Mgr Joanna Zaleska

Descriptive grammar: phonology

English phonological rules you should know

1. Degemination
┌ ┐ ┌ ┐
│ +cons │ │ +cons │
│ α F │  ∅ / │ α F │ __
└ ┘ └ ┘
“in a cluster of two identical consonants, one of them deletes”
E.g.: modesty [»mÅdIst+I] vs. safety [»seIf+ttI], certainty [»sŒ˘tn1+tI],
fully [»fUl+I] vs. safely [»seIf+llI], surely [»Sç˘+llI]
attentive [´»tent+Iv], adoptive [´»dÅpt+Iv] vs. absorptive [´b»sç˘p+ttIv]
illegal [I+»li˘gl1], immoral [I+»mÅr´l] vs. inactive [In n+»QktIv]
∅], met [»met+∅
bit [»bIt+∅ ∅], sent [»sent+∅ ∅] vs. spilt [»spIl+tt]
Note: this rule only applies inside words.

2. Vowel Reduction
σ
V |
[-high]  ´/ [-stress]

“non-high vowels become reduced to schwa in unstressed syllables”

År´
E.g. moral [»mÅ ´l] and morality [m´
´»rQ
QlItI]
man [»mQQn] and men [»me
en] vs. Englishman and Englishmen [»INglISm´
´n]

3. Nasal Assimilation ┌ ┐
┌ ┐ │ +obstr │
┌ ┐ │ α coronal │ │ -contin │
│ +nasal │  │ β anterior │ / __ │ α coronal │
└ ┘ └ ┘ │ β anterior │
└ ┘
“nasal consonants assume the place of articulation of the following stop or affricate”
E.g. impossible [Imm»pÅsIbl1], inconvenient [«IN
Nk´n»vi˘nj´nt], independent [In
ndI»pend´nt],
ndZU»dIS´s], bank [bQN
injudicious [«In Nk], tent [ten
nt], camp [kQmmp]

4. Complete Assimilation
┌ ┐
│ +conson │
[+nasal]  [ α F ] / __ │ -obstruent │
│ αF │
└
“a nasal assumes all the features of the ┘following sonorant consonant”
E.g. illegal [I»li˘gl1], irresponsible [IrI»spÅnsIbl1], innumerable [I»nju˘m´r´bl1], immoral
[I»mÅr´l]
Note: this rule is restricted to the negative prefix.

1
Mgr Joanna Zaleska
Descriptive grammar: phonology

5. Palatalization
s z t d  S Z tS dZ / __ j
“alveolar obstruents become palato-alveolar before j”.
E.g. impress [Im»press] – impression [Im»preSS´n], suggest [s´»dZestt] – suggestion
[s´»dZesttS´n], diffuse [dI»fju˘z
z] – diffusion [dI»fju˘Z
Z´n], proceed [pr´»si˘d
d] –
procedure [pr´»si˘d dZ´]

6. j-Deletion ┌ ┐
│ +obstr │
j  ∅ / │+coronal │ __
│-anterior │
└ ┘
“j is deleted after palato-alveolars”
E.g. impression [Im»preS+´n], suggestion [s´»dZestS+´n], diffusion [dI»fju˘Z+´n],
abolition [«Qb´»lIS+´n] vs. rebellion [rI»bel+jj´n]

7. Spirantization
t d  s z / __ I j
┌ ┐
│ +obstr │ ┌ ┐
│+coronal │ │ -cons │
│ +anter │  [+contin ] / __ │ +high │
│ -contin │ │ -back │
└ ┘ └ ┘
“alveolar stops spirantize (become fricatives) before I and j”
E.g. president [»prezId´ntt] – presidency [»prezId´nss+I], protect [pr´»tektt] – protection
[pr´»tekSS+´n], invade [In»veId
d] – invasion [In»veIZ
Z+´n]
Note: the rule applies in derived environment only (cf. pity [»pIttI ] ) and is blocked after
fricatives (cf. suggestion [s´»dZesttS+´n]).

8. Devoicing
[+obstr]  [-voiced] / __ [-voiced]
“obstruents become voiceless when followed by a voiceless sound”
E.g. absorb [´b»sç˘b b] – absorptive [´b»sç˘p p+tIv], attend [´»tend
d] – attentive [´»tenttIv],
wide [»waId d] – width [»wIttT]
v] – left [»leff+t], send [»send
leave [»li˘v d] – sent [»sentt+∅]
Note: this rule applies across morpheme boundaries only.

2
Mgr Joanna Zaleska
Descriptive grammar: phonology

9. CC-Shortening/Laxing
V:  V / __CC or N N
x x  x / __ CC
“long vowels and diphthongs are shortened (and laxed) before a cluster of two
consonants”
E.g. wide [»waaId] – width [»wIItT], wise [»wa
aIz] – wisdom [»wIIzd´m], describe
aIb] – descriptive [dI»skrIIp+tIv], keep [»kii˘p] – kept [»ke
[dI»skra ept], meet [»mii˘t] –
met [»meet]
Note: the rule only applies in morphologically complex words (compare pint [»pa aInt],
wild [»waaIld]) and it does not apply before level 2 suffixes (compare like [»la
aIk] –
aIkt], sleep [»slii˘p] – sleepless [»slii˘pl´s]).
liked [»la

10. Trisyllabic Shortening/Laxing σ σ

V:  V / __C0 V C0 V or N N
[-stress] x x  x / __
[-stress]
“long vowels and diphthongs are shortened (and laxed) before two following syllables, the
first of which is unstressed”
E.g. profane [pr´»fe eIn] – profanity [pr´»fQ QnItI], nation [»ne eISn] – national [»nQQS´nl],
eIn] – vanity [»vQ
vain [»ve QnItI], compare [k´m»pe e´] – comparative [k´m»pQ Qr´tIv],
serene [sI»rii˘n] – serenity [sI»re
enItI], severe [sI»vII´] – severity [sI»ve
erItI], divine
aIn] – divinity [dI»vIInItI], wild [»wa
[dI»va aIld] – wilderness [»wIIld´nIs], holy [»h´ ´UlI]
– holiday [»hÅ ÅlIdeI], pronounce [pr´»na aUns] – pronunciation [pr´«n√ √nsI»eIS´n]
Note: this rule only applies to morphologically complex words of Latinate origin
(compare ivory [»aaIv´rI], bicycle [»ba
aIsIkl], mightily [»ma
aItIlI], bravery [»bre
eIv´rI])