The principle theories of syllable formation

Speech can be broken into minimal pronounceable units into which sounds show tendency to group themselves. These smallest phonetic groups are generally given the name of syllables. There are different points of view on syllable formation, which arе the following.

- THE MOST ANCIENT THEORY states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. This theory is primitive and insufficient since it does not take into consideration consonants which also can form syllables in some languages. And it doesn’t explain the boundary of syllables.

- THE EXPIRATORY THEORY states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are expiration (выдох) pulses. The borderline between the syllables is, according to this theory, the moment of the weakest expiration. This theory is inconsistent, because it is quite possible to pronounce several syllables in one expiration, e.g. seeing.

- THE SONORITY THEORY founded by Jespersen. It states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are peaks of sonority. Speech sounds pronounced with the same force, length and pitch, differ in sonority. For ex, when the Rus. vowels /а, о, э/ are pronounced on one and the same level, their acoustic intensity, or sonority is different: the strongest is /a/, then go /о, э/.

O. Jespersen established the scale of sonority of sounds, that is, the scale of their sonority. According to this scale the most sonorous are back vowels (low, mid, high), then go semi-vowels and sonorants, then - voiced and voiceless consonants.

- THE ARC OF LOUDNESS THEORY is based on the Scherba’s statement that the centre of the syl. is the syl. forming phoneme. Sounds which precede or follow it constitute a chain or an arc which is weak in the beginning and in the end and strong in the middle.

If a syl. consists of a vowel its strength increases in the beginning, reaches the maximum of loudness and then gradually decreases.

Scherbs distinguishes the following types of cons-s: finally strong (initially weak), they occur at the begin. of the syl; finally weak – occur at the end of the closed syl.; double peaked (combination of two similar sounds) – in their articulation the beginning and the end are energetic and the middle is weak.

Ex, in the words cab the cons-s /k/ is finally strong, its articulatory strength increases to the end.