26 Phonology
Chapter 6: Phonology
Chapter Overview and Objectives
This chapter introduces students to the phonemic alphabet, a feature system for analyzing
segments, and some examples of phonological rules from English. After completing this
chapter, students should be able to
٪ Translate individual English words between regular spelling and phonemic
transcription.
٪ Identify the features needed to pick out a segment or group of segments that form a
natural class.
Key Terms and Concepts
phoneme
tongue height
frontness
lip rounding
tenseness
distinctive feature
glottal
stop
fricative
affricate
nasal
liquid
contrast
free variation
complementary
distribution
aspiration
vowel lengthening
Commentary on Chapter 6
Like Chapter 5, Chapter 6 introduces many technical terms that will be new to most students.
(One challenge you may face is that some students—those majoring in communication
disorders, for example—may have taken a phonetics course, while others will never have used
phonemic transcription.) Because of the amount of detail, plan to spend one or two additional
class sessions on this chapter, compared to previous chapters.
The material in Chapter 6 falls logically into two parts: (i) analysis and transcription of
phonemes and (ii) phonological rules. Depending on the type of students you are teaching,
you will need to decide how much you want to require them to learn about the distinctive
Phonology 27
same on one level and different on another level. In the case of phonology, two allophones
(e.g., [tȸ] and [ȣ]) are different segments from one perspective, but the same segment (/t/) from
another. Phonological rules simply relate these two levels of representation, just as
Suggested Answers to Exercises
Exercise A, p. 104
1. a. †
Exercise B, pp. 109–110
1. a. /æ/
b. †
d. /ș/
e. /y/
28 Phonology
9. b. these
Exercise C, pp. 112–113
1. /g/ becomes /Ǯ/ when it is followed by a front vowel. (Note: /g/, a velar segment, becomes
Exercise D, pp. 114–115
1. d. V Æ [V:] / #
Exercise E, p. 116
1. a. /g/ becomes /Ǯ/ when it is followed by a front vowel.
Exercise F, p. 118
1. a. /ˠ/ becomes /ð/ between vowels.
Exercise G, p. 121
1. Nasal Assimilation: assimilation of the nasal to the place of the following consonant;
Consonant Cluster Reduction: a stop following another consonant is deleted. CCR must
Phonology 29
Correct order: Incorrect order:
ladder latter ladder latter
3. a. †
4. a. [+alveolar] becomes [+bilabial].
Supplementary Exercises, pp. 122–125
30 Phonology
Exploratory Exercises, pp. 125–126
1. These phonetic forms result if Flapping applies before Vowel Lengthening.
Phonology 31