SPECULATIONS INTO THE DISTRIBUTIVE FUNCTION OF CONSONANTS AND VOWELS IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE

Page No.: 
47
Writer(s): 
Mamoru Kinjo, Shuri Language Center and Okinawa International University

It is proposed in this paper that the air pressure involved
in producing the speech sounds of English
is much stronger than that required in Japanese.
Some analyses of the composition of English and
Japanese words in terms of the ratio of consonant
to vowel sounds in a syllable are presented to prove
the point. Through this discussion, some peculiarities
in the composition of English words are revealed
in support of the theory of stronger air
pressure being necessary in the production of
English speech sounds. The proposition is further
elucidated through the examination of phenomena
peculiar to English.
This paper concludes that the differing levels
of air pressure involved in the production of speech
sounds in English and Japanese should be studied
much more carefully than has hitherto been done.

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