| UNIT 412-3: PHONETICS |
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| 412.3.8: THE SYLLABLE |
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| The syllable is a phonetic unit that is much talked about in the context of poetry and verse, and as such, it is considerable interest to would-be translators of verse. There are several ways of looking at the syllable. We discuss below three ways of theorizing about the syllable: |
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| 412.3.8.1: PEAK OF SONORITY |
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| One possible theory of the syllable is that syllables coincide with peaks of sonority. The sonority of a sound is its loudness relative to that of other sounds with the same length, stress and pitch. This theory explains why people agree on the number of syllables in the majority of words. In Hindi words such as [tala] 'lock', the two vowels clearly mark peaks of sonority. They are more sonorous than the other segments around them. This seems to explain our shared intuition that the word is bisyllabic. But as Ladefoged (1982) points out, this theory fails to account for themonosyllabicity of English words like spa. In this word both [s] and [a] are more sonorous than [p]. There are, therefore, two peaks of sonority in the words. But evidently, these peaks of sonority do not correspond to distinct syllables. The word spa is not bisyllabic. It has only one syllable. |
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| 412.3.8.2: PEAK OF PROMINENCE |
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| One way of avoiding this difficulty is to say that syllables are not marked by peaks in sonority but by peaks in prominence. The relative prominence of two sounds depends partly on their relative sonority, and partly on their actual length, stress and pitch. The word spa has two peaks of sonority, but only one peak of prominence coinciding with the vowel. The problem with this theory is that it is not possible to define a procedure for computing prominence from stress, pitch, length and sonority. |
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| 412.3.8.3: CHEST PULSE |
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| A completely different approach to the syllable was proposed by the psychologist R.H.Stetson (1951). According to him every syllable is initiated by a chest pulse - a contraction of the muscles of the rib cage that pushes air out of the lungs. Unfortunately, subsequent experimentation has not been able to uphold Stetson's theory of chest pulses. |
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| 412.3.8.4: THE STRUCTURE OF THE SYLLABLE |
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| A syllable is said to have a nucleus formed by a segment corresponding to a peak in sonority or prominence. More often than not, the nucleus of a syllable is formed by a vowel. A nucleus by itself may constitute a syllable. It is the necessary and sufficient constituent of the syllable. Constants following the nucleus in a syllable, such as the nasal [n] in [din] 'day', constitute its coda.Constants preceding the nucleus in a syllable (such as the constant [d] in the same word) constitute its onset. A syllables that has a coda is said to be a closed syllable.A syllable without a coda (such as [do] 'two') is said to be an open syllable.These facts about syllabic structure are of considerable importance to the metrical structure of verse. For instance, certain varieties of classical Sanskrit meters distinguished between light and heavy syllables. All closed syllables were considered to be heavy. On the other hand while open syllable with long vowels were considered to be heavy, those with short vowels were not. |
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| Points to Remember |
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| 412.3.9: SUMMARY |
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| In this chapter you have studied the basic principles of acoustic and articulatory phonetics, keeping in view the needs of the translator. You have read about the basic terms concepts of acoustic phonetics such as frequency, pitch and amplitude in terms of which the physical phenomenon of speech sounds may be studied and analyzed. You have read about the anatomy of the speech organs and how they work together to produce speech. You have learnt about the points and manner of articulation and about the classification, nomenclature and transcription of speech sounds. You have also read about syllable structure and the various theories of the syllable. To evaluate your understanding and to consolidate your knowledge about the subject matter of this chapter, you should attempt to answer the questions given below. |
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