Phonology exercises
Phonological Rules
Phonological rules are usually written in the following form:
A -> B / C __ D
In such rules, A is said to be the affected segment, B is the change, and C and D constitute the context or environment. CAD constittutes the structural description (SD) of the rule, and CBD constitutes the structural change (SC).
Task: State what the following rules do in plain English:
N.B. [-syl] = consonant, [+syl] = vowel
a. [+nas] -> Ø / [+syl] __ #
b. [+syl ] -> [-syl] / __ [+syl]
[+high]
c. Ø -> [+syl ] / [+strident]+ __ [-sonorant]
[+high] [+coronal] [+coronal] [-back ]
d. [-sonorant ] -> [-back] / __ [+syl ]
[-continuant] [-back ] [-labial ] [+high]
e. V -> [+stress] / __ C0 V C0 V C0 #
Help: Some conventional symbols:
Ø the null set, e.g. Ø -> B / C __ D "insert B between C and D."
A -> Ø / C __ D "delete A between C and D."
- word boundary
+ morpheme boundary
C [-syllabic] segment (consonant)
V [+syllabic] segment (vowel)
V´ stressed vowel
C0 zero or more [-syllabic] segments
: lengthened vowel
o syllable (boundary)