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The Consonantal Coefficient in Selected Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Yuri A. Tambovtsev
Yuri A. Tambovtsev*
Affiliation:
University of Novosibirsk
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Extract

In this paper, the consonantal coefficient is defined as the ratio of consonants to vowels occurring in continuous spoken texts in any one language. The vowel coefficient is the reciprocal, i.e. the ratio of vowels to consonants in the same type of texts. For example, if a text consisted of all vowels and no consonants, the value of the consonantal coefficient would be zero. The vocalic coefficient would theoretically be infinity, but no comparison could actually be made. Similarly, in a text that was all consonants and no vowels, the values would be reversed. In a text in which the number of vowels and consonants was equal, the value of both the consonantal coefficient and the vocalic coefficient would be 1, or unity. The use of the coefficient gives us a method for the classification of languages that can be of use in typological studies, just as the coefficient of stem to inflection or vice-versa can give us another index for typological classification.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , Summer 1985 , pp. 179 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1985

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References

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