Syllable and syllable onsets - Japanese and English

O'Grady, Gerard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1730-9074 2023. Syllable and syllable onsets - Japanese and English. Wang, Bo and Ma, Yuanyi, eds. Theorizing and Applying Systemic Functional Linguistics, New York: Routledge, pp. 70-96.

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Abstract

In this chapter, I will briefly review previous studies of systemic functional linguistic phonology and especially Matthiessen's (2021) work in this area. There will initially be a discussion of the rank scale focusing on the fact that each language/variety needs to be described in its own terms. This will lead to a discussion of phonology as a sounding resource and an examination of the sound wave in terms of field, tenor and mode. I then examine the relationship between the 20 most frequently occurring English syllable onsets and the following vowel, demonstrate that considering the relation between onsets and vowels in terms of probabilities, and illustrate the relative interdependence of consonant and vowel systems. Shifting focus and examining the English onsets clusters as charged fields, I demonstrate the similarity of function between onset phonaesthemes in English and ideophones in Japanese. In summary, the richness and delicacy of an SFL approach allow for a theoretical description of sounding potential that recognizes both human biology and the fact that each language has developed its own contingent set of phonological choices.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781003041238
Related URLs:	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003041238
Last Modified:	06 Mar 2024 15:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/164038

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