LINGUISTICS4ENGLISHPHONOLOGY SummarybyPeterHofstee OriginaltextbyHeinzGiegerich(Cambridge:CUP1992) Ch.

6:SYLLABLES Phoneticandphonologicalunits Phonemesarethesmallestsuccessiveunitsinphonology.Speechsoundsaregroupedintosyllables, andinturn,syllablesaregroupedintofeet;thesearethelargerphonologicalunitswhicharenecessary forthecompletenessofourphoneticrepresentation.Thedifferentrealisationsof/l/or/t/inlittle tentareduetotheirdifferentpositionswithinthesyllableandwithinthefoot.Segments,syllablesand feetarenotonlyphoneticunitsbutalsophonologicalunits;theyrepartofthephonologicalstructureof alanguage. Whatisasyllable? Letsstartwiththephoneticsofthesyllableandthesonoritytheory.Intheproductionofspeech,the airstreamdoesntClowatconstantratebutratherinaseriesofpulses.InthepronunciationofPTK forexample,theclosuresof[t]and[k]interrupttheairClow,resultinginthreesuccessiveburstsofair. Accordingtothepulsetheoryofthesyllable,eachsyllablecorrespondstoapeakintheClowrateof pulmonicair.Problemis,thisdoesntexplainmuch.Theanswertothequestionwhypoeticalis perceivedastohavefoursyllablesliesinthefactthattheenergyoftheairstreampulsesisinspeech translatedintoacousticenergy,onemanifestationofwhichissonority.Thepulsesoftheairstream correspondtopeaksinsonority.Thesonorityofasoundisitsrelativeloudnesscomparedtoother sounds,everythingelsebeingequal.Speechsoundscanberankedintermsoftheirrelativesonority. Theextremepoints,voicelessoralstopsvs.lowvowels,providethesonorityscale,asshownbelow.
Oralstops VoicelessVoiced Fricatives VoicelessVoiced Nasals Liquids Semi vowels Vowels HighLow

p t k

b d

f s

v z

m n

j w

i u

Sonority> Withthisscale,onecanpredicttherightnumberofsyllablesforagreatmajorityofEnglishwords. Thus,whenputintoadiagram,oneclearlyseesasinglesonoritypeakinclamp/klamp/andtwo peaksinAndrew/andru/,reClectingithastwosyllables(seep.1335).So,theperceivednumberof syllablescorrespondstothenumberofpeaksinasonorityproCile,assumingthesonorityscale. Someunansweredquestions Considerhiddenaimsandhidnames,bothofwhichmayphonemicallyrepresentedas /hdnemz/.Problem:hiddenaimshasthreesyllables,whilehidnameshastwo,andbothare representedidenticallyinasonoritydiagram.Thisdemonstratesageneralpropertyoftherulesof syllabiGication:theserulestakeintoaccounttheboundariesbetweenwords.Moreprecisely:the domainofsyllabiCicationisthesingleword.ThereforewearejustiCiedtoomitreferencingtolarger domainssuchasthephrase. Thesecondproblemconcernsthepositionofsyllableboundarieswithinwords.Forexample,the sonoritytheorypredictsthataromahasthreesyllablesandphonologyhasfour.Butwheredothe boundariesfall?Manyagreeonthefollowing:a.ro.maandpho.no.lo.gy.ThesonoritytheoryidentiCies thetroughsbetweensyllablepeaks,butitdoesntpredictanapparentregularity:ineachcase,the consonantispartofthefollowingsyllableratherthantheprecedingsyllable:*phon.ol.og.y. Thethirdquestion:howmanyphonemescanasyllablecontainandwhatphonemescanoccurnext toeachotherinasyllable?ThesinglepeakcriterionalonedoesnotsufCice,since*/pljalmp/or
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*/knamp/arebothimpossiblesyllables.Therefore,wehavetomakerulesforthepermissiblenumber ofphonemesinasyllableandforthewaysinwhichphonemescancluster.EnglishhassyllabiCication rulesinadditiontothesonoritytheory.InthecaseofstickswearefacedwithasyllabiCicationruleof Englishthatcontradictsthesinglepeakprincipleofthesonoritytheorybyallowingthreepeaksto makeasinglesyllable(seethediagramonp.137). Thestructureofmonosyllabicwords Whateverisawellformedmonosyllabicwordisalsoawellformed syllable.Monosyllabicwordswillgiveevidenceforintermediatephonological unitswithinthesyllable,namelyunitscomprisingmorethanonesegmentbut smallerthanawholesyllable.Thepeakofthesonoritycurve,orthesyllabic segment,iscalledthepeakofthesyllable.Thepeakmaybeprecededbyone ormoreconsonants:thecoda.Thepeakandcodatogetherformtherhymeof thesyllable. Theonset Firstofall,notethatsyllablesneednothaveonsets,theycanbeginwiththesyllabicelement,the peak,asineyeoreat.Ifthereisanonset,itmaycontaineitheroneconsonantpositionortwo.There isoneexception,though,asinstreetorspring.The/s/in/str/,/spr/,/st/andsoonhasaspecial status:itcanoccupyanotherwiseinadmissibleconsonantpositionintheonset.Inadditionitviolates thegeneralisationthatonsetsequencesincreaseinsonority(thatiswhy/pl/and/sl/areallowed but/lp/,/ls/and/ws/neverare). Thecoda Thecodaofthesyllableisaconsonantorsequenceofconsonantsthatfollowsthepeak.Itisa mirrorimageoftheonset:whileonsetandpeakconstituteanupwardslopeinsonority,peakandcoda makeadownwardslope.Likeonsets,codasareoptional(suchaspieandfree).Alsolikeanonset,a codacancontainoneortwoconsonantpositions.Heretoo,twoconsonantpositionsisthemaximum: syllableswiththreecodaconsonantsareillformed.However,thereisaproblemwiththisrule,since clampscontainsthree:weconcludethatthecodaislimitedtotwoconsonantpositionsbutitcanbe followedbycertainconsonantphonemes(like/s/,/z/and/t/)thatmayalsoviolatethesonority generalisation(sincetheseexamplesformanewpeak,itfailstoparticipateinthedownwardslope). Thepeak Thepeakcontainsthesyllabicelement:thesegmentthatismore sonorousthatbothitsneighbours.Afullanalysisatthispointlookslikethis; notetheXpositions.Letsanalysealaxvowel(seesection4.2.3)liketheone inclampasbeingassociatedwithasingleXposition.Also,letssaythat diphthongsareassociatedwithtwoXpositions,thus,diphthongsarelonger thanlaxmonophthongsare.Xpositionscanbecountedastimingunits: differencesinvowellengthcanbedescribedintermsofXpositions: a. Associatea[tense]vowelwithoneXposition. b. AssociateeachelementofadiphthongwithoneXposition. c. Associatea[+tense]vowelwithtwoXpositions(seep.142). Therhyme Therhymeofasyllableisaunitthatconsistsofthepeakandthecoda.Thereasonforthisisthefact thatpeakandcodafunctiontogetherratherthanseparately:inthecaseofmonosyllabicwordsitsthe numberofXpositionsintherhymethatdetermineswhetherasyllableiswellformedornot.Well formedsyllablescontainnomorethanthreeXpositionsintherhyme.ItsthesumofXpositionsinthe peakpluscodathatcounts,notthewayinwhichtheyaredistributed.(Thisisthereasonfortherhyme inthesyllablestructure.)Thepeakofthesyllablefunctionstogetherwiththecoda,notwiththeonset. WedexpectthatasyllablehasminimallytwoXpositionsintherhyme.Thisisnttrueforarticles andprepositionsliketheorto,whichonlyhaveoneXpositionintherhyme.Thus,stressedsyllables haveaminimallytwoXrhyme,whileunstressedsyllablesmayhavearhymewithasingleXposition.A
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syllablethathasatwoXrhymeiscalledaheavysyllableandone withasingleXrhymealightsyllable.Thecrucialregularityisthat stressedsyllablesareheavy.Alllexicalwords(i.e.nouns,verbsand adjectives)haveatleastonestressedsyllable,thusmonosyllabic lexicalwordsarealwaysstressedandtherefore heavy. Tosumup,theminimumnumberofXpositionsintherhymeis onefurunstressedsyllablesandandtwoforstressedsyllables:the maximumnumberisthree;thesearecalledcoresyllables. Appendices Monosyllabicwordscanviolatethecoresyllablepatternsummarisedabove.Regardingtherhyme, theremaybemorethanthreeXpositions,andtheremaybeviolationsofthegeneralisationthat sonoritydecreasesfromlefttoright.Whenthisoccurs,seep.148,theconsonantsthatcannotbebe partofthecoresyllablearesimplyappendedtotheprecedingstructure.However,theuseofthese appendedsegmentsislimited:theclassofconsonantsthatcanfollowthecoresyllablecanbedeCined intermsofdistinctivefeatures:suchconsonantsmusthavethefeaturecomposition[sonorant,+ coronal].Inotherwords,aconstraintthatonlyallowsacertainplaceofarticulation.(Theconstraints regardingcoresyllableareradicallydifferent,namelyasonorityconstraint.) Tosumup,weallowarhymetocontainacorerhymeplusfurtherXpositions,whichmustcontain coronalobstruents,referredtoastheappendix. Regardingtheonsettheresasimilarissue:anappendixcanoccurhereaswell.Itisonly/s/that canviolatethesonoritygeneralisationoftheonset,andwhenevertheonsetcontainsthreeXpositions thentheCirstoneofthesewillbean/s/thatalsoviolatesthesonoritygeneralisation.So,coreonsets containtwoXpositionsofincreasingsonorityandacoreonsetmaybeprecededbyanappendix/s/. Moreover,onsetappendicescanonlycontainonesegment,whilerhymeappendicescancontainmore thanone(e.g.intexts).Finally,onsetappendicescanonlyoccurbefore/ptk/,exceptforcertainloan words(e.g.sphinx).

SyllabletemplateforEnglishmonosyllabicwords.

Ch.7:WORDSTRESS Onthenatureofstress Inphoneticterms,stressedsyllablesareproducedwithastrongerburstininitiatoryenergy(a morepowerfulcontractionofthechestmuscles)thanunstressedsyllables.Primarystressisindicated byandsecondarystressisindicatedbyandbothareplacedbeforethestressedsyllable. NotethatinthevastmajorityofEnglishwordswherestressdoesntgiverisetophonemic distinctions,speakersdonthavethelibertytostresswhicheversyllabletheylike:(nearly)eachword hasasinglepossiblestresspattern.ThemainfunctionofstressinEnglishistomaintainrhythmin connectedspeech:Englishisastresstimedlanguage.Thismeansthatstressesoccuratequaltiming intervals,alsocalledisochrony(equalityintime).Stressisochronyismaintainedbyvariationinthe deliveryrateofofindividualsyllables. Afootisastretchofphoneticmaterialthatbeginsattheonsetofastressedsyllableandendsatthe onsetofthenextstressedsyllableaphoneticunitcharacterisedbyitsisochrony.Stress,then,marks thesyllablethatbeginsafoot. Stressandsyllablestructure Twopointsarerelevanthere:Firstly,stressedsyllablesmustbeheavywhileunstressedsyllables maybelight:anystressedsyllablemusthaveacomplexrhyme,thatis,arhymecontainingatleasttwo Xpositions.Secondly,ambisyllabicity,thatistheassociationofaconsonantwithtwosyllablesatthe sametime,isconnectedwithstress.Thishastheeffectofmakingstressedsyllablesheavythat otherwisewouldbelight. Finalstress TherearenoCinalstressedwordsinEnglishthatendinalightsyllable,ormonosyllabicwords consistingofalightsyllable:NoEnglishwordwithCinalstressendsinalax,singleXvowel. Additionally,inbisyllabicwords,secondarystressoccursontheCirstsyllableonlywherethatsyllable isalsoheavy.Notethattheregularitiesthatgovernstressplacementalsodeterminedbysyntactical information:verbsandadjectiveswithCinalstressarecommon,whereasnounswithCinalstressare exceptional.(Theclassofendstressednounsissmall.) Notethatthereisconsiderablevariationinstresswithindialects.Ineachcase,thevariantwitha lightheavysyllablepatternmusthaveCinalstresswhilethevariantwithtwoheavysyllablesmayhave thestresspatternsecondaryprimaryorprimarysecondary.StresscanbeshiftedawayfromtheCinal syllableonlyontosuchsyllablesthatalreadyhavesomestress. Tosumup,anyCinalstress(primaryorsecondary)isonlypossibleinsuchwordsashaveheavy Cinalsyllables.Andbisyllabicnounscanhaveaorstresspatternonlyifbothsyllablesareheavy. Secondly,Cinalstressinverbsandadjectivesiscommon,asopposedtonouns. NonGinalstress Stilldealingwithnouns,observethatstressedsyllablesmustbeheavybutheavysyllablesarenot necessarilyalwaysstressed.Onesyllablefromtheendiscalledthepenultimatesyllable(penult),two syllablesfromtheendiscalledtheantepenultimatesyllable(antepenult).TheregularitiesfornonCinal stressaregovernedbysyllableweight.Thepenultimatesyllableisstressedifitsheavy,otherwise stressfallsontheantepenultimatesyllable. Ifnounsdonthaveanantepenultimatesyllable,likeapple,stressmustfallonthepenultasalast resort.Ifthislastresortsyllableisalightsyllable(i.e.thereisnosyllableheavyavailabletotakethe stress),thissyllablebecomesheavy,understress,throughambisyllabicity.Unfortunately,thereare exceptionsfornonCinalstressednounsaswell. Tosumupthegeneralproperties:stressedsyllablesareheavy,butnotallheavysyllablesare stressed.Stressplacementispredictableinsomebutunpredictableinotherrespects.Someofthe factorsrelevantinthepredictionofstressarephonological(syllableweight)whileothersare nonphonological,suchaslexicalcategoryinformation. Stressandnonphonologicalstructure Onenonphonologicalfactorissyntax.Firstly,stressisassignedtothesyllablesofsyntacticunits
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calledwords,butmorenotabletolexicalwords:nouns,verbs,adjectivesoradverbs.Secondly,there aredifferencesinstressbehaviourbetweennounsandverbs(andadjectives):verbsfrequentlyhave theirmainstressontheCinalsyllable,whileCinalstressinnounsisrareandunstable. Anotherimportantfactorismorphology:thewayinwhichwordsaremadeupofmorphemes (preCixes,roots,andsufCixes).IgnoringpreCixes,therearetwokindsofsufCixes:inGlexionaland derivational.InClexionalsufCixesproducedifferentformsofthesameword(suchaspluralsandpast tenseed).DerivationalsufCixesproducenewwords(suchascompounding).ThesufCixlessattaches toanounbase,forminganadjective;lyattachestoadjectivesandformsadverbsandeeattachesto verbalbasesandformsnouns(e.g.employee). Phonologically,suchsufCixesaredividedintostressshiftingandstressneutralsufCixes.Stress neutralsufCixeshavetwoproperties.1)Theynevermakeanydifferencetothestresspatternoftheir base.1 2)Theyrealwaysunstressedevenwhentheyconstituteheavysyllables,orwhensufCixesare stackedtogether(asinpennilessness).TheyreappendedasunstressedmaterialtoanunmodiCied base. StressshiftingsufCixesaredifferent.Firstly,thestresspatternoftheirbasemaydifferradicallyfrom thatofthebasewordwithoutasufCix.Secondly,theycanbearthemainstressoftheword:e.g. ette(launderette),ese(Chinese),esque(picturesque).Notethatthesestressedsyllables,of course,alwaysconstituteheavysyllables.Onthewhole,wordscontainingstressshiftingsufCixes behaveasiftheyweremorphologicallysimplewordsinthattheirstresspatternsarealwaysalso possibleasstresspatternsofsimplewords. Moretroublesomeisthedistinctionbetweenstressshiftingandstressneutral:asufCixthatshifts stressinsomeinstancesdoesntnecessarilydosoinallbasesthatitmayattachto.ThesufCixityfor examplemustbeclassiCiedasstressshiftingsimplybecauseitdoessoatleastinonceinstance. Stressandphonologicalstructure:MetricalPhonology Thenotation Syllabicityisarelationalproperty,determinedbythesegmentspositioninthesyllable.Asegment issyllabicifitismoresonorousthanitsneighboursandifitthereforeconstitutesthepeakofthe syllable.Thenexthigherunitinphonologicalrepresentationisthefeet,inwhichsyllablesaregrouped: theCirst(oronly)syllableofeachfootisstressed.Ifweneedtoexpressdegreesofprominence,suchas primaryandsecondarystress,weneedarelationallydeCinedstructure,whichissimilartosyntactical notation:MetricalPhonology.Examplesareonpp.1945.NotethatthelabelSmeansstrongerthanW andWmeansweakerthanS.Theresultofthesestructuresareprominencedistinctions. So,ifafootcontainsmorethanonesyllable,theCirstoneismoreprominentthantheother(s). Concerningtherepresentationofsecondarystress,therearetwooptions,namely19band19c:

Thedifferencebetweenrabbiandbambooissimplyadifferenceinprominencerelationsamong thewordlevel,amongthetwofeet. Somegeneralisations Therulesthatdeterminetheformofmetricalstructuresmaybedividedintotwocategories:foot levelrules:assigningfeettosyllablesastodeterminewhatsyllablesbearstress;andwordlevelrules:

1Additionally,inthewordopenness,acleargeminate(double)/n/canbeheard:[openns],resultingfromthe

attachmentofthe(stressneutral)sufCix,whichisonlypossibleatthejunctureoftwomorphemes. 5

assigningstructureabovefootlevelthusprovidingthedifferentiationbetweenprimaryandsecondary stress.Theformermakereferencetosyllableweight;thelattertoo,butrefertothestructureoffeet. Penultimatesyllablesinnounsarestressediftheyareheavy(aroma,horizon,decathlon).Thisrule hasfewexceptionsbutfurtherconditions:heavypenultsarenotstressediftheCinalsyllableis stressed,i.e.afootalignedwiththepenultimatesyllablehastobebisyllabic(includingtheCinal syllable). Belowisalistoftherelevantrulesconcerningfootassignmentinnouns: a. AssignafoottotheCinalsyllableifitcontainsalongvowel,orexceptionally,ifitisotherwiseheavy. b. Assignabisyllabicfoottothepenultimatesyllableifitisheavy. c. Assignafoottothepenultimatesyllableifitisheavyandinitial. d. Assignamaximalbiortrisyllabicfoottoanyremainingstringofsyllablesfromrighttoleft,and ensurethatthewordhasatleastonefoot. Notethattheserulesapplyfromrighttoleft:CirsttheCinalsyllableischeckedby(a),thenthepenultis checkedby(b);andthedefaultrule(d)alsoassignsfeetfromrighttoleft.Demonstrationonp.201. Returningtothewordlevelcategory,theprincipleforwordstructureassignmentis:Connectall materialinasinglestructureonthewordlevel.Demonstratedonp.203. Thestressesofverbsaresystematicallydifferent;theyoftenhaveprimarystressinintheCinal syllable.Nowwecanstatethewordprominencerule: Inapairofsisternodes[N1N2]L,whereLisalexicalword,N2isstrongif: a. itbranchesabovethesyllablelevel(=dominatesmorethanonesyllable),or b. Lisanexceptionalnoun,or c. Lisaverb. Tosumup:thevariablesinvolvedinstressassignmentaresyllablecount(fromtheright)and syllableweight;suchrulesmakereferencetosyntacticandmorphologicalinformation.More importantly,stressruleshaveexceptions. ThenonpredictabilityofEnglishwordstress Theresacrucialdistinctionbetweenphonemicpropertiesandpredictableproperties.Syllable structureisoneofthesepredictableproperties.TheCirstassumptionisthatallsuchpropertiesare segmental;the(segmental)phoneme.Anyway,stressinEnglishisphonemic,thereforethephonemic levelofrepresentationcontainssomesuprasegmentalinformation.

Ch.9:PHRASES,SENTENCESANDTHEPHONOLOGYOFCONNECTEDSPEECH Upuntilnow,wevefocusedonsinglewords,ignoringtheirbehaviourinconnectedspeech.The operationofallophonicrulesdoesntconCinetosinglewordsbuttypicallyignoreswordboundaries. WewillCirstlookatphonologicalstructuresthatgiverisetophrasalandcompoundstresspatterns, followedbyotheraspectsofthephonologyoflargerthanwordsunits,suchastherhythmicpattern foundinconnectedspeech. Stressbeyondthesingleword Stressedsyllablesareperceivedasbeingofdifferentrelativeprominence:oneofthestressesisthe strongestorprimarystress,andother(s)weakerorsecondary(seech.7).Theprimarystressofa linguisticunit,suchassyntacticphrasesorcompounds,ismarkedbyapitchchange,whichiscalled intonation.Theintonationofanutteranceisthepitchcontourassociatedwithit.Asearlier,weusethe notationofMetricalPhonology:binarybranchingtreeswhosebranchesarelabelledS(trong)and W(eak). Phrasalstress Whenconstructingmetricaltrees,twoquestionsarise:whatistheformofthetreeandwhatarethe prominencerelationsamongitsbranches?Therulethatgovernsprominencerelationsamongword treeswithinphrases,orthePhrasalProminenceRule,hasthefollowingform:Inapairofsisternodes [N1N2]p,wherePisaphrasalcategory,N2isstrong.Notethattheformofthemetricaltreeis determinedbythatofthesyntactictreestructure.

Compoundstress Weknowthatthedistinctionbetweencompoundsandsyntacticalphrasesismarkedbyadifference instresspatterns(remembertheblackbirdexample).Herearemoreexamplesofcompounds:

Aswithphrasalstress,theformofthemetricaltreesforcompoundsisdeterminedbytheinternal syntacticstructure:theprominencerelationsinthemetricaltreeexpressthestresspatterns.The CompoundProminenceRuleis:Inapairofsisternodes[N1N2]L,whereLisalexicalcategory,N2is strongifitbranchesabovethewordlevel.Thisruleensuresthatcompoundsandphraseshavedistinct prominencepatternsinallcases:thePhrasalProminenceRuleinvariablymakesthephraseCinalword themostprominentone,whiletheCompoundProminenceRuleneverassignsanStotheCinalwordin acompound.Hereisafullyanalysedexample:

However,therearecompoundsthatdontfollowthegeneralisationoftheCompoundProminenceRule; suchcompoundsfollowthePhraseProminenceRuleinstead.Inphonologicalterms,theybehaveasif theywerephrases,suchasporkpieorschooldinner.Thisisaproblemleftunsolved.Notethatthe prominencepatternaloneisnotinitselfanindicatorofcompoundorphrasestatus. Thephonologyofrhythm StresstiminginEnglish Allspeechis,inprinciple,saidtohaverhythm:certainphoneticeventsoccuratisochronous intervals;intervalsthatareroughlyequalintime.Theseareoccurrentonvariouslevelsofstructure:it mightbesyllabletimed,sothatsyllablesrecuratisochronousintervals,oritmightbestresstimed,the intervalsbetweenstressedsyllablesbeingisochronous.Englishbeingastresstimedlanguage,the rhythmwillbesuchthatitsfourfeet 2areisochronous.Thisscalarratherthandichotomousissue remainscontroversial,though.AssumingEnglishisastresstimedlanguage,thisgivesthefootthe statusofbeingtheprincipalunitoftiming(inEnglishphonetics).However,itsalsoasigniCicantunitof phonologicalstructure,asshowninch.7,wherethefootwassaidtobethenexthigherunitof phonologicalstructureabovethesyllable.Segmentsaregroupedintosyllables,andthoseinturninto feet. Reversingstresses . thirteen a b. thirteenmen Heathrow Heathrowairport champagne champagnebreakfast Thewordsaboveallsharethesamemetricalstructure:theyallconsistoftwofeetofwhichthe secondoneisstrongerthantheCirst.In(b)thesamewordsareCirstmembersofphraselevel constituents;theyarethusfollowedbyastrongerstress.Theweakstrongpatternisreversedto strongweak.Thisstressreversalonlyhappensamongnodesinametricaltreethatdominateentire feet,inotherwords,awordinitialsyllablewhosestressisstrengthenedthroughreversalmusthave somestresstostartwith.Thereisnoreversalincaseswheretheinitialsyllablesareunstressed.Thisis duetothefactthatunstressedinitialsyllablesarenotpartofthewordsstructurebutextensionsofthe precedingfoot(seeCig.44).
2Theintervalstretchingfromtheonsetofonestressedsyllabletotheonsetofthenextstressedsyllable.

TheReversalrulechangesapatternofthreefeetthatincreaseinprominenceintoalternating prominence:weakstrongerstrongestbecomesstrongerweakerstrongest.ACinaldemonstration, whereonlythecirclednodesanswertheinputdescriptionoftherule:

Syllablesinconnectedspeech Afewconclusions:Phonologicalstructureisinformedbysyntax,butoverridessyntaxatleaston thefootlevel,whereunstressedsyllablesmaybeadjoinedtoprecedingfeet.Theformationoffeetis insensitivetowordboundaries.Onthelevelofthesyllable,thephonologicalstructureofconnected speechoverrideswordboundariesnotonlywhensyllablesareconnectedintofeetbutalsowhen segmentsareconnectedintosyllables. Liaison RecallthefollowingtwofeaturesthatcharacterisethesyllabiCicationofpolysyllabicwords: 1.Syllableboundariesareplacedinsuchawaythatonsetsaremaximised(rule52,ch.6). 2.Incertaincontexts,itspossibleforsegmentstobelongtotwosyllablesatonce:ambisyllabicity.This ariseswhenrule52makesaconsonantpartofanonsetwhiletheweightrequirementforstressed syllablesmakesitpartofthe(preceding)rhyme,asinrubella,wherethe/l/isambisyllabic. OfteninRP,wordCinalconsonantsformonsetsforotherwiseonsetlessfollowingsyllables.Tobe precise,theybecomeambisyllabic.Thismaximisationofsyllableonsetsinconnectedspeechisoften calledliaison. Someeffectsofliaison Linking/r/inRP Asdiscussedinsection3.4,nonrhoticaccentshaveaconstraintwhere/r/canonlyoccurinsyllable onsetsbutnotinrhymes.Itfailstooccurinhearbutitoccursinhearing.Inthiscase,/r/isinthe syllableonsetposition(hamme.ring,hea.ring).Interestingly,liaisonistheexplanationforlinking/r/. The/r/inhammeritoccupiesasyllableonsetinconnectedspeech,andisthereforepronouncedby nonrhoticspeakers. Closelyrelatedisintrusive/r/,whichistheinsertionof/r/inthesamecontexts,butwherethereis nohistoric/r/(andconsequently,no/r/inrhoticaccents).Moreonp.283ifyouwanttoknowmore. Allophoniceffects
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 Similareffectsofliaisoncanbeseenintheoperationofallophonicrules.First,theruleforclearand dark/l/inRP:Theclearallophoneof/l/,[l],occursinsyllableonsetswhiledark(velarised) allophone[]occurselsewhere.Inbothcases,the/l/isintheonsetpositionandthusrealisedasclear, asinfeelingfeelitorkillerkillit.Secondly,voicelessstopaspirationfollowssimilarlines,butless clearcutthanthatofthe/l/allophonesinRP.Seep.284ifyouwanttoknowmore. StructuresimpliWicationinconnectedspeech ThissectionfocusesononstructuresimpliCication,orthelossofphonologicalinformation,that takesplaceinconnectedspeech. Vowelreductionandweakforms Englishhasaphonotacticconstraintwherebyvowelsinnonfootinitialpositionsareschwaand thereforedevoidofanyhigh/loworfront/backspeciCications.Thisconstraintisnotrestrictedto citationforms:inconnectedspeechschwacanoccurinpositionswherecitationformswouldhavefull vowels;andinsuchcasesthereductionofthevowelisduetoalossofstress.Astressedsyllablein citationformmaybeunstressedinconnectedspeech.Thereslossofstructureontwolevels:1)the lossofafootinthesuprasegmentalstructure;and2)thelossofdistinctivefeaturesinthesegmental representationofthevowel.Consequently,therearethusstressedandunstressed(orstrongand weak)formsofcertainwords.Schwaisthemostcommonvowelinweakforms,nextto//. Reduction,elision,assimilation Elisionisreductionresultinginthelossofsegments:e.g.citationform/and/canbereducedto syllabic//.Elisionofschwaiscommonbeforesonorantconsonants,andgiventhattheycanbe syllabic,theywilloccupythepeakofthesyllableincaseswherethevoweliselided.Inaddition, sequencesofidentical(geminate)consonantsatwordandmorphemeboundariesareusually simpliCiedinconnectedspeech. Assimilationisthespreadoffeaturesofagivensegmentontoaneighbouringsegment.InEnglish, segmentsanticipatefeaturesoffollowingsegmentsthespreadoffeaturesisleftward.Notethat assimilationisinsensitivetononphonologicalstructure,suchaswordboundaries.Anexampleof assimilationisthelossofvoicingcontrasts(herebetweenobstruents)inconnectedspeech:compare thecitationformus/s/withtheweakformgiveus[z]abreak.Theseprocessesareoftencontext dependent.

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