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Underlying Representation

Generative Phonology
Robert Mannell
based on web based notes by web-based

Jonathan Harrington

Introduction (1) ( )
We have already examined three levels of abstraction in representing the sound structure of a language: language:a phonetic level (reasonably concrete) a phonemic level phonological (distinctive) features
Ideally the phonetic level is concrete and measurable but we often use simplifications that are to some extent abstract For example we may say abstract. example, that a vowel is nasalised but there are, in reality, degrees of nasalisation.

Introduction (2) ( )
In this lecture the terms root word or root form may be used. The term root is equivalent to the alternative term stem stem. A root word or stem is a word without additional affixes (prefixes, infixes or suffixes) A root form is the underlying (or cognitive) phonemic form of a root word. eg. the root form in the word dogs is /d/
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Introduction (3) ( )
The idea of underlying representations is an essential part of generative phonology. The underlying representation (or underlying form) of a root word or morpheme can be transformed into other forms (derived surface surface forms) by rules. (Chomsky and Halle,1968) Individual rules can be expressed in terms of f phonemes or distinctive features (or both).
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Introduction (4) ( )
An underlying representation is regarded in regarded, generative phonology, as the underlying form of a word or morpheme morpheme. Underlying forms are expressed in terms of phonemes. A surface form is the broad/phonemic transcription of how a word or morpheme is actually pronounced in a particular context.
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Introduction (5) ( )
An underlying representation is transformed into a surface realisation as a consequence of transformational rules rules. These rules might cause a word, which has a single phonemic underlying form, to be actually pronounced using different phonemes.

Introduction (6) ( )
The underlying form of a word (in the mental lexicon) is not just its underlying phonemic form, form but also the rules which transform that word into different surface forms (i.e. different phonemes) in different contexts contexts.

Introduction (7) ( )
Surface form, in generative phonology form phonology, refers to the choice of phonemes used to actually pronounce a word or morpheme morpheme, NOT to the allophones used. The underlying form of a morpheme is often written as follows:{-s}, { } representing th underlying f ti the d l i form ( ith (with phoneme /s/) of the plural morpheme.
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Plural morpheme in English (1) p g ( )


In I many dialects of E li h ( di l t f English (e.g. B iti h NZ British, NZ, Australian, American) the are three surface forms for the plural morpheme th t occur in f f th l l h that i different contexts (i.e. different word final phonemes i th preceding root word):h in the di t d) /-z/ following /s z t d/ /s, z, , , t, Otherwise, /-z/ following voiced phonemes Otherwise, /-s/ following voiceless phonemes O

Plural morpheme in English (2) p g ( )


For example we might say for morpheme { s} say, {-s} (1) /s/ /z/ / [+sib] _ which means that /s/ becomes /@z/ in the /s/ context of a preceding sibilant. ( (nb. [ [+sib] = /s, z, , , t, d/) ] , , , )
means becomes / means in the context of _ means place the morpheme here and so, [+sib] [+ ib] _ means a sibilant precedes th morpheme. ibil t d the h

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Plural morpheme in English (3) p g ( )


Generative rules are often dependent upon rule order and this required rule order is also part of the mental lexicon for a word or morpheme. In th {-s} I the { } example th [ ib] rule ( l (1)) l the [+sib] l (rule needs to be applied first and then rule (2) can be applied:(2) /s/ /z/ / [+voice] _
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Plural morpheme in English (4) p g ( )


Rule 2 works because in the [+sib] context /s/ has become /z/ so the next rule cant apply to it That is the output of rule (1) is the it. is, input to rule (2). As /s/ is the underlying form of the English plural morpheme {-s} we dont need a rule for f that form as underlyingly it already has f that form.
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Plural morpheme in English (5) p g ( )


If we had applied these two rules in the opposite order we would have ended up with /z/ following /z d/ as those phonemes /z, , are also [+voice]. So, we didnt need a rule to generate the underlying form (as its already there) and we needed to apply the rules in the correct order to get the correct answer.
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Plural morpheme in English (6) p g ( )


To summarise, the mental lexicon in English summarise contains, for the plural morpheme:1. U d l i Underlying f form i { } (i / /) is {-s} (ie. /s/)
2. 3. 4. 4 5.

Plural morpheme attached to end of root word. Rule 1, applied first: /s/ /z/ / [+sib] _ Rule 2 applied second: /s/ 2, /z/ / [+voice] _ No rule required to obtain underlying /s/ as this is what remains if rules 1 and 2 fail fail.

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Singaporean English (1) g p g ( )


In Singapore English and some other English, dialects of English, talkers simplify word-final consonant clusters by deleting the final stop stop. For example, words like 'task', 'lift', 'list' are produced as /ts/ /lf/ /ls/ i e without the /ts/, /lf/, /ls/, i.e. final /t/. This is a cluster simplification rule. What is the underlying representation of f these words? (e.g. /ts/ or /tsk/)
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This section is based on Mohanan (1992) and Kenstowicz (1994) as well as the web based notes by Jonathan Harrington.

Singaporean English (2) g p g ( )


We can examine the underlying forms of task and list by seeing how the plural morpheme interacts with them them. If the last phoneme of these two words is underlyingly / / or /k/ th { } d l i l /t/ then {-s} /s/ then / / th we would end up with /ss/. Another common English l E li h rule would th simplify / / t / / ld then i lif /ss/ to /s/
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If the underlying last phoneme of these words is /s/ then {-s} /z/.

Singaporean English (3) g p g ( )


An assumption of the above rules is that the morpheme is added BEFORE the final /k/ or /t/ of the root word is deleted deleted. /tsk/ + /s/ /tsks/ (plural added) /tsks/ /tss/ (cluster simplification) /tss/ /ts/ (geminate [double] reduction) If the underlying f th d l i form of task had b f t k h d been / / /ts/ then we would have ended up with /tsz/.
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We know this because bus becomes busses

Singaporean English (4) g p g ( )


Singaporean English speakers pronounce these plurals as /ts/ and /ls/. So, we must assume that the underlying form of these words includes the whole final fricative/stop cluster. (We might g ( g guess that the same is true for lift, but this hasnt been tested directly) When the plurals are p p produced, the p , plural morpheme is added BEFORE the root word cluster is reduced to produce the final surface form.
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Singaporean English (5) g p g ( )


Examples like this show us that the mental lexicon is not just a list of pronunciations. The mental lexicon is highly abstract and consists of underlying phonemic forms and sets of phonological rules that convert underlying forms into surface forms.

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Indonesian Prefixes (1) ( )


The following example is from Halle and Clements (1983) In this example, we very conveniantly already know the underlying forms of the root words some of which have been modified in the prefixed surface form. We also have a prefix morpheme that varies significantly in its surface form.
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Indonesian Prefixes (2) ( )


The goal of this exercise is to determine the underlying form of the prefix and the rules which transform the underlying forms of the root word and prefix to the example surface forms. forms The meanings have been omitted from these tables. G to the associated web page to see Go the full table, including meanings.
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Indonesian Prefixes (3) ( )

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Indonesian Prefixes (4) ( )


A quick examination of the list indicates that a few root words appear to have had their first consonant deleted These words are: deleted. are:/kirim/, /tulis/, /pukul/. In all other cases the root words are intact intact. We can also see several surface forms for the th prefix:- / fi /m-/ / / /m-/ / / /m-/ / / /mm-/ /
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Indonesian Prefixes (5) ( )


Another quick check shows that all of the root words that start with a voiceless oral stop /p, t, /p t k/ have had that phoneme deleted deleted. This proves that there is at least one rule that affects root word initial phonemes phonemes. We will need to keep our eyes open for more rules that change the root word. There may be more, but so far we dont know.
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Indonesian Prefixes (6) ( )


You also need to be aware that /t/ and /d/ usually represent postalveolar affricates but that they can behave phonologically as if they are equivalent to the palatal stop consonants [] and [ ] (which they sound very similar to) to). In such cases /t/ and /d/ behave as if they have the same place of articulation as sounds f like //.
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Indonesian Prefixes (7) ( )


If we look at the examples where there is a final consonant on the prefix and an initial consonant on the surface form of the root word we have:mhitu mambar mndar mmbantu mdahit mtatat Five of these are homorganic p g pairs (i.e. oral stop/affricate and nasal stop have same place of articulation). The only exception i mhitu ti is hi

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Indonesian Prefixes (8) ( )


When we do a morphophonemic analysis we should always try to find patterns that can help to explain the surface forms forms. Assimilation to the same place of articulation is a very common rule in generative phonology. So we might consider this a possible hypothesis.

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Indonesian Prefixes (8) ( )


If we look at the surface forms of the prefix we find that three of them are nasal stops. Its easy to imagine a prefix underlying form that ends in a nasal stop and ONE assimilation and ONE deletion rule rule. Its more complex to imagine a prefix /m@-/ and several separate insertion rules some of which dont make any sense in some contexts.
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Indonesian Prefixes (9) ( )


For example if the prefix underlying form is /m-/ then how do we get the surface forms in the case of: of:/m+hitu/ /m+ambil/ /m+isi/ /m+unda/ Why do we get // on these prefixes? There is no logical phonetic process here.

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Indonesian Prefixes (10) ( )


So, So if we hypothesise that the prefix ends in a nasal and that there is an assimilation rule that changes the final nasal to the same place of articulation as the first consonant of the following root word, how much of the g , data does this account for? It accounts for all but seven of the examples p especially if we also add a geminate simplification rule.
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Indonesian Prefixes (11) ( )


mNmasak mmmasak mmasak mNnikah mnnikah mnikah mNaco maco maco mNai mai mai mNdahit mdahit mNtatat mtatat (in the above N means any nasal stop)
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Indonesian Prefixes (12) ( )


We have good evidence that assimilation to place of articulation is at work here. So h S how d we explain / do l i /mambil/ / bil/ /misi/ and i i/ /munda/? (root words starting with a vowel) Theres no logical way that a vowel articulation can affect the place of articulation of a nasal stop so the easiest answer is that the underlying form of the prefix is /m-/
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Indonesian Prefixes (13) ( )


The root words that start with a voiceless oral stop can be explained by assuming that the prefix assimilation is applied first and then the root word initial /p t k/ is deleted. /mkirim/ / ki i / /mkirim/ / ki i / /mirim/ / ii / /mtulis/ /mntulis/ /mnulis/ /mpukul/ / k l/ /mmpukul/ / k l/ /mmukul/ / k l/ Why delete? Its a convention for this language.
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Indonesian Prefixes (14) ( )


An entirely different rule affects the addition of this prefix to lempar, rasa, wakil and jakin. Its is a deletion rule that applies to the prefix prefix. /mlempar/ /mlempar/ /mrasa/ / / /mrasa/ / / /mwakil/ /mwakil/ /mjakin/ / j ki / /mjakin/ / j ki /
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Indonesian Prefixes (15) ( )


The underlying form of the prefix is /m / /m-/. The rules apply in the following order:1. If root word starts with an approximant delete // from the prefix. We do this first to prevent the assimilation rule from applying. 2. Assimilate the prefix // to the place of articulation of a following [-cont] consonant (i.e. oral stop, nasal stop or affricate) 3. Delete voiceless stop at start of root word.

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Indonesian Prefixes (16) ( )


No other rules are required to explain this data. The l Th rules must be applied i this order. b li d in hi d Knowledge of the underlying forms of the words and the morpheme PLUS the rules and the order in which the rules must be applied must be implicit knowledge for a linguistically competent speaker of Indonesian.

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Tagalog (1) g g( )
On the web page associated with this topic there is also a worked example for Tagalog. This data includes a vowel deletion rule, a vowel raising rule /o/ /u/ and a metathesis rule. A metathesis rule, most often applied to a pair of adjacent consonants, is the swapping /pt/ of the order of the consonants. /tp/
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Tagalog (2) g g( )
An example of a metathesis rule is: is:/atip/ /atp/ /apt/ /atip/ is the simple form / p/ /atp/ following a vowel deletion rule g /apt/ following metathesis of the last two consonants

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Tagalog (3) g g( )
You should work through the Tagalog example on the web site. The main problem that people have with this example is with the meaning of the term suffixed form. Its the form that the root takes when its followed by a suffix i.e. bukas i b k buks h ld be b k should b read as d bukas buks + an buksan
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Zoque (1) q ( )
For the Mexican language Zoque no obvious Zoque, simple form seems to have been supplied. We would normally expect a singular rather than a plural form to be a simple form. We have (for example) clothes, my clothes and his clothes. Plural is common to all forms. my or his morphemes are added to the plural clothes is simpler than my clothes and his clothes. (true for 5 out of 7 examples)

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Zoque (2) q ( )
plural pama tatah tuwi kaju k j tsin mok k atsi my mbama ndatah nduwi aju j ndzin mok k atsi his pjama tatah tatah tuwi kjaju kj j tin mjok j k jatsi clothes father dog horse pine corn brother

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In all cases the meanings are plural. e.g. dogs, my dogs, his dogs

Zoque (3) q ( )
A quick look at the first two columns shows for shows, the first five examples, that a nasal has been added to the front of the stem and the voiceless stops and affricates have become voiced. e.g. pama mbama (the clothes my clothes) This nasal prefix hasnt got a clear place of articulation. Well call it /n/ for convenience. We ll /n/ assimilates to the place of assimilation of any following [-cont] (oral or nasal stop or [ cont] affricate)

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Zoque (4) q ( )
[-voice cont] [ voice -cont] voiceless stops and affricates become voiced i.e. [-voice] [+voice] e.g. e g pama mpama mbama (/p/ /b/) resulting geminates simplify e.g. mok k mmok k mok k nasals delete before glottal stop e.g. atsi natsi atsi
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Zoque (5) q ( )
A quick glance at the third column suggests that /j/ is inserted in many examples e.g. e g pama pjama In the other 3 cases we get an affricate, but the affricate is post-alveolar. Post-alveolar can be considered to be a palatalised alveolar. e.g. tuwi i tjuwi j i tjuwi j i tuwi i tsin tsjin tjin tin insert assimilate d l i i il delete
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Conclusion (1) ( )
In this lecture we have examined generative phonology and have introduced the idea of underlying representations (UR) and surface forms. We have also examined the rules that govern the generation of surface forms from URs. Implicit knowledge of morpheme/word URs and the rules that generate surface forms are essential for linguistic competence in a g p language.

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Conclusion (2) ( )
The URs of word stems (root words) and affixes can be derived, with often some effort, via analysis of linguistic data This process is data. greatly helped by knowledge of common generative rules rules. Some generative rules follow common phonetic and phonological patterns, but some rules seem idiosyncratic to a particular language ( speech community convention) l (a h i i )
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Conclusion (3) ( )
Common rules include:include: assimilation (place and voicing) cluster simplification (i l di geminates) l t i lifi ti (including i t ) phoneme deletion phoneme pair metathesis (swapping) vowel rounding, spreading, raising, lowering, fronting, backing phoneme insertion
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Conclusion (4) ( )
In many examples the determination of the URs of root words is easy and the main task is determining the URs of the suffixes suffixes, prefixes and infixes. Sometimes, however, neither are clear and the full picture must be built up gradually from a series of tested hypotheses. f f

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Further Reading g
You should read the topic web page at: at:http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonology/generative/index.html

Also read the relevant chapter of Clark, Yallop and Fletcher.

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References (Not required reading) ( q g)


Chomsky, N., Chomsky N and Halle M 1968 The Sound Pattern of Halle, M. 1968. English. New York: Harper & Row. Halle, M. and Clements, G. 1983. Problem Book in Phonology, MIT Press. Kenstowicz, M. (1994) Phonology in Generative Grammar. Cambridge MA, Blackwell. Mohanan, K.P. (1992) Describing the phonology of non-native varieties of a language, World Englishes, 11, 111-128.

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