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Sonority

The document discusses sonority theory, which proposes that the sonority, or relative loudness, of speech sounds affects syllable structure. According to the theory, syllables peak in sonority, with vowels being more sonorous than consonants. Speech sounds can be ranked on a sonority scale from most to least sonorous. The sonority sequencing generalization also governs syllable onsets and codas such that more sonorous sounds are closer to the peak. Exceptions exist, such as some onsets containing /s/. Overall, sonority theory provides insights into syllable structure and sound patterns.

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Dewi Safira
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664 views13 pages

Sonority

The document discusses sonority theory, which proposes that the sonority, or relative loudness, of speech sounds affects syllable structure. According to the theory, syllables peak in sonority, with vowels being more sonorous than consonants. Speech sounds can be ranked on a sonority scale from most to least sonorous. The sonority sequencing generalization also governs syllable onsets and codas such that more sonorous sounds are closer to the peak. Exceptions exist, such as some onsets containing /s/. Overall, sonority theory provides insights into syllable structure and sound patterns.

Uploaded by

Dewi Safira
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

SONORITY

Sonoroty theory
• The term sonoroty;

• The sonority of a speech sound is


discussed as “its relative loudness
compared to other sounds” (Giegerich,
1992: 132) .
Sonority theory
• An approach towards understanding syllable
is
• presented by sonority theory .According to
• this theory the pulses of pulmonic air stream
(the flow of air from the lungs under comparatively
constant pressure, used in forming speech sounds)
in speech “correspond to peaks in sonority”
• (Giegerich, 1992: 132)
Thus according to this theory…

each syllable corresponds to a peak in the flow


rate of pulmonic air. Thus nuclear elements, or
syllabic segments can be described as
intrinsically more sonorous than marginal, or
non-syllabic elements.
Sonority hierarchy
• Speech sounds can be ranked in terms of their
intrinsic sonority according to a sonority
scale( the degree of sonority of different classes
of sounds affect their possible positions in the
syllable)
Sonority hierarchy
• The sonority scale for English is given below
(although in principle it is also valid for other
languages).
• Voiced segments are more sonorous than
voiceless ones and sonorants are more
sonorous than obstruents; vowels are more
sonorous than consonants, open vowels being
more sonorous than close ones.
• The disyllabic word painting /ˈpeɪntɪŋ/ has been
plotted onto the sonority scale as an example.
• As can be seen from the chart, there are two
peaks of sonority in the phoneme string /p-eɪ-
n-t-ɪ-ŋ/, namely the vowels /eɪɪ/. This is to
indicate that the number of syllables is 2 as
well.
• The sonority scale, like all the approaches
outlined above, is of little help when it comes to
delimiting separate syllables, however.
The Sonority Sequencing
Generalisation

The Sonority Sequencing Generalization governs the


shape of both onsets and codas. the Sonority
Sequencing Generalization, and governs the shape of
both onsets and codas. a
The Sonority Sequencing
Generalisation

Here, the most sonorous sounds appear at


the top, and the least sonorous at the
bottom.
Low vowels [ɑ ] …
High vowels [i u]
… Glides [j w]
Liquids [l ɹ]
Nasals [m n ŋ]
Voiced fricatives [v z] …
Voiceless fricatives [f s] …
Voiced plosives [b d ]
Voiceless plosives [p t k]
Gragh of tramp:
The Sonority Sequencing Generalisation
…..rules out
Onset
lp--------------play
Jm-------------muse
rg grey
Onset
pm lamp
kl--------------- silk
mr--------------
harm
The Sonority Sequencing
Generalisation
Exception of onset/s/
The onset clusters in spray and skew
there is no question of drawing a syllable boundary here and recognizing
two syllables within the same word,as [s] is not one of the English
consonants which can become nuclear, or
syllabic.

The same problem arises in codas. We would normally use a sonority


pattern to tell us a syllable division should be made, giving two syllables in
little, but one in foxs
Conclusion
Sonority is loosely defined as the loudness of speech
sounds relative to other sounds of the same pitch,
length and stress, therefore sonority is often related
to rankings for phones to their amplitude. 
For example, pronouncing the vowel [a] will produce
a louder sound than the stop [t], so [a] would rank
higher in the hierarchy.
This relates to the degree to which production of
phones results in vibrations of air particles. Thus,
sounds that are described as more sonorous are less
subject to masking by ambient noises.

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