What is the sonority scale?

Definition

The sonority scale is a list of phonetic segments showing the relative resonance of phonetic segments in relation to other segments.

Also known as:

The scale of consonantal strength

Discussion
	Sonority is the resonance of a sound in relation to other sounds. A sonority scale shows the sonority of a sound in relation to other sounds.

Diagram
	Here is a diagram that shows the relative sonority of different phones:

Source
	Burquest and Payne 1993 101

Concept module: sonority scale
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): S
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004