SEEU Review vol. 5 Nr. 2 (pdf) - South East European University

Mentor Hamiti, Visar Shehu and Agni Dika
around which the syllable is focused on and they also secure the unity and
sonority of a syllable. Viewed as a configuration, syllables can have one or
more consonants organized in front of a vowel, after a vowel or on both
sides of a vowel. In this context, when syllables finish with a vowel they are
called open syllables and when they finish with a consonant they are called
closed syllables. Usually the accent on a syllable falls on its vowel, since it
has a higher sonority.
A syllable can be defined from many standpoints. E.g.:
Physiological – when accent is given to the human anatomy and the
model of articulating syllables. Starting from the changes in the
chest area, supporting organs and changes of the muscular tension of
the speech apparatus, generated impulses are analyzed which
actually represent concrete syllables from the speech point of view.
Acoustic – syllables in this case are treated as a combinatioin of
sounds with different sonorities. The maximal sonority is treated as a
peak of a syllable and in fact it is defined by the corresponding
vowel, while the consonants are treated as supporting sounds and
characterized by lower sonority.
Listening – is based on syllable analyses compared with the height
of the sound, where sound variations (low and hight sounds) are
treated as separate syllables.
The mechanism of forming syllables and splitting words into syllables is
considered as one of the most complex problems in linguistics. There are
different theories, but none of them solves the problem in a universal way
for every language. Therefore, their application is limited and linked to
issues in individual languages. Among the most popular theories of forming
syllables and splitting words into syllables are: the expiration theory,
muscular tension theory and the theory of sonority.
II. 1. The theory of expiration
The argument behind this theory is based on physiological criteria. This
theory explains syllables as a group of sounds that can be pronounced in one
breath during the breathing process. Each new outgoing air stream defines
borders between syllables. This theory is considered as old since it does not
give any objective criteria for defining borders between syllables and besides
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