Phonology

Chapter 6.6-6.9

by Joanna Świeczkowska

​Cyclic rules so far...

• ​(re)syllabification- onset consonant from an unstressed syllable becomes a coda for the stressed syllable​

• long vowel stressing -this rule stresses long vowels in the final syllable of words

• sonorant destressing- words with these (ary and ory) suffixes generally have stress on the syllable preceding the suffix if that syllable is heavy but two syllables before the suffix if the syllable preceding the suffix is light. 

• rhythm rule-  the speaker alternates between stressed and unstressed syllables in regular intervals, with the stresses falling within content words.

• medial destressing- destresses the second of three stressed syllables, where the second and third are consecutive and the rightmost foot in the sequence is labelled strong

​Medial destressing and trisyllabic laxing

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​Cluster Laxing

​before consonant clusters of two or more

​bite /baɪt/ (unlaxed)

bit /bɪt/ (laxed)

keep /kiːp/ (unlaxed)

kept /kept/ (laxed)

Multiple Select

Which form is unlaxed according to cluster laxing rule?

• deceive

• deception

• intervene

• intervention

Fill in the Blank

What is the noun form of the word 'inscribe' that follows the cluster laxing rule?

​-ic Laxing

​we lax the vowel before adjectival suffix -ic.

cone /koʊn/ (unlaxed)

conic/ˈkɑː.nɪk/ (laxed)

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​/koʊn/> [-tense]/ /ˈkɑː.nɪk/

Open Ended

 According to the phonological equation shown on the previous slide, show the process of -ic laxing in the word 'metre' /ˈmiː.tər/

​CiV Tensing

​SPE- we make a tense vowel before: a single consonant, high vowel or glide (a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary) and vowel

​

Canada- /ˈkæn.ə.də/

​

​Which type is it?

​S Voicing

​Happens in the case of prefix + stem. We voice the stem initial "s", when there is a vowel before it.

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​DESIGN

​

​Does not apply to

monomorphemic words!

Multiple Choice

Does the s voicing rule apply to the word resign?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Does the s voicing rule apply to the word "bison"?

• Yes

• No

​Progressive Assimilation

​voicing or devoicing consonants in a cluster so that all of them are consistent.

​

​walked /wɑːkt/

​

​Since k is voiceless the past morpheme -d gets devioced into /t/.

​Epenthesis

​this is only phonological insertion of a sound that helps with mixing different

manners of articulation.

​

​

​

Hamster /ˈhæm.stɚ/ > /ˈhæm.[p]stɚ/

​Degemination

​shortening of a consonant.

​

​

​bit /bɪt/

​Ablaut

​a systematic variation of vowels in the same root or affix or in related roots or affixes.

​

​Example of apophony.

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​Lowering ablaut: Sing /sɪŋ/ > Sung /sʌŋ/

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​Backing ablaut: get /ɡet/> got /ɡɒt/

​What type of ablout does the word "speak" /spiːk/ undergo when changed to its past form "spoke" /spoʊk/

​

​Q&A: why Ablaut is important?

​It showcases processes on the border of phonology and morphology and creates rules that help us understand the language.

​Q&A: On page 176, the author claims that resyllabification itself is unnatural and explains how this affects language-specific rules. I'm not sure I understand what that means.

​Resyllabification- when onset of an unstressed syllable becomes a coda for the stressed syllable.

​Sanity /ˈsæn.ə.ti/

​It is unnatural since the CV kind of syllable is the most common one.

Q&A: If you could explain how the stress rules interact with each other according to the summary on Page 173?​

​I hope I ansewered this throughout the presentation :)

Recommendation from me :)​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imH7hdOgxrU&t=623s ​

Thank you!​

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