English word structure1.pdf

7. English Word Structure

69. Preliminaries

a. Phonemes (items, or: what there is?)

SoundSystem b. Phonotactics (arrangement, or: what items stand next to each other? )

. Pros (rules, or: what can happen to an item in particular contexts? )

so far we have mostly concentrated on a and c .

70. a. English vowel phonemes: SHORT LONG DIPHTHONGS

I , E , œ , ø , ´ , O , U i:,u:, ´ :, A :, O : a I , a U , oI , o U , e I I´ , U´ , e´

There are also triphthongs: a I´ , a U´ , o U´ , but they seem to be sequences diphthong + ´ rather than

phonemes. Cf. e.g. mow - mower

b. Processes affecting the English vowel system

- vowel reduction to ´ : ' fo U t ´ gr A :f, fo U t ´' gr œ f I k, f ´' t Å gr ´ f I .

- coalescence: you are > jo:

- syncope in post-stress position: ' g ø v ´ m ´ nt > ' g ø vm ´ nt (Sobkowiak 291)

71 . a. English consonant phonemes:

OBSTRUENTS : P LOSIVES A FFRICATES F RICATIVES

p,t,k,b,d,g t S , d Z , ,v T , D ,s,z, S , Z ,h

SONORANTS : N ASALS L IQUIDS G LIDES

m,n,* N r,l,* ® , * : ,w

b. Processes affecting the English consonantal system

- assimilation of place (r I b ´ n > r I bm ` ), voice (-es, -ed)

- neutralisation of place (m > µ < n, comfort, envy ), voice ( stop )

- velarisation of dark [l] ( bell, belt )

- epenthesis ns > n t s, nr > n d r ( chance, Henry )

- linking and intrusive [r] ( far out, drama is )

72 . Phonotactics – patterns involving syntagmatic relations – paradigmatic / vertical relations, e.g.

phoneme inventory, inflectional paradigm, syntactic lexical filling. Syntagmatic relations are

horizontal, relations with naighbours, e.g. neutralisation of laryngeal contrasts as in stop ,

assimilation of place as in envy , epenthesis in chance, Henry , etc.

73. In Phonology, syntagmatic relations involve neighbouring sounds, in morphology –

neighbouring morphemes (recall the inflectional allomorphy involving –ed, -es ), in syntax –

neighbouring words or phrases, e.g. the choice of inflectional endings in Polish is syntax-dependent,

e.g. mam dom, nie mam dom-u, jestem w dom-u, lub za dom-em .

74. Understanding word structure is to a great extent connected with syllable structure – strange

[stre I nd Z ] has how many syllables? – What is a syllable? - What is it made of? - What are the

principles of syllabification? - What do syllables do? - Syllable divisions: Pl. lolita, lekarstwo,

nastempstw, Eng . Cinderela, Alaska, actor, brandy, cuddly . - The role of vowels? – Onsets? –

Codas? – Rhymes?

75 . Any phonotactics in English vowels? – first element of a diphthong (e I , o I , AI , AU , I´ , U´ ,)second

position of the diphthong, (:, ´ , I , U ) and not *(e, o, œ , ø ,). C-V-C interaction? – slight retraction of

vowels preceding a dark [l], schwa colouring before [r], but that’s about it.

76 . Phonotactics in onsets – often the beginning of the word is taken / confused with onset of the

first syllable... is it correct?

Q: what are the possible and impossible onsets in English? 0,1, 2, 3 consonants?

C 1

−

C 2 l r w p t k m n

77. Onset Maximisation

Syllable-initial segments are maximised to the extent consistent with the syllable structure

conditions of the language in question ( Bogna, drabness, wiatrak, brandy, actor, cuddly, etc )

Q: The status of sC?

78. Sonority Hierarchy

Low vows

Gid/high vows

Increasing Liquids

sonority Nasals

Fivs

Plosives/affricates

79. Conditions on the English onset structure: two Cs – steep sonority profile / sonority distance –

no homorganicity allowed

80. Sonority Sequencing

An optimal syllable consists of a sonority peak, corresponding to the nucleus, optionally flanked by

segments which decrease in sonority the further they occur from the nucleus.

Q: how about Polish mgła, mdleć, lśnić, lgnąć ?

81. 2 or 3?

C 1 C 2 C 3

s {p t k} {l r w}

82. a. C yu b. T yu c.l yu d.C lu (*C lyu ) e. s C yu

cue tune eu blue ew

pewter dune lewd clue skew

beauty new lucid plumage spew

music suit luminous glue slew

83. ? O N

x x x x x

| | | | | ...

s t r e I n d Z

•

Alaska, Nebraska - Canada

•

stadio – estadio ,

•

i doni “the gifts”, gli alberi “the trees”, gli stadi “the stadiums”

S YLLABLE RELATED PROCESSES

84. Stress and Constituency

The easiest to argue for is the Onset – Nucleus (Rhyme) divide. Nuclei take part in metrical

organisation while onsets do not. Quantity sensitive stress in English nouns. – do syllabification and

see how this tallies with stress facts. Quantity: amount of ‘space’ a segment occupies in a

phonological string. Quantity is a relational rather than absolute property ( sit, seat, Sid, seed ).

Q: If [i:] is quantitatively the same as [ai], do they behave in the same way phonologically?

85. a. ultimate b. penultimate c. penultimate d. antepenultimate

balloon horizon agenda cinema

domain aroma veranda analysis

museum amalgam America

arena utensil Canada

- where does the relevant portion of structure begin and where it ends (the role of onsets)?

- which VCs are heavy (the role of onsets)?

- what do words like algebra tell us?

- the relation of length and stress: [x x] = V: = VV = VC

- which consonants take part in stress placement? (codas...)

86. Stress in English is quantity sensitive HEAVY syllables are stress attracting, LIGHT syllables are

not. In English verbs, stress falls on the final syllable if it is heavy , otherwise on the penult. Final

consonant is ‘ extrametrical ’. Heavy means LONG (whatever that means - branching nucleus?), or

RHYME with a CODA, but not a final CODA?.

. b. .

cajo〈le edi〈t tormn〈t

maintai〈n astoni〈sh lamen〈t

prec e 〈de c a nce〈l coll a p〈se

87. Stress and the status of affricates

Affricates, e.g. [t S ] and [d Z ] have a stop portion and a fricative portion, but they seem to act as if

they were one structural unit and not two. Cf. Polish czysta vs. trzysta .

In English verbs what counts as a heavy syllable can be a sequence of a short vowel and a

consonant, e.g. torm en {t, lam en {t. The final consonant is extrametrical and does not count for

stress placement.

Q: How should affricates behave if they are simplex units (1 x-slot) and how if they are complex

units (2 x-slots)?

88. mana〈ge, pilla〈ge, dama〈ge, fora〈ge, encoura〈ge = edi〈t, astoni〈sh, cance〈l

tormen〈t, lamen〈t

89. σ 1 σ 2 σ 3

O N

? x x x x x x x ?

| | | | | |

s t r e I n d Z

90. strange is also strange for other reasons: Super-Heavy Rhyme (cf closed syllable shortening in

receive / reception... )

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