1 Week 2
1.1 Conventions
1.1.1 General
<> for SPELLING
// for phonological transcriptions (or broad transcriptions)
[] for phonetic transcriptions (or narrow transcriptions)
< taste >
/teɪst/
[tʰeɪst]
1.1.2 For stress patterns:
One digit per syllable
“0,” “1,” “2” according to the stress (none, primary, secondary).
1.2 Absolute MUST-KNOW
FUNDAMENTAL RULES (no exceptions!!):
- /00/ impossible at the beginning of a word
- But possible anywhere else, cf. “appreciatively.”
- All words have a unique primary stress
1.2.1 For rules:
“V” stands for “vowel” (not to confuse with: “v”=< v >)
“C” stands for consonant
“()” means the symbol between brackets is optional
“#” means the end of the word
A number indicates the number of occurrences of the symbol
“-” excludes the following letter
“{}” indicates a selection of possibilities
1.3 Example 1
- V C C/## …
| V C-r C/# | V C-r V | V <r> C/# | V <r> V | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <a> | mat | mate | mar | mare |
| <e> | pet | Pete | her | here |
| <i> | sit | site | fir | fire |
| <o> | not | note | or | ore |
| <u> | cut | cute | purr | pure |
| <u2> | put |
Can you formulate the rules for each column?
| V C-r C/# | V C-r V | V <r> C/# | V <r> V | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <a> | /mæt/ | /meɪt/ | /mɑː/ | /meə/ |
| <e> | /pet/ | /piːt/ | /hɜː/ | /hɪə/ |
| <i> | /sɪt/ | /saɪt/ | /fɜː/ | /’faɪ.ə/ |
| <o> | /nɒt/ | /nəʊt/ | /ɔː/ | /ɔː/ |
| <u> | /kʌt/ | /kjuːt/ | /pɜː/ | /pjʊə/ |
| <u2> | /pʊt/ |
What vowels are not present in this chart?
ə
ɔɪ
aʊ
1.3.1 Reminders:
1.3.1.1 There are two categories of vowels:
Checked / lax / short vowels
Free / tense / long vowels
- monophthongs
- diphthongs
1.3.1.2 /ə/, /i/ and /u/ only in unstressed syllables
1.4 Example 2
1.4.1 Exercise 1
Listen to the following words. Give their stress patterns, and transcribe them if you can:
| Word | Sounds | Stress | Received Pronunciation | General American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| canadian | /0100/ | /kə.’neɪd.i.ən/ | /kə.’neɪd.i.ən/ | |
| comedian | /0100/ | /kə.’miːd.i.ən/ | /kə.’miːd.i.ən/ | |
| magician | /010/ | /mə.’dʒɪʃ.ən/ | /mə.’dʒɪʃ.ən/ | |
| custodian | /0100/ | /kʌ.’stəʊd.i.ən/ | /kʌ.’stoʊd.i.ən/ | |
| venusian | /0100/ | /və.’njuːz.i.ən/ | venusian |
1.4.2 Correction 1
The stress pattern in all these words was…
/010/
Can you formulate the rule?
<-ian> is a stress-imposing suffix: the preceding syllable must carry the primary stress.
It is an extension of the infamous <-ion> rule, so we can formalize:
"The syllable preceding the suffix <-i {a,o} n> carries the primary stress.
1.5 Exercise 2
What words were these adjectives derived from?
Comment on the stress pattern of these words.
Comment on the vocalic realizations of these words.
| Word | Sounds | Stress | Received Pronunciation | General American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| canada | /100/ | /’kæn.əd.ə/ | /’kæn.əd.ə/ | |
| comedy | /100/ | /’kɒm.əd.i/ | /’kɑːm.əd.i/ | |
| magic | /10/ | /’mædʒ.ɪk/ | /’mædʒ.ɪk/ | |
| custody | /100/ | /’kʌst.əd.i/ | /’kʌst.əd.i/ | |
| venus | /10/ | /’viːn.əs/ | /’viːn.əs/ |
Look at the quality of the vowels in the stressed syllables.
1.6 Homework
Which are regular? Which aren’t? What process is happening?