> However, languages can pick and choose which of these they actually
> distinguish between. English, for example, uses the following classes:
> 1) Stops and fricatives
> 2) Nasals
> 3) Liquids and semivowels ([j] and [w])
> 4) All other vowels
> This obviously combines several of the possible distinctions above.
> The notion of sonority class also interacts with the idea of "minimum
> sonority distance", which specifies how far apart segments at the beginning
> of a syllable must be. In English, the minimum sonority distance is 2.
> Therefore, [pl], [kr], and [tw] are valid ways to begin an English
> syllable, but [pm] and [nl] are not since the sonority of those segments
> is too close together.
[sn]ow, [st]ring.
______________________________________________________________________
Do you want a free e-mail for life ? Get it at http://www.email.ro/