RULES OF
PHONOLOGY
(Part 2)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Hilmi bin Hamzah
Applied Linguistics Unit
School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy
Universiti Utara Malaysia
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Classification of Phonological Rules
1) Assimilation
(a) Progressive
(b) Regressive
(c) Coalescent
2) Dissimilation
3) Insertion (Epenthesis)
4) Deletion (Elision, Ellipses)
5) Linking /r/, /j/ & /w/
6) Intrusive /r/
7) Movement (Metathesis)
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4) Deletion (Elision)
The term elision describes the disappearance of a sound.
Some rules for elision
(i) Elision of /t/ and /d/
The most common elisions in English are /t/ and /d/, when they
appear within a consonant cluster.
We arrived the next day [neks deI]
(/t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/)
We bought a lovely carved statuette [ka:v stætʃuet]
(/d/ elided between /v/ and /st/)
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(ii) Complex consonant clusters are simplified
She acts like she owns the place!
( [ækts] can be simplified into [æks] )
Teachers use authentic texts
( [teksts] can be simplified to [teks] )
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(iii) /ə/ can disappear in unstressed syllables
Potato [pteItəʊ]
Tomato [tma:təʊ]
Perhaps [phæps]
Interesting [IntrəstIŋ]
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(iv) /v/ can disappear in of, before
consonants
Lots of them (lɒts ə ðəm)
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5) Linking
When two vowel sounds meet, speakers often link
them in various ways.
Linking /r/
Some accents of English (e.g., American English, Irish
English and certain British regional accents) can be
described as rhotic, which means that when the letter r
appears in the written word after a vowel, the /r/
phoneme is used in the pronunciation of the word.
Example:
[ka:r] [ka:rv]
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Some accents are non-rhotic and speakers
do not pronounce the /r/ , so we will get:
[ka:] [ka:v]
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However, if there is a written <r> at the end of a
word and it occurs between two vowels,
speakers with non-rhotic accents often use the
phoneme /r/ to link the preceding vowel to the
following one.
Here are four eggs
/hIəra: fɔ:regz/
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Linking /j/
When a word ends in /i:/, or a diphthong which
finishes with /i/, speakers often introduce a /j/
to ease transition to a following vowel sound.
I agree [aIjəgri:]
I am what I am [aIjæm]
I ought to be [aIjɔ:t]
See it [si:jit]
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I AM ME!
(Ayam mee?)
[Link]
[Link]
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Linking /w/
When a word ends in /u:/, or a diphthong
which finishes with /ʊ/, speakers often
introduce a /w/ to ease the transition to a
following vowel sound.
Go on! [gəʊwɒn]
You inside? [ju:wInsaId]
Who is? [hu:wIz]
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6) Intrusive /r/
Where two vowel sounds meet and there is no
written letter <r>, speakers with non-rhotic
accents will still often introduce the /r/
phoneme in order to ease the transition.
This happens when the first word ends in /ə/,
/a:/ or /ɔ:/
She’s a victim of media exploitation
Law and order
I saw it happen
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7. Movement (Metathesis) Rules
Moving phonemes from one place in a sentence to
another.
Less common but does exist - e.g., in some dialects of
English, for example, the word ask is pronounced
[æks], but the word asking is pronounced [æskin] or
[æskiŋ].
In these dialects, a metathesis rule “switches” the /s/
and /k/ in certain contexts.
Children’s speech show many cases of metathesis
(which are later corrected as the child approaches the
adult grammar).
e.g., aminal, anymore? nasi melak?
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NASI MELAK?
[Link]
15
Phonological rules in a grammar apply to phonemic
strings and alter them in various ways to derive their
phonetic pronunciation:
They may assimilate rules that change feature
values of segments.
They may dissimilate rules that change feature
values to make two phonemes in a string more
dissimilar.
They may add non-distinctive features that are
predictable from the context.
They may insert segments that are not present in
the phonemic string (epenthesis).
They may delete phonemic segments in certain
contexts.
They may transpose (metathesis) or move
segments in a string.
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CONCLUSION
Phonological rules may be obligatory or optional.
Obligatory rules in English include: assimilation in
plural/singular words, deletion in contractions, aspiration.
Such a rule always applies in the speech of all speakers
of a language or a dialect having the rule, regardless of
style or rate of speaking.
The effects of obligatory rules are often very subtle and
difficult to notice, but they are an important part of a
native accent.
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Optional phonological rules, on the other hand, may or
may not apply in an individual’s speech.
Optional rules are responsible for variation in speech;
for example we can pronounce /kæn bi/ as either [kæm
bi] or [kæn bi], depending on whether the alveolar stop
assimilation is applied or not.
The use of optional rules depends in part on rate and
style of speech.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
How do rules of phonology affect non-
native speakers of English?
Should they be taught in the business
context?
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