) Speakers of English do not have a great deal of difficulty in identifying th
number of syllables in most words:
consumptiveness, docility → 4 syll.
divinatory, cosmographical → 5 syll.
(2) There are some words where there are disagreements due to dialectal
differences:
military [mɪ.lə.tɛ.ri] 4 syll. in AE / [mɪ.lə.tri] 3 syll. In BE
veteran [vɛ.tə.rən] 3 syll. / [vɛ.trən] 2 syll.
management [mæ.nəʤ.mənt] 3 syll. / [mænʤ.mənt] 2 syll.
(3) The number of syllables will vary depending on whether the nasal conso
nant
is syllabic or not:
chasm [kæzm] 1 syll. Catholicism [kə.ɵa.lə.sɪzm] 4 syll.
[kæ.zṃ] 2 syll. [kə.ɵa.lə.sɪ.zṃ] 5 syll.
fire : monosyllable: [ ], disyllable: [ ]
6.3 Sonority
6.3 Sonorit
(1) The sonority of a sound is primarily related to the degree of opening of a
vocal tract during its articulation. The more open the vocal tract is for a
sound, the higher its sonority will be.
(2) Thus vowels, which are produced with a greater degree of opening, will be
higher on the sonority scale than fricative or stops, which are produced
either with a narrow opening or with a complete closure of the articulators.
(3) The voiced sound will have a higher degree of sonority than the
voiceless counterpart.
(4) Low vowels, which have the maximum degree of opening, will have the
highest sonority, and voiceless stops, which have no opening and no
voicing, will have the lowest sonority.
(1) The sonority of a sound is primarily related to the degree of opening of a
vocal tract during its articulation. The more open the vocal tract is for a
sound, the higher its sonority will be.
(2) Thus vowels, which are produced with a greater degree of opening, will be
higher on the sonority scale than fricative or stops, which are produce
either with a narrow opening or with a complete closure of the articulators.
(3) The voiced sound will have a higher degree of sonority than the
voiceless counterpart.
(4) Low vowels, which have the maximum degree of opening, will have the
highest sonority, and voiceless stops, which have no opening and no
voicing, will have the lowest sonority.
Sounds Sonority values Examples
Low vowels 10 /a, æ/
Mid vowels 9 /e, o/
High vowels(and glides) 8 /i, u/
Flaps(retroflex) 7 /r/
Laterals 6 /l/
Nasals 5 /m, n, ŋ/
Voiced fricatives 4 /v, ð, z/
Voiceless fricatives 3 /f, ɵ, s/
Voiced stops 2 /b, d, g/
Voiceless stops 1 /p, t, k/
(5) Sonority values are progressively decreasing according to the
sequence of
preceding and following sounds of the syllable peak:
[ p r ɪ n t] ‘print’
sonority value : 1 7 8 5 1
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
[p ʌ b l ɪ s ə t i ] [ k a n d ə m n e ʃ ə n]
‘publicity’ ‘condemnation’
The principle of peaks of sonority correctly identifies the number of sylla-
bles,
four, in these two cases.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
[p ɪ k l ] [ s ʌ d n] ← [l] and [n] are syllabic.
/pɪkəl/ ‘pickle’ /sʌdən/ ‘sudden’
Since the existence of syllabic consonants is due to the deletion of the re-
duced
vowel [ə], they are confined to unstressed syllables. In stressed syllables, we
always have full vowels of the syllabic peaks; the syllabic consonants have
no chance to be stressed.
