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Phonological Rules: LING101 September 24, 2009

The document describes various types of phonological rules including assimilation, dissimilation, neutralization, fortition, lenition, epenthesis, deletion, and metathesis. Phonological rules describe how phonemes are realized as allophones in different environments based on neighboring phonemes. They are formally written as X->Y/W_Z and help explain sound changes and alternations in languages.

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Francesca Giannotta
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208 views10 pages

Phonological Rules: LING101 September 24, 2009

The document describes various types of phonological rules including assimilation, dissimilation, neutralization, fortition, lenition, epenthesis, deletion, and metathesis. Phonological rules describe how phonemes are realized as allophones in different environments based on neighboring phonemes. They are formally written as X->Y/W_Z and help explain sound changes and alternations in languages.

Uploaded by

Francesca Giannotta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Phonological rules

LING101
September 24, 2009
Phonological rules
• Phonological rules describe how phonemes
are realized as their allophones in the given
environment
• Environment in phonology typically refers to
the neighboring phonemes
• Example: In English, the phoneme /t/ is
realized as its allophone [ɾ] between a
stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel
Formal notation
• Formally a phonological rule is written as
X -> Y / W _ Z
• The variables (X, Y, etc.) can be phonemes,
allophones, or features
e.g. /t/ -> [ɾ] / V́ _ V
e.g. [-voice] -> [+voice] / V _ V
• Some symbols have special meanings
– # means word-boundary
– $ means syllable-boundary
– + means morpheme boundary
Assimilation
• A sound becomes similar to its neighboring
sounds
– It is often argued that assimilation rules arise due
to ease of articulation
• Anticipatory (a.k.a. regressive, right-to-left)
– A sound becomes similar to the following sound
– e.g. V -> [+nasal] / _ [+nasal] $
• Perseveratory (a.k.a. progressive, left-to-right)
– A sound becomes similar to the preceding sound
Dissimilation
• A sound becomes less similar to its
neighboring sounds
• Latin dissimilation rule
– [+lateral] in suffix becomes [-lateral] when the
morpheme contains [+lateral] phoneme
– Example: Alternation between alis and aris
• navalis ‘naval’ regalis ‘royal’
• popularis ‘popular’ stellaris ‘stellar’
– Reflected in alternation between al and ar in
English
Neutralization
• Applying the phonological rule results in a loss
of phonemic distinction
• English flap rule
– /t/ -> [ɾ] / V́ _ V (e.g. writer)
– /d/ -> [ɾ] / V́ _ V (e.g. rider)
– The voicing contrast between /t/ and /d/ is
neutralized in the given environment
Fortition, Lenition
• Fortition (a.k.a strengthening)
– Make sounds stronger
– English aspiration rule
• Lenition (a.k.a weakening)
– Make sounds weaker
– English flapping rule
Epenthesis
• Inserting entire segments
• Vowel insertion in English plurals
– ø -> ə / [+sibilant] _ [+sibilant]
– e.g. kisses, roses, ashes, churches, judges
Deletion
• Deleting entire segments
• Word final consonant deletion in French
Metathesis
• Segment reordering
• Often manifested in speech errors
• asterisk
– /æstəɹɪsk/ -> [æstəɹɪks]
• introduce
– /ɪntɹədjus/ -> [ɪntəɹdjus]

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