THE M E A S U R E M E N T OF EUPHONY
G A B R I E L A L T M A N N (Bratislava)
The e u p h o n y is a c o m p l e x p h e n o m e n o m w h i c h m a y be objectively measured i n
v a r i o u s w a y s a c c o r d i n g to the f o r m i n w h i c h it appears. It m a y manifest itself ( 1 )
as the total p h o n i c c o m p o s i t i o n of the text or of its parts; ( 2 ) as a n e m p h a s i z a t i o n
of some phonemes i n some f o r m a t i o n m a i n l y i n the l i n e , regardless of their p o s i ­
t i o n ; ( 3 ) as a repetition of the same phonemes i n some positions, a n d ( 4 ) i n the
f o r m of v a r i o u s p h o n i c patterns w h i c h m a y also show a tendency for some regu­
l a r i t y . W e ascribe a e u p h o n i c effect to the phoneme ( c o m b i n a t i o n of phonemes,
sequence of phonemes) that is emphasized b y its n o n - r a n d o m occurrence. T h e
difference between some c u r r e n t l y used level a (say, 0,05) a n d the ( s m a l l e r )
p r o b a b i l i t y of the observed n u m b e r of the emphasized phoneme i n the l i n e is c o n ­
sidered the euphonic v a l u e of the phoneme. W e take, n a t u r a l l y , into account those
phonemes o n l y that occur i n the l i n e at least twice. T o make up a n i n d e x w h i c h
w o u l d measure the euphonic v a l u e of each phoneme i n the l i n e ( o c c u r i n g at least
t w i c s ) we proceed as follows: W e d i v i d e the phonemes of the l i n e a l w a y s into
the class of the phoneme investigated ( A ) a n d i n t o the class of a l l other phonemes
( A ) whereby we cancel a l l contrasts i n the A class, so that o n l y the contrast A : A
remains. T h e r e b y the d i s t r i b u t i o n a l relations w i l l be decomposed to such a n
extent that one cannot operate w i t h them a n y more. After this adjustment we
m a y a u t o m a t i c a l l y exclude the dependences a m o n g phonemes, since the transitio­
n a l p r o b a b i l i t i e s are, i n fact, the relative frequencies of d i s t r i b u t i o n a l ( a n d functio­
n a l ) relations. N o w we m a y compute the p r o b a b i l i t y of the occurrence of the
g i v e n phoneme i n the l i n e b y means of the b i n o m i a l d i s t r i b u t i o n . T h e result is
subtracted from a. T h u s , firstly, the i n d e x w i l l c o n t a i n o n l y the e u p h o n i c values
a n d , secondly, it w i l l be the greater the smaller w i l l be the computed probabilities.
I n order to get greater numbers, we m u l t i p l y the difference b y 100. T h e result
is the b i n o m i a l i n d e x of e u p h o n y ( B I E )
B I E = 100 |* -
p»}•-'j
for P > oc
where n is the n u m b e r of phonemes i n the line, k is the n u m b e r of the investigated
phoneme a n d p is its p r o b a b i l i t y computed f r o m the p o p u l a t i o n . B y a d d i n g the
p a r t i c u l a r B I E s a n d d i v i d i n g b y the n u m b e r of lines we get the average B I E of the
poems. T h e f o r m u l a is
j=l
lEA
263
where N is the n u m b e r of lines of the poem, / is the i n d e x of the g i v e n l i n e
r a n g i n g from 1 to N a n d i is the i n d e x of the g i v e n phoneme from the set A
whose members f u l f i l l the g i v e n c o n d i t i o n .
O n e m a y compute the e u p h o n i c v a l u e of the l i n e as a w h o l e i n a s i m i l a r w a y .
The p r o b a b i l i t y of the occurence of a l i n e of a p a r t i c u l a r p h o n i c c o m p o s i t i o n m a y
be computed b y means of the p o l y n o m i a l d i s t r i b u t i o n . I n order to get a suitable
index we substract the c o m p u t e d p r o b a b i l i t y from some c o n v e n i e t l y chosen v a l u e
a n d m u l t i p l y it b y a n u m b e r C . T h u s , the p o l y n o m i a l i n d e x of e u p h o n y ( P I E )
m a y be computed according to the f o r m u l a
PIE = c [nc - f—Pi*'?**'klk
• • P,* ]
r
f
o
rp
<*
where n is the n u m b e r of phonemes i n the l i n e ,
are the observed numbers of
p a r t i c u l a r phonemes, a n d pi are their p r o b a b i l i t i e s of occurrence computed f r o m
the p o p u l a t i o n . T h e average P I E ( P I E ) is the s u m of a l l P I E s d i v i d e d b y the
n u m b e r of lines of the poem.
I n u s i n g these indices, it must not be forgotten that they cover o n l y a special
type of euphony. T h e i r zero value does not m e a n that the p o e m e n t i r e l y lacks
euphony. T h e total e v a l u a t i o n of the e u p h o n y can be represented b y the s u m
(or the average) of a l l possible relevant indices w h i c h are to be elaborated i n the
future. T h e elaboration of indices w i l l enable us to ascertain the r e l a t i o n of the
e u p h o n y to other measurable q u a l i t i e s of the poem.
M E R A N I E
EUFONIE
Eufonia sa da objektivne meraf podia toho, v akej forme sa objavuje. Eufoniu, ktora vznika zo
zddraznenia urcitych fonem vo versi, mozno vyhodnotit pomocou binomickeho indexu eufonie
(BIE); eufoniu, ktora vznika z urcitej specialnej fonickej skladby versa, mozno vyhodnotif po­
mocou polynomickeho indexu eufonie podia uvedenych vzorcov. Tu n je pocet fonem vo versi,
k je pocet skumanej fonemy, p je prislusna pravdepodobnost, q je p — 1, AF je pocet versov
basne.
H 3 M E P E H H E
3B<D0HHM
3BI}>OHHIO MOJKHO O616KTHBH0 H S M e p H T b B 3aBHCHMOCTH O T TOrO, B KaKOH <|>OpMe OHa nOHBJIH3K{>OHHIO, Koropan B03HHKaeT i r y T C M .noniepKHBaHHfl B c ™ x e onpeaeJieHHbix c{>OHeM,
MCOKHO H 3 M e p H T b npH nOMOUIH OMHOMHieCKOrO HHSeKCa 3B<j)OHHH (BIE); 3B<j>OHJiI0, B03HHKjnyIO
H3 onpemeJieHHOii cnennaJibHoii <jx>HHHecKOH C T p y K T y p w c m x a ,
M O » H O onpeaejiHTb n p n noM O I H H nojiHHeMHiecKoro HHaeKca S B ^ O H K H n o npHBeneHHbrM (fiopinyjiaM. T a M n sBjiaeTCH KOJIH^ecTBOM 4>OHeM B cruxe, k — KOJiH^ecTBO HccjieayeMOii (JioHeMbi, p — coorBeTCTBvioiiiaH BepoHTHOCTb, q 3TO p — 1, Af KOJIimeCTBO CTHXOB B CTHXOTBOpeHHH.
ercfl.
UepeeeAa Bepa HoeoTHan
264