Re: USAGE: syllables

Hi, Alexandre.

On Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 01:18  PM, Alexandre Lang wrote:

> I'd like someone to explain to me how syllables work in a language
> language
> please? I'm really confused about this.
> Let's say i have a word "forustruvat"
> would the syllables be...
> "for ust ru vat"?
> "fo rust ru vat"?
> "fo rus tru vat"?
> I'd appreciate anyone's help. thank you.
The answer to this question will depend on the language that the word
was taken from. I would probably have opted for the last
syllabification, based on three things:

(1)  Syllables are typically introduced by consonants.
(2)  Sequences of consonants typically occur at the beginnings of
syllables.
(3)  The sonority of consonants introducing a syllable should increase.

Your first example is excluded by (1), since the second syllable begins
with a vowel, and there is a consonant available (the "r").

Your first and second examples are excluded by (2), since the third
syllable in each case only has "r" introducing it, and there are two
other consonants which could potentially join it in introducing the
syllable (the "s" and "t").

An alternative syllabification (which may have occurred to the English
speakers on the list) is "fo ru stru vat", with the third syllable
being introduced by a cluster of three consonants "str". Without
knowing more about the language this word came from, I would exclude
this possibility by (3). Since the "s" is greater in sonority than the
"t" which follows it, it can't precede the "t" when introducing the
same syllable. However, English, and several other languages allow just
this possibility, possibly by appealing to a principle such as (4):

(4)  Syllables typically end with a vowel.

In your example, (3) and (4) conflict with each other, since leaving
"s" in the second syllable to satisfy (3) would violate (4). Without
knowing more about the possible words of this language, it's not
possible to say. Can words in this language begin with "str"? That
might provide a clue to how the syllabification of the word you've
shown us could be resolved.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga
Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"I believe that phonology is superior to music. It is more variable and
its pecuniary possibilities are far greater." - Erik Satie

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