English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 3
English Linguistics (Phonology)
Lecture Notes
Week 3: The Rules of Phonology
Course Website: http://www.f.waseda.jp/tharada/phonology/index.htm
Source: Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2006). An Introduction to Language (8th ed).
Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
Why two levels?
time
style
better
cat
Phonemic representation:
/taɪm/
/staɪl/
Phonetic representation:
[thãɪm]
[staɪɫ]




/betər/
[beɾər]
/kæt/
[khæ t̚]
The relationship between the phonemic representations of words and the phonetic
representations that reflect the pronunciation of these words is rule-governed.
The phonemic representations are minimally specified because some features or feature
values are predictable. The phonemic representation, then, should include only the
nonpredictable, distinctive features of the phonemes in a word.
The phonetic representation, derived by applying the phonological rules, includes all of
the linguistically relevant phonetic aspects of the sounds.
Although the specific rules of phonology differ from language to language, the kinds of
rules, what they do, and the natural classes they refer to are the same throughout the
world.
Assimilation Rules
Vowel nasalization in English
Beeb: /bi:b/
[bi:b]
bead: /bi:d/
[bi:d]
bag: /bæg/
[bæg]
beam: /bi:m/
bean: /bi:n/
bang: /bæŋ/
[bı:̃ m]
[bı:̃ n]
[bæ̃
ŋ]
Rule1:
Nasalize vowels when they occur before nasal consonants.



This rule specifies the class of sounds affected by the rule: Vowels.
It states what phonetic change will occur by applying the rule: Change phonemic oral
vowels to phonetic nasal vowels.
It specifies the context or phonological environment: Before nasal consonants.
Notation:
V → [+nasal] / ___ [+nasal]
This means:
V
→
[+nasal]
Vowels
become
nasalized
1
/
in the environment
___
before
[+nasal]
nasal segment
If you look at more data, you will notice that this rule is not complete.
Tetsuo Harada
1
English Linguistics (Phonology)


Week 3
Notation reveals the function of the rule more explicitly than words. It is easy to see in the
formal statement of the rule that this is an assimilation rule because the change to [+nasal]
occurs before [+nasal] segments.
Assimilation rules in languages reflect coarticulation—the spreading of phonetic
features either in the anticipation or in the perseveration of articulatory processes.
More assimilation rules in English and Japanese
 regular plural suffix /z/:
/kæt +z/ → [kæts]
/bæɡ + z/ → [bæɡz]
 regular past-tense suffix /d/:
/beɪk + d/ → [beɪkt]
/kɔ:z + d/ → [kɔ:zd]
 geminate in Japanese
いっぱい、いったい、いっこ
 moraic nasal (ん) in Japanese
ほんも、ほんと、ほんが
 negative prefix /in/ in English
impossible
intolerant
inconsistent
irregular
illegal
 voiceless vowel in Japanese
すきやき（su
きせつ（ki
̥kiyaki）
̥setsu）
すみえ （sumie）
きろく（kiroku）
たたみ （tatami）
せこい（sekoi）
こたつ（kotatsu）
Dissimilation Rules
A segment becomes less similar to another segment.
/fθ/ → [ft]: fifth → fift
/sθ/ → [st]: sixth → sikst
Feature-Changing Rules
The assimilation and dissimilation rules may all be though of as feature-changing rules.
But some feature-changing rules are neither assimilation nor dissimilation rules.
Aspiration in English: Aspiration occurs at the beginning of a stressed syllable, but not after
/s/.
pin
spin
hip
Stop
Labial
Velar
Voiced
Aspirated
p
+
+
-
ph
+
+
+
The aspiration rule in English is a feature-changing rule, but it is neither an assimilation nor
dissimilation rule.
Segment Insertion Rules
The process of inserting a consonant or a vowel is called epenthesis.
 regular plurals, possessive forms and third-person singular verb forms
boxes, Swiss’s, kisses, watches, bridges
Tetsuo Harada
2
English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 3
Ø → ə / [+sibilant] _____ [+sibilant]
(Ø stands for null.)
Segment Deletion Rules
Segment deletion rules are commonly found in many languages and are far more prevalent
than segment insertion rules. One such rule occurs in casual or rapid speech.
 unstressed vowels in English
mystery
general
memory
funeral
vigorous
Barbara
 silent g in English
sign — signature
design — designation
paradigm — paradigmatic
Delete a /g/ when it occurs before a final nasal consonant.
/g/ → Ø / ___ [+ consonantal, + nasal] #
(# signifies a word boundary.)
Movement (Metathesis) Rules
Phonological rules may also reorder sequences of phonemes, in which case they are called
metathesis rules.
 Children’s speech
animal → aminal
[æ̃
mənə̃
l]
spaghetti → pusketti
[pʰəskɛti]
The Function of Phonological Rules
The function of the phonological rules is to provide the phonetic information necessary for
the pronunciation of utterances.
Input:
Phonemic (Mental Lexicon) Representation of Words in a Sentence
↓
Phonological rules (P-rules)
↓
Output:

Phonetic Representation of Words in a Sentence
The input to the P-rules is the phonemic representation. The P-rules apply to the
phonemic strings and produce as output the phonetic representation.
Underlying phonemic representation
Aspiration rule
/t
ɛ
m
p
ɛ̃
ə
Schwa rule
Tetsuo Harada
s t/
th
Nasalization rule
Surface phonetic representation
ɛ
/ th
ɛ̃ m
p
ə s t/
3
English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 3
Questions
Using the following data, consider voiceless vowels in Japanese.
すきやき（su
きせつ（ki
̥kiyaki）
̥setsu）
つくえ （tsu̥
kue）
した （si̥
ta）
すみえ （sumie）
きろく（kiroku）
たたみ （tatami）
せこい（sekoi）
こたつ （kotatsu）
ずこう (zukoo)
ぎふ
(gifu)
1. Which vowels may occur voiceless?
2. Are they in complementary distribution with their voiced counterparts? If so, state the
distribution.
3. State in words and write in formal notation the rule for determining the allophones of the
vowels that have voiceless allophones.
Tetsuo Harada
4