Modern english phonology

Li v~-ta 1’11( 1967) 14!5-- 176,~~~ North-Holland XOOto be reproduced by photopnnt or microfilm without

MODERN

ENGLISH

Publzshing written

Co., A msterdma

permission

from

the publish@.

PHONOLOGY

K. KOHLeER

1. INTR~DIJCTION

In this paper I want to present for cl:scussion a substantial part of the phonological component of a de jcription of Modern EngM following the principles I have laid ILLIU~~OWTI? .* ir\my article ‘Towards a phonological theory’,l) which may be summarised as follows. (1) The phonology recognises seqzlential elements, i.e. places in sequence Iike beads on a string, and conzfionential elements, which in turn sptzcify one or several sequzntial elements. (2) The whole of a phonolcgical description is given as generative rules. They make the basic relations explicit and separate them from alien ones by generating an indefinitely large number of structures, which are all within the phonological possibilities of th(l language cl)ncerned, even if particular items are not recorded. The) also integrate the syntactic and phono clgical components more fulkL as they constitute a direct continuataon from phrase structure and transformational rules, and allow a gradual, step-by-step introduction of :x11phonetic data according to a hierarchy of structural relevance, Le. to the many different rolt:s these phonetic components play in the linguistic competence of a nat ive speaker. (3) The phonological rules are of three types: (a) intra-formative -ules, (b) inter-formative rules, (c) phonetic rules. All these rules deal with sequential or componcntial elements, which are either phonetic in the phonetic rules or phonological (in the narrow sense) in the two other types. Phonological sequential eleI-

‘) Lingua

lb (1966),

337 ff.

146

K,

KOHLER

ments may be called phonological formatives, phonological componential ones phonological features. The intra-formative rules operate on the formatives of a derived phrase marker and take into account the derivational history to various degrees of depth, the inter-formative rules consider the relations between these formatives when they are joined - again in association with the development of the grammatical tree --, and they operate in cycles starting from the srnallest constituents. Both types of rules can be transformational in that they may delete items, re-arrange them into new sequences, :introduce new items in certain contexts from null and re-write more than one symbol at a time. Intra-formative rules concerning componential elements are always transformational in that a symbol snust be re-written as a string containing it. These rules always start with the symbol for a A- A-4. -which is re--written as itself and a feature specisequential elChLeiiL fication, which are in turn re-written as themselves and another feature specification, etc. Phonological features in these rules are all binary, and they bear a direct relation to the concrete parameters of the phonetic theory if, and only if, they are positive and all the items symbolised in rhe same way have a common phonetic denominator. If they are negative they may have no fixed values. As English /p/, for instance, is +labial its articulatory pomt is stable; English /k/ +dorsal refers to the area from hard palate to uvula; English It/, on the other hand, being -labial -dorsal is simply the negation of the previous two stops. This hCls important consequences on the behaviour of It/. It is t?;ie only stop that can be glottal, the other two may only be glottalised. Furthermore, whereas /t/ gets assi&ated to /pp k/ at word boundaries (tlsat firiest, Gut casa) the reverse p -ocec; is not possible. The same thing applies to /n/ (John ~@t . do zt. As John goktg?). Similarly, /s/ may be assimilated to JI/ (Ilris h$), but not vice versa. In the same vein of argument we may refer to the difqiculty English children have wth the acquisition of /s/ and /r/ and to the frequent occurrence of speech defects in these. If there is no common phonetic en>minator the phonological features are abstract and are eitf stir numbered1 or expressed with the help of cover terms (e.g. ---fortis), which receive their phonetic specification in the phonetic ruIes. Phonetic rules re-write aII, not only the abstract or phonetically under-specified, phonological fea-

MODERN

element c 'Lr-~ 1 1 drL

is rc-wrlttcn

ENGLISH

with the saw

PHONOLOGY

wmporwnt

147

at t !w sanw

-__A. -- __- f &.tI _ _-A _ I\--I:_;. ___ ytll ruuIicl LI16 SXjUC~iiih’l elc’~lt’rl~b. \/I tlim11 y p irtmihtw3

tmw, Xc*

used to enclose optionally chosen 1:t’rns. Alt erna tiw wplawments for a svmkn! are listed vertically w1thm i 1. (4) bn the basis of combinato;ial pos~lblhties, Engll~h dlstingulA es the phonological formattves V, Ca, C$,, ant1 CC, which are abstract entities.


148

K.

KOHLER

quently different vowel reductions fr2rn the separable formatives. This happens frequently In loan-words when they are borrowed as whole blocks, e.g. comlparable, adminrbh, as against desirable. The mo~phcmes are combined with to form elements non-derivation4 other non-derivational formatives are particles and prefix and suffix morphemes. All szcffix morphemes can also occur as formatives, but are morphemes as long as they are not joined to independent formatives, but are integral parts of them (compensate, undertaker, preferable). A prefix mwpheme is an element that can be delimited initially in a number of non-derivational formatives in which it is fused to non-suffixal constituents which occur in other non-derivational formatives (tindertake, tinderstand - overtake, z&kstand; inhcritheritage; object, oppose - subject, sztppose, but not detriment). All other sub_LTL~~.--IIc-- --r’~~--. 1~11ItWVt: Wll Lb dlt? pdmCleS, -which may be unique (cranberry, a&ncrzt~ cx not (precede, proceed, predicable, predicate, v.n., experiment, experience). Every non-derivational formative together with its derivational ones forms a hierarchical structure whose constituents other than derivational formatives are enclosed in numbered [n n] starting from the smallest and moving to the largest. Non-derivational morphemes are put between <1 9, pal titles between { > ; prefix formatives and morphemes have no special boundary marker on either side; suffix formatives and morphemes are bounded by m or QSon the left. If (1 1> follows ( > or (1 1> within [l 11 it is preceded by * or e, which represent two degrees of fusion. As part of [I 11, a combination of <1 1> with other morphemic elements is enclosed in (2 “> if it also functions as [l 11 or [2:1 l]s]; as part of [l I]: a combination of < > with other morphemic *laments (except (1 1)) is enclosed in if it als’o functions as an independent formative?) A suffix formative or morpheme may contain several sub-suffixes, 4) A few examples will Jlustrate the use of these symbols. [lgentle”], [lmanl], [l (lgentlel) w (lm&>“] gentbema~t, [lgentlel] [lmanl] gentle unan, [l (Iblack’) w (lb oardl)l], bluckboard, [Ire (lf~rml)l] reform, [2re[lforml]2] re-fom, [l (separ) watel] qhzrate, adj., [l(separ)oatel] separate, v., [l (aristo) (era t >l] arzstocrat, [l (l l:aristo> (crat>f> ~yl] aristocracy, [I (whortle) 1z 1(Iberry l)l] whortleberry, [_lble (1 (vis) w i -onl)l], [lunder (2 (ltakel) m er‘J>l] zindertaker, [1(2tele(lgraphl)2> SW yl], [4[3[2[ldifferl] -en@] Mi -atea] w i Non41 differenttataon.

MODERN

FVGLISH

144,

PHONOLOGY

which are separated fron- each o&l ‘oy , . A buiCix llldY &U consist of the particles i, it, at, or iti followed by a sub-suffix. They arfe delimited from the sub-suffix by -. In this way y and oy may be preceded by the particle i f ([2[%uperiorl] -it +I, [lin(fin> ait -yl], [2[lcompetel] wit -or2]), iv8 and ory bv the particles it or at ([l(nutr> 4t=ivel], [2[1compete; j ait-ive”], [%le wit-ivel], [lin wit-ivel], [2[fderivel- eat-ivez], [2[lprolj mat4ve2],5) [l mit -oryl], [2[1 f xl:l mat-ory2]. A sub-suffix may halve to be deleted as in [2[‘(lclassl> #&fyl]C+ ate; G p-on; wory2! 6)) t, lhere &-on is deleted after having attracts:d the accent to s ate by analogy with classification; also in [lCOII~~pllS? -i-on; Gic l], [lil(lu$ -i-on; *ivel], [lil(lus> Gon; * 0ryl-J. Similarly, [ ![lauthorl] -it-y; mat-ivez], [l(quant> . w1t m-4y; aat -ivel] , [2k1per(n~it)l] *i-on; aible”], [2[lcontra ,-1I_A\11 \ulLL,)

_ 1 Jwl~OIi;;7sOUS2j.

Wjry()I1

--

is

&$q=s

&l(&d

before

+"ry,

-__--

4vtr: and ; Gble, -y before ; mat-ive, Aon before WOUS. Differences in formative structure determine the pronunciations of m-formation and w/ormation. The former is either [3[%-e[lfornG]~j phonetically *ate; -i-on31 or [3re[2[1form1] *ate; 25i-on2]3], /‘ri:fa:‘meiJn/, the Ltter either [~[lre(lforml>lj *ate; aiwon2], I.e. a noun derivation from the verb [lrell refO~c ancl phont:ticsil?j, 1.e. the item is no ally /ref3:‘meiJn/, 0: [lre *ate, *-;-a longer regarded as :&nonlinansatlon of the verb W/OWZand is pronounced /refa’meiJn /. Similarly, we get /info:‘meiJn/ and /infa’meiJn/. V-G bet ween /x/ and /a/ 1
5) The suffix wi\ e can cnly OCCUR after /s/ or /t/. 6) Verbs in unaccented /ai/ (mu !tzpZy,exewzplif~) change

text ___*ate.

/ai/

t o ZGin

don-

150

K. KOHLER

borrowed from French as singular-y elements and not regarded as derivations from the verbs refer, prefer, admiw and are therefore [l(lrel> meneel], [Vpre miref> -able11 , [f m able’], mt and consequently the accerlts in the nouns are ~~ifferent from the ones in the verbs. In some cases the accent fluctuates because there is ty of more than one structural analysis: Monp. upon as an integrated term in the decimal syst cent&e&r, kilogramme, and is therefore represented b (meter>l] with tkc accent 0n the third vowel from the end. In the examples cited so far only the simple ~~r,~~‘k~t~ derived phrase marker, as wel! as the morphemic setformatives, has been responsible for assigning the correct ~~~~~~ logical interpretation - But in many cases labeled bra& necessary, and is traceable to differences ir deep structure, disintegratigag machi;aery, No JII, and disa’ntcgrati~g Phrase, which are transformations of ‘the machinery can grate, is used for disintegat ing, materials’ and ‘the mat Similar esamples are f~~~~g disintegrating’ respectively. ‘the machine can fly, is us;r~I for flying’ and fd);ing machine is flying’ ; mdving VW ‘the van can move, is used for moving, furniture’ and m&~&g vSst ‘the an is moving’; Y m ‘the figure, farmer ‘the farmer produces rubber’ and r which is made of rubber, represents a farmer’. /‘fu:l, iJ/fooZis?z and /‘ku:f 9iJ/cooKsk in certain accents of English 7) are instances of a slightly different kind. 4~12is either an .adjectival suffix added to adjectives and has the meaning ‘somewhat’ (e.g. cool&h, stifles/i), or it is an adjectival suffix forming d+arivatives from nouns (e.g. foolish, girlisla). In the former case it is still a living suffix that can occur freely, in the latter its occurrence is random and largely limited to a historically determined set of items. In certain cases neither bracketing nor labeled bracketing produces the correct phonological shape, but information from the 7) I owe these data

to A. Sharp, Ekqp.

K. KOHLER

152

Here again I differentiate between a regular pattern and an ‘alien’ one. It is interesting to note that most words of the type (Cb)C& are of foreign origin: a;Jt, act, extkt, #woR@~, distkcl, instinct, de&, lynx, culx, waltz, chin& sex, text, but wax. There seems to be only one example for C&&a world. (4) (a) C, -+ G &stop (b) Cb -+ Cb &nasal (5) (a) Cb --nasal + Cb -nasal&l~teral (b) (Cb +nasal)C, +stop {(Cb +nasa& Gb -stop + Cal -stop CC CC! (6) {(Cb +nasal)C, CC I{(& j--nasal)&

$-stop}

-labial

& labial

-+

+stopll- _ -1abialIfidorsaP)

CC

+stop}l

.

I

(7) In other contexts Cb $-nasal -+ Cb +nasal

YJ~s~l I

I

(3) (a) C, +stop -+ C, +stop&fricative (b) C, -stop--labial + Ca -stop-labial&fla@) (9) C, +stop+fricative

c4 -stop-flat

4 I

C, +stop+fricative I CR -stop-flat

(10) {(Cb +nasal)C8 +stop-+fricative+wide) C, --stop&flat (11) (a)

C, -stopflat + wide C, -stop+flat

zt

only

W

ide

-dorsal

only in contexts --(Cb --1ateral)V and V(Cb -lateral)--

in --C, +labial V, C, -stcp+flat fililzth, hyacitith and a few othy?* words in nth, which are of foreign origin. (month, stealth, health, wealth, Wh are special items because they are etymologically &NZ + th, steaZ + th, hea + th, weal + th, foul -j- th) 8) C, + labial = /w/, Cc + dorsal = /j/, Cc - dorsal = /II/, C, + flat = - stop + wide = /j# 31, C, - stop - wiae = Is, z,‘, CII + frica,tive + wide = /tj, dgj, CB + fricative - wide = /sp, st, Sk/.

1% rsl, G

MODERN

ENGLISH

PHONOLOGY

v-0 Ca

+stop+fricative-wide and 1:; -&.asali --

153

not in contexts

except C, +stop+fricative-wide-dorsal v C, +stopCb --lateral I

--Cb

+nasal

in

G-icative + dorsal --

(text) [lC&,(Cb)

= [fC,

-stop--flat -wide !+b&ert?,svelte, sphq@cs

(Cb - lateral) In context -Cb snore.

+nasal

Clt --stop+labial

C, .= C, -stop-flat-widesmall,

C& = C, -labial Cc +lablial, hnt Ca +labial C, -t-dorsal in fiord; twist, dwel2, quemh, Gwen#dolen, swing, thwart C,C, = C, - dorsal C, + labial which

al only in contexts --(C, C, -stop+labi V(Cb &lateral)--&, +stop-fricative-dorsal)

+lateral)V

and

except triztm~lr , nymph, !ym@i, Ban//

(h) CB +stop+fricative+wide

only in contexts

--V

and

v(cb)--

0i.

cb

(1)

C&&s -dorsal

j-lateral

not in context

C, --stop-dorsal--V

not in context C, --stop-wide-J (I) Cb -lateral Cb +-nasal OG C&b = Cb j-lateral Cb --lateral Cb

(m 1

= Cb -lateral

Cb + lateral

C, + stop -- fricative

world

In the context -CRC, Cb -nasal is very unusual and only occurs in foreign words and names: de&, mulct, corpse, Hertz,

(12) v(c&&

calx.

= v(&&n-i]

n except I‘ray’II

text (see (11) (b)

AS by rules (11) (a) (b), (g), (h) the first C, can only be /p, h, t, d/, /k, g, S, z/, as we23 2s If8 v/ (before /t ct/), as rule (12) identifies the second C, as /s, z, t, d/, of which /s, z/ cannot occur after /s, z/, nor it, d/ after It, d/, as Iule (13) (b) attributes +fortis to CaCa, and as

154

K.

KOMLER

(11) (b) allows for the exception /kst/ the mechanism only generates /ft, pt, kt, ps, ts, ks, kst/ (also /St/ again) : raft, afit, act, eclifise, blitz, vex, iext.

C&-tstop

I - E fricative+ I

wide

kfortis,

-fricative

if not in CaCa, but C, -fricative+dorsal-fortis Cb + later,~l-(b) C, +stop+fricative-wide C&I-stop+wide C&a IC, -j-ston-I_fricative--wide1 ‘c, -sto;>+wide ’ I C&L

not in

3

’

+fortis

except [lCaCB -+ [I&, +fortis C8 -&fortis (The only examples are svelte, svarabhakti, Svengali, Stwdkw(sk), which speak for themselves.), {C, -dorsal C, -wide} -fortis in one item (adze), and C, -stop+wide -+ C, -stop+wide--fortisincontext V--l] in word s from French (mirage, but @leaswe = /z/ + + W/b (14) In context

V(Cb -/- nasal CB -fortis} +labiall] delete C, -fortis (rambb = c$vc&vcb is Of course not affected by this rule.)

(15) (a) C 3 Cr = Ca #pI mash butte? (b )

c-+xX

cz =

=

Cl

c&b mattress, esplanade, oSt?ic&,orchestra, ?PMS~W~O?~~ C,C, E&dard

(c) c -+ xx

CfL Cl = cbca enter, mo&eY, Borstarl,orchestra = C&b wihta, ear@ = C&, Baxter

MOilERN

ENGLISH

PHONOLOGY

155

(d) C --f XXX(>) I c2

(f)

Cl

XXX and

XXXX

I c2

are not possible

because

Cr would

I Cl

c2

Cl

have to be /sfr-/, which is very unusual. XXXX and XX,XX are not p>ssihle because there cancz Cl Cz Cr not be more than three consonants in C2 or Ci XXXX does not seem to occur. The only possible strucc2

Cl

would be C&C&b or C&C&b, but Cr = Cbc,C, is not a regular pattern and Cz = C&C8 is very unusual. iMore than four consonants camlot be interlocked. tures

(g) C -+ C2 (I)>1 2 1((l) Cl, Cz # Cr if other than Cz. . . (1 u succession I

If there is a (l)>, a corresponding <(I) must precede a previous Cl to match, and if there is a <(I), a corresponding (1)) must follow a later C2 to match in such a way that (1 1> occurs as [i 11, that the constituents which are not enclosed in ((1) (1)) art taken from the finite lists of suffix formatives when they follow ((1) %, or of prefix morphemes when they precede <(I) (I)>, and that < > when combined with a prefix occurs in other formatives. There cannot 1~ more than one > ( or (I,>1 “, I<1 within [l 11. As part of [l l], a combination of <1 1) with other morphemic elements is enclosed in <” 2> if it also functions as [l t] or [“Cl 1123; as part of [I l], a combination of < > with other morphemic elements (except ) is encicised in <1 1) if it also functions as aa independent formative.

156

K, KOHLER

fi”uences of consonants permissible between V-J Among the sbq without intervening morphemic or formative boundaries only those form part of the basic structure of English that are interlocked, i.e. that contain one element which can belong to Cz avtd Cl at the same time. Of these possibilities Cl = C2 # o presents the most perfect integration and is the m’ost common type. XX and XXX are less integrated and less common, XXX is the rarest combination of this

class, because

C2 = C&&Za, is not a regular

(alcohol, veG( ular) and

l

C, E (penetrate I CI

without

structure, glottalisation

l, in

an accent th:it glottalises otherwise) are not interlocked at all and are therefore very rare. The same applies to the pattern Cs *Cl, which is either absent or rare. It is only possible if there is the same number- and the sarne arrangement of Cb and Cs as in integrated sequences, other sequences are impossible (e.g. C&C,C&& = /gkstsfr/) : =

aesthetic, Methen, ,4 s&on, Edgar

c,*c,

= ca’ cb cc =

c&a

II

= =

ignite, ethnographic, butler

Ogden, Rugby,

athlete, Islam,

Israel,

Edzel, mezlley,

vulgar Emley,

Cb’CaCb

Osborne,

Henry, Norway

Daventry

(without glottalisation glottalises otherwise) Welselcy,

in an accent

that

WoZseZey cbc,,

lCa, cb *C&a

do apparently

not pro-

vidc any examples. In lobster, hamster, the &Cr formation is :‘acilitated by the existence of the suffix -ster in e.g. tapster, roadsler, mobster, gartgster, trickster, etc. Similarly, flimsy, clumsy, palsy, tipsy, although single morphemes, are to be compared with whimsy, tricky, coxy, Eetsy. /ml in hamster, flimsy, clumsy can only be explained if there is C&1.

MODERN

ENGLISH

PHONOLOGY

157

C, --stop-wide .Cb --j C, --stop+flat Ca --stop+labia

(a ) C, --stop--wide (b)

cb

CS

-+

flat C, --stop-/=-labial

c,

--stop+

+fortis

in contexts [f-_ and <(rL_, -+ --fortis in contest V__V. This rule implies \‘C,CrJ -+ C’Ce. CbV and explains /z, V, S/ + ct, and /s, f, O/ -+- Cb are so rare. (c 1

CEI--stop+ in context

flat -F C, _-st0p-t-flat -fortis [L in adverb:; and pronouns:

Cb

why

tlze, they, them,

there ; ip, cop,t-,ext

VW, \“”

--Iatera!‘)-=_(morphemiC boundaries)V in native non-derivational format ives : father, mother, brother, lathev, rathsr, bother, weather, [l WY’], [l
c, -stop-wide C, -stop+ In context --+ +fortis,

-stop-wide kfortis &, labial C, -stop+labral --l] in a numlx,n cjf verb-noun relations, noun verb -+ -fort 3. excuse, use, grief - graeve. cc3

r\

(17) 2Uonsonant clusters, whether divided by

or not, cannot be repeated or reversed within a terminal [I 13 or ((1) (1)). This also applies to C, -#-stop+fricative, to Ca --stop+widtt (which is GIL-+-stop+ fricative --wide+ dorsal historicall;Y ‘111natrve If repetition or inversion does *Nerds) and to CB -stop+flat.Q) occur it is coniined to special words: shush.

(I,&

I

1’ + L

-

&I (/a/),

or .)V V #: VI), a.nlJ but in context __(morphemic bounLkes __?] Vb only ill yrc_c>er names and forergn WOIdS in context @illa, vanilla,

boa, idea, Ida, America).

-g, thither

=

[l

(th) (ither>lJ, cf.

[l {wh) (lther+.

K. KOHLER

158 (19) VB,-+ Va, VB

(20) (a) V, -+ VI /ii/, VZ Ii:/, V7 /u:/, (b)

VB +

h

/iI,

VS /a:/, h

/e/,

V3 /e:/,

VA /au/, V5 lo:/, VS /iu/

Vg /a:/, KY

/a/,

h0 VP

loi/ /A/,

KY

131

(21) VLudoes not occur before a Cs that consists ol + labial C, +stop-wide + dorsal I I or more than one C, nx does it occur before C, -stop+widel].

I. Before Cb Cb C -dorsatl: II (a) cb +hterd & -fricative-dorsal-fortis VI wild, Vz field, V5 old, V7 Gould, Va

bald

(b) Cb +-!ate;al C, -fricative-dorsal+fortis vg bolt -dorsal - fortis (c) cb -&ted ca, -fricative Vz beard, Va laird, Vg board, V7 gourd C, -fricative-dorsal+fortis (d) Cb -lateral v5 fort, port (e)

{Cb +nasal C, -fricative - fortis} - dcrsal VI find, V2 fiend, Vd homd, &3 lamdry

-dorsal (f) lcb -7 nasal C, -fricative-+fortis) V; ,A!:i!, TTj$3&t, V4ffOi4&, Vg dwust, Vn), point (g) cb $-nasal-dorsal Vd ou~ace

c8 -stop-wide-dorsal+fortis

(h) {Cb -l-nasal CB,+fricative+wide+fortis) Va staunch

-dorsal

(i) {Cb $-nasal C, +fricative+wide--fortis} V3 grunge, V4 lounge

-dorsal

C, -stop -wide-dorsal+fortis (j) Cb -lateral Vs force, course, coarse, hoarse (k) cb -lateral cb + nasdlS- rb?%,l V3 b&n, VS borne, worne, tome, II. v8 before C&, -wide: 111. V8 alternates

V7

boume

Fawkes, auxilzhry.

with Vs# before

MODERN

ENGEXSH

159

PHONOLOGY

-stop-wide+fortis and before Cb +lateral

,

ah, ~e~~~~~~~, /ahe, fal #y; aypices, awxtiltate, A nutria; Balkan, AIbafi, Albright, almanac, palsy.

--stop-+-wide’]

salt,

C(C)\‘:

in loan words frorn French:

leash,

Iache; rouge, mirage, bilige. ][O, not

containing a prefix formative, gets one and only one accent, which cannot fall on Vb and which is assigned in steps, starting from [l l] and moving to the next higher [n n] yach time till m][ n *][0 is reached, deleting each prcviausly assigned accent. If in th: course of this accent assignment the accent follows a, dell te Pi. Exceptions are so&me loan words ar,d a number of proper _PL2zl_ nampc: P hamhnn car&tie/ Rantu. _. cr.___ ._d, Moselle_ I --.--‘.~“vv) w_.-. --.rC, lrnmhmw ----s h’t?W -o--’ -u-~*y-@ P “‘0’ a rnorBP&s, Carlisle, Dund9e, which hzvr3 two accents. If pheme or formative suffix with an initial vowel, when added to a unit ending in unaccented Vlr or Vt,, cause’; the accent to shift to these vowels Vl# -+ VI, Vb -+ Vs algehac, [l 4tmy1] (cf. [l(anxi> R~ous~]), [l(vari> Gt-yl] (cf. variozcs, vary). 1

1

Vb, except unaccented

w/ VIP, cannot

occur befort

((1) .

A prefix formative

receives M addit!onal accent, hue u’ts, UZ, am, mis and pre may forego t eir accent if the other mxnted vowel follows immediately : illegal, immortal, disarm, dcsgrace, tcnw2Wd,

wwommon

, misfortune, #we-eminent, #weoccupy.

The agent suffix Mji:r/ (eer or zer) or the suffix &:tte/ @Iminutive or ‘sham’), whether formatives or morphemes, have the accent. If they are formatives the accent assignment in the lower fuirnatlve constituents than tke ones they form part of must be carried out as well becaustl it dttterrnillt’b vowel quality: thev are then deleted again. ashier, auctioneer, smnet(eer, cavalier, grenadier, volunteer, mu&&W; kitchtmette, wdierette, Ieatherette, Brusselctt:.16,\

lo) /inader

and a number

of similar

words do not belong to this group

160

K.KO#LER

(26) The adjective

suffix sic, whether it is a formative or a morpheme, reqtiirz the acc-nt on the vowel preceding it. If it is a, formative the accent assignment in the lower formative constituents must be carried out as in (25) : gigantic, domestic, dramatic, ironic, arithmetic, adj ., arshc, adj ., telejhonic, telegralphic, athletic. Exceptions are fiobitic, hatic, Arabic, catholic. Names of sciences in mic ; ws (acouslScs, dynamics, mathematics) as well as nouns in &c n-11 pl. :I] (athletics) follow this rule, with the exception of fiolitz’cs.

(27) Any suffix containing

particles, whether it is a formative or a morpliemc, requires the accent on I he second vowel preceding the first -. If the suffix is a formative the accent assignment in tl-1~lu-wer tormative constituents must be carried out as in (25) and (26) : ncgcessity, sincerity, $wiority, seniority, majority , definitive, inf i&he, hered it (y , ary) , impediment, prectsiori, fvovision, immediate, com$etion, progression, differentiation, [l{qual> wit-y; -al -ivel], [2[rclassifyl] mate; mi-on; =cry2], [l(nutr> wit -ive -1, [r(nutr> witi-onl], [2[rherbl] w ivor-ous2], [2[1insect1] GW lvor-ous2], [2[linsectl] mic-idez], Pcom ;Qrrlse> mat-oryr] /kam’pensatri/.ll) L

(28) i4

If [l 11 ends in /i:k/, /u:n/, /esk/ (iqtie, oon, esque) the accent falls on the last vowel: antique, critique, technique, balloon, dragoo92, cartoon, typhoon, arabesque, grotesque.

(b) In

a substantival

the accent occurs on

the first vowel, but which follows (29). telephone,

telesco$e,

[L-(rmeterl)l]

11tele (1 (vi+ pi-

-+ [l--],

12)

whort/eberry, huckleberry, underwor!d, warcoat, Gnden’aker 13)) interlop s94)

ideograph, intercourse,

as

they end in /Jar/ = w 1-er; siltzozc?Ite and etiywlle are single unites, whose accents must be speclfled in the lexicon. *I) Compare [2[1d 1s(pense)l] w at -orya] (38)) but also [2[lcom (pense) *ate” aoryz] (38). 12) But also [~tele[~(ws) wi-onlJ2]. 13) [lunder (2 (Itabel j ,a e&l], but und&dker [z[lunder (1takel)lJ w era],

see (38). Ia) [linter(2(!lopea) q er2>1],but also [”[linter (llopel)l] N erg], see (38).

MODERN

(c)

ENGLISH

PHONOLOGY

161

If ~1 13 contains two the first one is gi\ en an accent according to the rules that apply when it oc( urs as a separate formative ; blackboard, gentLeman.

(29)All

other [l 11 have an accent on the only vowel, or on the first V, if there are two vowels, or on the third vowel from the end if there are more than two but no suffix morphemes, or on the second one before a suffix morpheme. If [l f] is a verb ending in @ate or wize it follows this rule, except when Mate is preceded by only one vowel in which case the accent falls on mate. If [l 11 is a verb containing a prefix morpheme, but not mate or t;rcsize,it is accented on the first Towe1 after tht prefix morpheme. Exceptions must be sgecified in the lexicon. sella,see, bz;‘g;settle, cattle, winter, argue, $ossess, comment v.n. ; anecdote, Thucydides, Zodiac, diplomat, aureole, aureola, unison, awf 4xAw interlocutor, circumference, V ’ s---’ I J aristocrat l5) i de.zocrat;* reference, comparable, inventory, autonomous, individual, necessary, confident, dijjadent, definite, infinite, coronal, coronary, belligerent, composite, maintainance, navigable, abominable; anticipate, compensate, create, cremate, Legate, dictate, locate, narrate, vacate, migrate, vibrate, frustrate, pulsate, mandate, stagnate’s), adv&ise, compromise, recognize; precede, procede, deposit, inhibit, prohibit, object v.n., subject v.n., impose, oppose, s@$ose, undertake, overtake, define, confine, impoverish, accomplish, relinquish, establish, admonish.

(30) In the context --G-on + C, --stop-wide-fortis CB -stop-wide+fortis P recise - Precisio?z, concise - conctsion. (31) In mate; &won; wary delete 4mon, in *it-v; delete my.

=atGve

(321I (2) In &t= contexts

--(morphemic cr formative boundaries) G-on L yabs and -- -i-al I I *i-ate + C, -stop-wide+fortis, CB -fricative-dorsal+fortis per??& - per +zission, [2[1per(mit>1] = but not in F&-y:

--

--

16) livislocrat is also possible and must be sywfled in the lexicon. 16) In the last six items initial stress 1s also -possible.

K.

162

KOHLER

mible2], demowaf - democracy, accurate - accuracy, CO~Srpi~ ator - cons@racy, controvert- controversy, differentiG-on; ate - differential, colztradiction, [z[kontral] WOUS~], but Betty, matey, equality, Kantian, courteous, righteous, boufiteous. i-on;

\ P-VIn

the suffix Ac immediately before V1 or Vlt + C, -stop-wide+fortis. c3 -fricative+dorsal-t_fortis P u bJic- fitiblicise, j5ublicity; logic - logiciaut, logicism l7)

0C

In the context --~A-on -+ C, --stop-wide-fortis. C8#-fricative-dorsal-fortis wible2], evade divide - division, [2[idividei] G-on; evasion, [2[ievadel] WiNon; wivez], corrode - corrosion, provide - fwovision.

(33) In the context

4won;

(woryl

delete

G-on.

(34 (a! In the contexts -.--I,“lV~~4J or -WV&,

-lateral but thei s is fluctu-

-+ C, +wide&fortis, CB -wide&fortis ation before 1E [@ate. 20gicia98, raciai, z.q&ession, promotion, erasure, enclosure, revision, persuasiopb, cowosion; associate, v,, adj ., negotiate, but assume.

04 h the COnteXtS --I z IV&b --lateral + C, +fricative+wide C, -fricative-dorsal&fortis & fortis. depict - fiicture, jbroceed - @rocedure, legislature, signature, ex$eNditure, but tzcne. (C) In the contexts

--

~~~~ I

-stop-wide-fortis abusive, illtisory. c,

I

-+ Cc, -stop-wide+fortis.

(3)

In context A-on; mous delete G-on, . (36) -1 -+ w/j/ in context --WV: o~iniout, partial, but not in $artiality, where w is deleted in the course of the accent assignment , see (22). 17) o+qu& -

o@ci~y

is a special item with two forms.

MODERN

(37) (4

ENGLISH

163

PHONOLOGY

When the formative RGLIis joined to a constituent ending or loid/ the accent is shifted to .his last vowel. suffix formative is ~fary and more than one vowel precedes ~rn~nt / the same shift occurs. did,

-wy

(c )

)

t~~~~~Y~~~~~t~~, experiwmtal, fragmsntak, wary, comple~~~~~~~~~~, -ary, de&i al, imzidtmtal, acci-

The suffix formative mai does not allow the accent more than two vowels back: origz~al, presbyteral, pyramidal, but ~~~~o?i~~,because of (36). When suffix formatives are added to constituents ending in c&, the accent is LI**** chiftd prm-ding t,b_e . .IV”U..* .bU to the vowel cluster. diatectal,

objective,

subjective,

reflexive,

abstp actly, abstract-

ness.

(a

Mate demands the accent on the The suffix formative second vowel before it if it is not itself accented: disbut [~[l M fiensate, fwesbytenate, combhatorylf$ ifyl] @ate; *i-on; “_oryg] with accented Mate. 1 c

0e [2[11] my21 -+ [ql(X>(crae,‘>

%Yl] i-

following patterns Similarly,

such as my21 -+ [l{ldiylomatl>

[z[ldiplomatr]

*aten-I] to

-aten-l]

may supplant

ate ; 1zr:fI aory wive

1

n

R+ I].

“] may be changc:tl a

and *ate:

1

, which in turn

them. This change clearly occurs under the

l*) /‘kambineitari/ [*[lcombinel] mate (37) f.

.

; RWory2],

but also /‘kDm bmatrl/, see

K.

164

KONLER

~jry * e but does, of -i ‘ve course, not affect the accent, unless *ate is accented in divocalic verbs, S~IX(29). To indicate this I write

influence of formatives in mat

I II

if there is fluctuation, or

if the transform is the only possibility. illustrative is either [2[rl~ late--]4ve2-J or [l(illustr} z3attivei] I y!4ding the gronunciatior,s /‘ilastreitiv/, /‘ilatiativ/ arid /i’l~tr~tiv/, Furtlier examples are ‘2”i , ---\[” ate11 &ve2], [s[ll E /ate11~orys], \ B WycV,aL1 a[2[lphanelj 1z late21 :worys], [2[l ( ,a)atel] 4ves], [=[icombinei]

1z

late; ~oryz]

i

other cases suffixation does not iniluence the accent of the lower order formative constituents.

2Gj In d

ry, acczcracy, episco+acy, &~ths;i~~y~conventional, -ism, , -ly; moderator, establishment, abridgement, gov~nment, accom ~lishaent, imag~inative, demagogy, pedagogy, hero1sm, con. A&*;:4 omfortable, manageable, avertible, recital. bestowa I, Lu fk hammedan, defiant, dependent, statitory, bernzg~~ant,maran, izgnant, signatzlrelg), explanatory, dispensailory, competitive, @vocative, comparatzve, derivative, repetitive, a) Immediately before a suffix particle 7&C -+ o,C. If the suffix particle is i, not followed by a consonant, only Vi6 --f V1.c: sinceraty, divikty, definitave, impediment, consp%~at~~~, i+damztwy , comparative, competitive, 1fepetitive, derivatis/ 9, jhovocative, concision, fkrovision, experiment, q, but immediate, completion, ddetioqt, @ornotion, sion, experience, anxiety, v~A$y. ry, migratory, fhonatory /atariI/ha-z

!z

!atei] *cry’],

YEand other formatives and thk derivations of the same c P.YOshapes : /-a&/ beforemj [nor iaflexic~ns, /-ign/ elsewhere. Simi- ~~~~~~~~~*con& ?%92- condemnatian.

MODERN

ENGLISH

not =atworyl] ending.

165

PHONOLOGY

(cf. (37) f), but

dilatory has the latter

Exceptions are bestial, and eroceed - procession, swceed succession, concede - concession, which have two forms. (b) Before the suffix wit && -+ v,C. athletic, telephonic, typical, anecdotic, but heroic, algebraic. (cj Two removes from a suffix morpheme I& -+ J&C. [I Gsml], [l(lnaturel> wall], [lQnatio+> wall] (but derivational), [l(lprivaW, ~yl], [l(lpiratel’> ~yl], but also [2[1private1] wyy2], [2[$iratelJ WY”]. (40) (a)

In prefix format ves V,+

(b) V1 .

-H Vbr VIP.

VI, in context -2 psychology, ironic, migrate (tx~i. , idtxtz’ty , id enticd, dynamic.

emzgrate)

(c)

T,T&-10 -

vb :

actuary, individual,

(d) V5 - Vb in contexts --l> and --I] there is fluctuation

in context

authentic, rhomboid.

egocentric, window, but -_>: baromerric. :

(e) KY - vb if it is the only vowel before the accent and is not in a prefix morpheme: torment, v., cosmetic, Norwegian, orthography,, ostensible, but oppose. (f)

[(C)--X(+X if it is not in a prefix * Vb in context morpheme : carnation, athletic, anticipate, abdomen, Alfonso, articulate, but admit.

va’

(g) The prefix morpheme L&(S)imm:~diateiy ~JG~WC; & dLWILL fluctuates between VBand V I1: nbduct, abnormal, abstract, v. (h) Va - vb, vlp in c(x.text _-C&C,; but unaccented V4’ alternates with Vb : del;lct, insect, insectivorous, compact, impact, Oct+q but ? voduct, conducl. ExceptioGs (i)

an subject, n., c!y”ect, n., perfect, adj.

*

If di-v ocalic verbs and nou ns stand in such a relation to each other that the verbs armeaccented on the first vclwel, the nouns on *:.he second, V& -H Vb, Vrt, except vowels in prefixes: torment; ferment, hut produce, v., torrent.

Exception: accent, n., may :~lsohave Vb. (j) If the addition of a suffix ;‘ormative changes the accent, the previously accented voI,\rel remains Vg, but Naten-21 or n-11 mi-aln] --+ aten- or n-l] kMaln] :

K. KOHLER

166

departmental, reformatioq / or~2atiort, chsijicatiolt, @ication, notification, but dictatorial etc.

muulti-

(W &411vowels between w and the next formative or morpheme boundary marker -’ not counting - - remain unchanged. (1) All vowels between w and the next boundary marker not counting - - are reduced to Vb or VI*. (41)Between two :;uccessive ][ every second vowel before and after the accented one stays. If (40) does not preclude it all remaining unaccented vowels are re-written as Vb or Vir. Exceptions: idiot, @eriod, hubbub, logos, diaos, e$och, .vobot. (42)When V -+ Vb, Vlt then vb

+

vh,

VI,

vz,

vy

+

?y,

-+ V11 before the accent (reform, precede), V2’ -+ Vb, VI? after the accent before C, +dorsal

V2’

(object, stcb-

ject), &

-+ vb,

Vrl after the accent (maintainance,

but

maintain,

@thetic),

all other V --+Vb.

(43)Unaccented Vi) + Vb in context --Cb -lateral’] presbyter

(=

/i:r/ because of presbyterian), ministtx

(44) (a ) In [nal<* V8 may be changed to Vse: aZtkoq$i,

altogether,

but [2al[lmightyl]2], [%.l[ltogethcri]~]. (b) In some cases Vg may be changed to V5’ before the accent awiliary, authority, but authentic, atitonomous.

:

(45) ( a 1 V3’Cb +lateral alley,

Sally,

only occurs in contexts --(c)(c)v: Albert, Alfred, Galsworthy.

Ma&Z,Sat, Ralph, if not Ireif/, alb, alp(s), sea@, cab, Hals, valve.

Exceptions:

shall,

pal,

(b) V5lCb +lateral only occurs in contexts G3 -fricative-dorsal+fortis -- C, -stop -wide +-fortis (C)(C)V halt, fake, holly, falter Except ions : dd1, golf, involve, solve. 0c The only V,‘s before C, +stop+wide+fortis

are

MODERN

ENGLISH

vz reach, beach, va ‘h’, v

167

PHONOLOGY

1

couch,

&

approach,

VS deba uc?l.

OnlyS Vz 0ccurs in native words. (d) The only V&S before C, +stop+wide--tortIs are Vg besiege, Vs age, V5 doge. All the word+ are foreign. ithin (1 1> or ( >, VS does not occur after :e)

-t_ flat

- fort i(,II

staff,pdtth fast,clasp, ca+: dance;

AMcc d ‘50*.%,

passer, but [‘ wivc’], [l
passes,

passi?Lg,

wageI], elastic, dras-

tic.

Exceptions (Q

vat

but gra&

: ass, mass, lass, manse, asp.

in [~X
-+

‘YQ

aTfswer. 1

1

V 3 V&b --lateral

V c

3

(c,

v5cb

-lateral

I”:

3

bow, glory, honrse, boarder (4

C -+ V&b ---lateral C V&b -lateral horse, bordw, dwarf, but lorry.

scar, starry,

(f)

scarf,

but

harry.

VY v2’ cb --lateral , /a/&) - latt%d / 2/ “I V& fi #, fern, fur, fury, OCCW, occurring, inferable,

IFI-+

[l(kxcurl> 0

cart,

but hurry,

wmcel].

wV&b -lateral 3 m/ja/Cb -lateral tenswe, ca@re , p/ocedzlve, seizzcre, pleastire, failure, leisure, treasure, meatwe, legislature.

!68

M. XOHLER

Exceptions bvoclaure. (47) v 1,2,3,4,6,7,10 (48)

overture,

:

c:,

tenure

a$erture,

-&ted

+

VI, 2,3,4,&

(but

7,10/afCb

also

/ja/),

~kiteral.

intervocalically before unaccented Vl# or Delete C, -dorsal Vb, after ex< and in C,C,: vehicle, ve&?ment, prohibition, exhibit, which, but vehicular, firohibit, alcohol.

(49) (a) ex< -+ ek( in context --(C, excel, except, exceed

-wide

(b) ad< --+ ak< in context --V -+ (50) {C, -fricative+dorsal {C, -fricative+dorsal C, -stop-wide} -fortis (c)V if it is immediately followed by an accented vowel or a vowel that is two removes from the accented one. exhilarate, exhibit, exhaust, exist, existence, exhilaration, exemption, exhaudbrt, audiary, but [2[1tax1] @ate; WiNon2], exZzibition. Exceptions : existential(ism), gy with exist, exhort.

exhortation have -fortis

by analo-

(51) (a) pl., 3rd psg. -+ VrCa -wide--fortis after C, (b) V&,

-stop&-wide +stop+wide

;zo;+labi;il

V,{C,

n-1

II

-t-f1at -stop+labial

Exceptions chaffs.

(c)

/ +fortisn-l]$]

vcb

-lateral

vcb

-lateral

: roofs,

C, C, I

+

ca -wide}

- fortis*]

firoofs, chiefs, staffs, heaths, laths, laughs, +flat -stolp+labial flat -stop-+ I

/

+fortisll-l]plT]

I1

-+

n-l

+

labial

C, -stop-wide zf:fort is”]

scarfs - scarves, berths /OS,6z/, earths /es, Sz/, births (only lb/), wharfs Ifs, vz/, dwarfs (only Ifs/) (52) pl., 3rd p.sg. -+ C, -stop-wide+fortis in context in all other cases. tisn]--, 3 C, -wide-fortis

X+for-

MODERN

ENGLISH

169

PHONOLOGY

sets, bells, sins, eyes.

w

In Cb + nasal C, --fortis} +dorsaP], except before 22t!rcomp, mate(; GGon), delete C, - fortis : =&lp, a iger, aq$e, 1iqpist, A p&g&can,longer, lotigest, elo ftgate, @ohE”rtion; sing, singer, singing, long, longish, leqth, kingdom.

L

(54 (

i

1

If

=

Cm&~~~ml[nB~~dl

[nQb~unm]

+ [nBnounn]both ac

cents are preserved: ~/omn~pi!driver, ~flo~flandoctor, apprcnt ice phnber, bachelor uncle, fellow traveller, maiden au qt, toy soldier, home town, baby boy,

(h) If

[mAnO1lnmJ[nfhO*n A (street,

is a topographic tlas Mountains, Hz&on River, Lincoln Highway, kincoh Memorial, Kockejzlier Institute, St James hfinnary, Wallace Comment, McEwan Hall, iheenwich Observatory, Edinburgh University, Niagax Fuiis , ,gsszcan Dam, Jamaica Plain, Madison Avenue, Regent Terrace, Forrest Road, Kensington Gardens, Brzcntsfield Ihks, StatioTt Hotel, Carlton Hotel, Vtctoria Station, but Oxford Street, LoNdontown.

name

both

accents

are kc pt

town)*]

: A

(c 1 If in [WnOUnm][nBnoUnn], [V&,oun*] bears a locative relation to the area covered by L”A,o,,m], retained :

both accents are

mountain railway, ash, forest, goat, path: garden wall, path, gate: park gate, kitchen window, ceiling, floor, door, wali, sink, light, carpet, bell; castle zu I, esplanade; Orient Ex@ms, Pems ylvavzia Railroad.

If the locative relation is no longer felt 30) [mAm][*Bn] becomes a compound noun, a new unitary element, and loses its second accent, as in deck-chair. In some cases both interpretations co-exist and lead to accent fluctuation, as in sea-shore. x4 evrcnsion thL second If [mA,oU, m] does not dmote accent

69

as&n

disappeax

door bell, door plate,

door

km%

If [m&ko*nm] is a material

that is used in the production of [nB,OUn*], and if [*AI1,SUnm][nBnOUnn]is not a part or component of [mAnOUnm], both accents art” kept.

30) This never happens if [mAnoUnm]is park, garden, moux tazn or denotes ‘a room’ or ‘a building’.

K. KOHLER

rice, chocolate, plum pudd ‘ng: aj+le tart, vanilla ice; to onion, chicklen soqb; egg rcdl, mince pat, ~12zrd pie, silver chain, iron chair, elderberry wine, codtar, a but tomato, orange, +heaj5@, grapefrscit, a&5l’t!juice; rose water, potato chip. rye-bread has a contrastive accent, beeauslz it is not the usual kind of bread in Britain; givzgerbrcad is not ‘bread’ at all and ic; therefore treated as a compound noun; the same applies to fisk cake, since fish is not the usual ingxdient of a cake. (c) If [mAnOunmJ[nBnOUnn]= [mAnounm] there is only an accent on [mAn~UPl mh tree, elm he, pine t *Fe, gradutt? Jl~4~~ev~t, pfcssycat, pifi&~?, womevzfolk, codfis Q. ,h&tuf! s girlfriend+ l

(f)

If [mAnoUnm][nBnounn] is oart of [mAnOUnm] the secorxi accent is deleted: oven pipe, plate; kettle Lid, window pane, tree pip, apple core, flower petal, tree blossom, te but oven etc. f&w, by analogy with (54) (c).

(g)

is a non-topographic name the second accent is dropped. ([mAm][nBn] may be either a common noun with a or a proper noun with Sk) L’rlenmeyer flask, Frauenhofer line, Geiger couvtter, Ford NY, P&man car; Bohr ntsm, Ford Foundation, Kinsey r$ort, Mars?zalZPlan, Oedi+us complex, Smith A cl, Trumaln al lministration, Weber-Fechner law. If CmAproper

namem] [“Bnoun “3

(h) If [n&munn] and [mAnouni’] in [m+Qnot~nm][nBnaunn] stand in a subject - (direct or prepositional) objc ct relation the second accent is deleted. kettle holder, shoemaker, CI*“~ owner, coal miner, eye q!mer, nut cracker, office manager, Evaglish te&er, scieqgce teacher, slave driver, woman doctor, postman, coalman, paper kstife, hairbrush, money order, shoe polish, car thief, skyscraper, truckdriver, weather indic&r, trouble maker, city dwejjer, grasshpper, pressure cooker, sleepwalker, star gazer, street singer, birth control, crime detection, eyestraiN, mai! d&vey, manslaughter, book review, bloodtest, cohr $diotogra$hy, @km tree, apple tree, flower pot, railway bridge, vailway

Of

not, delete c&j --lateral.

(61) (a) I)ekte Vb immecktdy

before Cb I;=;,/

en Cb, but not in contexts

n] and

length-

172

K. KOHLER cb +nasd

c8 +stop--Cb

-taisd

C,( .)C,

$-stop-Lb +nasal Cb + nasal--& + nasal Cb +lateral---Cb + nasal.

bo&, button, kennel, barrert, barrel; but Londoq Acton, Lisbon, Germaq vilain.

Asshetolt,

(b) vb is not deleted before M : separate V. - separate adj., barbarism, barbarise, motorist. cb: 3 cb irregularly

before 1: I:

bottle - bottler - bottliq, multi$y.

able - abler, cycle - cyclist, multiple -

In the contexts 1(boundaries) I/ 1Ca v(Cb)-

( ) l

cb CC

\ -

1

i i IN:)/ C, +stop-fricative+fortis -+ C, +stop-fricative glottal sto$, in the contexts v(C&C, +stop+fricative+wide+fortis -+ 1 +stop glottal stop 11 + fricative+ wide glottal fricative, 1Cb &lateral provided (C&a +stop--fricative+fortis 1 /M:>/

(Cb)C, +fricatrve+wrde+iortis are preceded by the accented vowel or a vowel two removes from the accent: accuracy, applicable, situation, controversial, pilchard, but attitude, multiply, achievement. AI1 other +fortis

-+ glottal fricative.

(a) In mory, Wary or in context --Cb -lateral= Vb may always be elided provided w is not followed by ercomp, and provided vb is not between Cb -lateral--. eragent, Cb --lateral or Cb +lateral--Cb --]lateral: se/&ate, adj ., general, comparable, literal, lateral, barbarous, lae/atory, illusory, dormitory, elementary, hereditary, comp~lsory, but generality (where w before al is deleted in the .CIJurse of the accent assignment), separatiort, barbarism, ’ c wereii, caterer, temporary, ancillary.

MODEKX EXGLISH PHONOLOGY

173

mer] ay or aery elision is random : 2, avery and mystery fluctuate, bakery, cookery, crockery, mockery, djsapery, battery, fhttery idways have /a/.

(b) In

4. THE LEXICON The rules presented in ch. 3 provide a close link between syntax and phonology and constitute a ‘phonological grammar’ Chomsky and Halle consider such a grammar superfluous because they ‘see no point in adding to the already descriptively adequate grammar a new, unjustified, AL) HOC system of rules I hat simplv rcpcais what this grammar already establishes, and does so IX a way that permits of no explanation or justification, so far a-j is known. In short, we see no need for an independent phonological grammar?) R.rt they add: ‘To justify an independent phonological grammar it would be necessary to show one of two *things: either that it can achieve descriptive adequacy in a way in which the grammar to which it is added cannot, or that it is possible to motivate its rules in a way that is more far-reaching than is possible m the case of can be given. phonological redundancy rules. ‘22) This justification The indigenous structures, which are made explicit in my phonological rules, are either incorporated in the rules of Chomsky and Halle implicitly or they cannot be stated, at all with the help of matrices and redundancy rules, as the interlocking of intervocalic consonants for example. Furthermore, a feature that clearly belongs to several ‘segments’ without prc~f~~~~~nce may, in a matrix, have to be attributed arbitrarily to one of them, instead of to the whole group. In a word like imp the feature +labial specifies both consonants at once, and there are no grounds for putting the stop above the cluste- (although there are definite reasons for regarding the stop rather than the nasal as the dominant element if the cluster is divided, because of the special status of the velar nasal), on the contrary uhe simplicity criterion decides against this solution because it gives a feature specification in twcb steps, fr!-qt in the matrix and then in a redundancy rule, instead 0’1antrodu~:ing one feature in one rule (or in one lexicon entry (see below)). On these two accounts a phonolog;cal grammar of the type 1 have 21) Journal of Linguistics, 22) Ibid.

1 (1965),

117 f.

174

K.

IIOHLER

suggested can achieve greater descriptive adequacy and is consequently necessary in view of condition one quoted above. But there is also a need f)Br it with regard to point two, My rules introduce phonetic: features gradually according to their structural relevance. The experiments by G. A. Miller and F. E, Nicely23) have shown that distinctive features are not all equally resistant to Ilerceptual confusions. In English, for instance, ca-~it;l and stricturd? features take precedence over place of articulation and therefore occupy different places within the phonological structure. A matrix, how-. ever, cannot indicate such a grading; all features are on the same level. Furthermore, parallel to degrees of grammaticality we must recognise degrees of phonological acceptability. /pks/ is less ad missible as a word in English than Inki:/, which in turn is less acceptable than /kni:/, which in turn is less admissible than ,!zni:j etc. The set of rules ptesenieG lin this paper attempt to be a direct representation of this grading. Thus an independent phonological grammar with a continuous set of rules achieves greater descriptive and explanatory adequacy than a phonology in terms of matrices and sutsequent redundancy rules. But a phonological grammar is only possible if there are sequential elements by the sidct of componential ones, otherwise whole bundles of features mt sit be taken as given at the outset. Traditional transformational plllonology shows all the shortcomings that result from the absence af Isequential elements: structural limitations can either not be showr. or are only implicit in the rcdtindancy rules, long components are dealt with very unsatisfactorily and features are not introduced accl?rding to their structural relevance. Of course the present appro:~ch still requires a lexicon, because the rules only delimit thcb strur:tural possibilities, they do not list the items that actually occur. ,4 lexical entry must, apart from supplying the necessary grammatical information, pl u hide a minimum phonological specification so that the mechanism can handle and develop it. In #dealing with such an Item from the lexicon the first step is always to re-write it in the form c,v(c(v(cv)c)v)c)v)c,,

which is automatically

possible. Then i+L is run through

the rules to

23) An Analysis of Perceptual Confusions Among Some En,alrsh Consonant, JASA! 27 (1955) 338ff.

MODERN

ENGLI:iH

PHOSOLOGY

175

match the derivation of each element of Cr. . .Cz with thtl corrt’spending elements of the lexical entry. The prt~stncx’ or ,&Mw,‘~’of co@etc c~rr~s~ondcnc~ indrcates ivhether the item is yusGblc at V, for instance, will nebt be matched, the mechanism will reject it. If the item is allowed to continue beyond the simple matching the rules ~41 provide a full &xl iytion anti wilt L&O Wll us whether it is uniquely determined. The kind of rules elaborated in t hrs paper do not only corrcq~nd more clasely to the native spedket ‘s intuition, but they also allow of a very simple feature specification in the 8exicon. A few cxmq&3 wit1 detnonstrate this. SpkW&

[“C,CJ~CI,

--iatcra1’;

+ Mmw~C~

Smdl

--t_fat u-all

kxt

‘1 ’ LC

St%%

1 IC +EI--stop-wide=+-fortis

act

“,‘C ~41a,

@t

[It 3Ca ---fricative-t-labial

ctlanga

[‘C,

--fricative=--dors&+-

J

fort is VzX,C, Vg&

-+-fricative+

-+ dorsalC,

--sto$J

-+-dorsal C, ---fricative’]

+f ricative+wrde-+ - fortis’]

C, -frtcativcl3 fortis V&b +nasal

C, +fr~c;tt~.~

5. OUTLOOK 1

present this ac ount of English phonology cl’>3 rntxie\t contrsbution to a more comprehensive description of Enghsh, 111whit h semantics, grammar and phonology are clo~;ely mtqratc4. A gt Ott deal of further reSt:arch remams to be dont~ rro r+tabli4r then Wmai~rig accent and the still missing intonation rule’s and to qq)ly all the minute phoretic details. Different afxents and dialects of English rnurst be includetl t 0 +-w where in the hierarchy of rules they drff::r ard thup it) GW~+ ;G roupings, which can replace the fort UIscientificaily motivated tous and ad hoc clalcsifications linguists use at present. Furthermore this kind of descriptive analysis is to be linked with historical studies to show up those aspects that have remained static over

176

K. KOHLER

the centuries and to confront them with the dynamic for@= at different periods. Eventually, the same principles should be to other languages, first and foremost Europe German, Russian), because the data are usually more rea He, but it should certainly not be confined t would open up the way for a more rigorous pu linguistics by pointing out the real, i.e. strut vergencies and similarities. Needless to say th could eventualiy profit from such an approach. It is equally obvious that the urdertaking is so vast that it will never come to nn end, but it will ke ‘p generations of li CUpied and justify their wistencc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY CKOMSKY,N., 1965. ‘Current issues in linguistic theory’ in: language, Eds. J. A. Fodor and J. J. Katz, p. 5Off. HALLE, M., 1965a. ‘On the bases of phonology’, ibid., p. 324ff. HALLE, M., 1965b. ‘Phonology IJIgenerative grammar’, ibid,, p. 334ff. HALLE, M , 1959. The sowad pattern of Rwssdam. The Hague, Moutoa h CHOMSKY,N,, HALLE, M., 1965. ‘Some controversial questions in phonslogical theory’, Jownal of Lirrguistics 1, 97ff. HIGGINBOTTOM, E., 1964. ‘Glottal reinforcement in Fng’lish’, TPS 129ff. HULT&N, L. S., 1965. ‘Consonant clusters in Enghsh’, ,4 mvica* Speech, (Febr.) p. 5ff. JONES, D., 1956. English Pronowuhg Dictiowavy, t i th ed. LEES, R. B., 1964. The grammar of English ~o~~~azi~~~o~s. The Hamae, Mouton & Co. o CONAOH, J. D., and TRIM, J. L. M., 1953. ‘Vowel, consonant, and syllable ; a phonological definition’, Word 9, 103ff. The Conczse Oxford Dictionary of Cwvent Eaaglash. Oxford 51964.