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Module Three
Syllable
Learning Activity Two:
The Sonority Scale and the Sonority Sequencing Generalization (SSG)

Instructional aims:
At the end of the class the students are expected to be able to:
1. explain what is meant by Sonority Scale and Sonority Sequencing Generalization.
2. provide examples of sonority profiles of English words.
3. explain the notion of existing words, possible words, impossible words.
4. provide examples of words that obey and violate the SSG in English.

A. Learning Material
3.2.1 The Sonority Scale
The term sonority refers to acoustic quality, roughly defined as loudness or audibility of a
segment. As a matter of fact, segments are different with respect to sonority values, where
stops being the least sonorous and vowels being the most sonorous. In between lie fricatives,
nasals, liquids, and glides. The following continuum (summarized from Spencer 1996)
illustrates the point more clearly where the figure in parentheses below each group of
segments shows the sonority value of those segments.
The Sonority Scale:
the least sonorous the most sonorous
<-|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------|->
stops fricatives nasals liquids glides vowels
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

This sonority scale plays a role in describing the consonant clusters in the onset and the
coda. As a matter of fact when there are more than one onset and/or coda consonants, there is
a tendency that the order of consonants follows a regular sonority pattern where the
consonants closer to the nucleus are generally more sonorous than those which are farther
away from the nucleus.

3.2.2 The Sonority Sequence Generalization (SSG)

The order of consonants in onset and coda positions ...................................
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Selkirk (1984) in Spencer 1996 summarizes this general tendency in what she calls Sonority
Sequencing Generalization (SSG) as follows:

“In any syllable, there is a segment constituting a sonority peak that is

preceded and/or followed by a sequence of segments with progressively
Decreasing sonority values.”

Put differently, if there are two onset or coda consonants, the inner consonant (i.e. the one
closer to the nucleus) is normally more sonorous than the outer one. Let us take the word
plant /plænt/, for example. This monosyllabic word consists of five segments, a vocalic
nucleus, two onset consonants, and two coda consonants. The sonority peak lies on the
vocalic nucleus /æ/. Preceding it are two consonants /pl/ with decreasing sonority values
(counting from the peak), where the liquid /l/ has a higher sonority value (4) than the stop /p/
(1). Following the nucleus [æ] are also two coda consonants /nt/ with decreasing sonority
values where [n] (3) is higher in sonority than [t] (1). The sonority profile of the word plant
/plænt/ is manifested in the following way:

p l æ n t

We can describe this sonority profile starting from the left edge of the word that the sonority
slope goes upward before the peak and goes downward after the peak. Put it another way by
starting from the peak we can say that the sonority slop goes downward to both edges of the
word. In general, English words follow this tendency, as can be seen in words like brand,
blast, crisp, print, trend, clamp, etc. where the inner consonants are all more sonorous than
the outer ones. We can say that this is the basic sonority profile of syllables with complex
onsets and codas. Let us call this the core syllable of English. This in turn explains why in
English there are no (and will never be) words of the shape *lpatn, *rpitn, *rtedn, *lcapm, etc.
The simple explanation to these illicit word shapes is that they all violate the Sonority
Sequencing Generalization (SSG), where the outer consonants are more sonorous than the
inner ones. If we give the sonority profile of a nonce (non-existing word) of the shape *lpatn,
the profile will be something like the following.
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l p æ t n
In this sonority profile there are three sonority peaks located on /æ/, /l/, and [n/ because the
sonority peak is not preceded and or followed by downward sonority slopes, but rather curved
sonority slopes, creating two extra peaks on /l/ and /n/. This violates SSG, which requires
downward sonority slopes before and after the peak.
Yet however neat the generalization might be, counterexamples are not hard to come by.
Take for example the onsets of words like spy, stay, and sky, and the codas of words like sex,
lapse, and text. The complex onsets and codas of all these examples violate the SSG in that
the outer consonants are more sonorous than the inner ones. How to account for these
phenomena? As can be seen from the examples above, all words involve /s/ either in onsets or
in codas. Yet, not all words containing /s/ in codas violate SSG. In many words, for example,
ask, past, grasp, and mask, /s/ poses no problems in that they all obey the SSG. In many
instances, /s/ violates the SSG in words containing letter „x‟ such as sex, text, context, and in
words containing suffixes; i.e. bi-morphemic or poly-morphemic words such as cats, locks,
looked, begged, etc. Irrespective of all the counterexamples to the SSG as demonstrated by /s/
and suffixes like –s and –ed, the SSG is a quite good tool to the prediction of the well-
formedness of the word shape of English. At least, it will guide us to predict the possible (i.e.,
potential) and impossible English words (i.e., nonces).
There have been several proposals in the literature of English phonology put forth to solve
the problem of /s/ to the SSG. Yet it must be admitted that so far the problem of /s/ has not yet
been solved satisfactorily. One solution to this problem (see Spencer 1996, and Giegerich
1992 among others) is to assume that the /s/ whether it is in the onset or in the coda does not
belong to the core syllable; rather they are appendices to the core syllable. By appendices here
we mean the /s/ is not associated with the node immediately dominating it, but rather it is
associated with a higher dominating node; the syllable for the consonantal onset, and the
rhyme for the consonantal coda (see the original works of the two authors cited above for a
detailed account of this phenomenon).

B. Conclusion
To sum up, sonority scale is the grouping of segments based on their sonority values. The
most sonorous segments are the vowels to be followed by glides, liquids, nasals, fricatives,
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and the least sonorous are the stops. The Sonority Sequencing Generalization (SSG) is the
tendency of the segments of consonant clusters in onsets and codas to be ordered in such a
way that the inner consonant is more sonorous the outer one, giving a sonority profile where
the sonority slope goes upward before the peak and downward after the peak (starting from
the left). There are some violations to this generalization which involve /s/ and affixes.
Dispite those violations, the SSG is an effective device to predict the possible and the
impossible words of English, where a string of segments that violates the SSG is unlikely to
become part of English vocabulary.

C. Exercises
1. Draw the sonority profiles of the following words. Give the sonority value of the
segment at the bottom of each vertical line.
blend, smiles and print
2. Find other English words that contain consonant clusters in onsets and or codas that
obey the SSG and words that violate the SSG (at least three words each).

3.Create at least three strings of segments that might become part of English vocabulary,
and three strings of segments that are unlikely to become parts of English vocabulary.

D. Formative Tests
1. Which of the following groups of segments is the most sonorous?
a. liquids b. glides c. nasals d. obstruents

2. According to the Sonority Sequencing Generalization, in a complex onset or coda

a. the outer consonant is more sonorous than the inner one.
b. the inner consonant is less sonorous than the outer one.
c. the outer consonant is as sonorous as the inner one.
d. the inner consonant is more sonorous than the outer one.

3. All of the following words obey SSG, EXCEPT …

a. stopped b. dreams c. blast d. smiles

4. Which of the following nonces is NOT a possible English word?

a. twall b. lmast c. preack d. drack
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