TYPES OF PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES 2

There are several types of phonological processes,

recognized for instance in Andrew Spencer‟s

“Phonology” (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996; ch.2.4), or in

the phonology textbook written by Jolanta Szpyra-

Kozłowska “Wprowadzenie do współczesnej

fonologii” (Lublin: Wyd. UMCS, 2002; ch. 3).

During the last lecture we provided examples of

the following types:

ASSIMILATION, DISSIMILATION,

ELISION, INSERTION, METATHESIS.

Now let us look at the two further types of

phonological processes:

WEAKENING (=LENITION) and

STRENGTHENING (=FORTITION).

These processes make reference to the Strength

Hierarchy, which is (roughly) the opposite of the

Sonority Scale).

Sonority Scale

(from most sonorous to least sonorous sounds, cf.

Sobkowiak 1996:174):

Vowels > Glides > Liquids > Nasals > Fricatives

> Affricates > Plosives

Sonorants (=resonants, R) = vowels, glides,

liquids, nasals.

Obstruents (O) = fricatives, affricates, plosives

Moreover, voiced consonants are more sonorous

than voiceless ones.

Thus, the Sonority hierarchy is related to voicing

and the obstruction of the airstream.

The Sonority Scale is important for predicting the

shape of the preferable syllable cross-linguistically.

Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) (from Selkirk

1984): a well-formed syllable is characterized

by a sonority rise in the onset and the sonority

fall in the coda.

Ex.: drink, trills, clasp.

Consonants which are at the bottom of the

Sonority Scale (i.e. which are least sonorous and

most obstruent) are at the top of the Strength

Hierarchy.

There are two parts of the Strength Hierarchy

(where > indicates a step towards a weaker

sound):

A/ VOICELESS > VOICED

B/ PLOSIVE > AFFRICATE > FRICATIVE >

APPROXIMANT > ZERO

The second part of the Strength Hierarchy (in B)

corresponds to the degree of stricture (i.e. the

degree of obstructing the airstream in the oral

cavity).

Parts A&B of the Strength Hierarchy can be

combined as follows:

VOICELESS STOPS > VOICED STOPS >

VOICELESS AFFRICATES > VOICED

AFFRICATES > VOICELESS FRICATIVES >

VOICED FRICATIVES > NASALS >

APPROXIMANTS > (ZERO)

Some phonologists propose that places of

articulation differ in the degree of strength:

LABIAL > ALVEOLAR > VELAR.

However, this observation does not seem to be

language-universal.

In English ALVEOLAR is weaker than VELAR (e.g.

in assimilation processes).

Common schemes for WEAKENING (=LENITION)

processes:

1/ PLOSIVES > FRICATIVES > APPROXIMANTS

> ZERO

2/ ASPIRATED > PLAIN VOICELESS > VOICED

Examples of LENITION processes in English:

a/ FLAPPING (=TAPPING);

b/ GLOTTALING

c/ DELETION

Ad. a/ FLAPPING (=TAPPING) in English: the

sound /t/ in intervocalic position is pronounced in

AmeE as a rapid

„flap‟ of the tongue against the

alveolar ridge [

], e.g. atom, matter, writer.

In some AmE accents, we find Flapping also

applying to /d/, e.g. adder, rider.

Moreover, Flapping can take place not only

intervocalically (=between vowels) but also

between a vowel and a sonorant consonant, e.g in

winter, alter.

Ad.b/ GLOTTALING (=GLOTTAL

REPLACEMENT) : widespread in many varieties of

English, e.g. in Scotland, or the North of England.

A voiceless plosive (usually /t/), when occurring at

the end of the syllable (in some accents, also

intervocalically, or between two sonorants) is

replaced by a glottal stop [

] .

Ex.: cut [

]; cutter []; winter [].

Other instances of LENITION in English:

-- VOWEL REDUCTION in unstressed syllables

(e.g. in weak forms);

--DELETION, e.g. best man [

 ], correct

[

‟].

Both synchronically and diachronically

– voiceless

consonants change into voiced ones in

environments similar to those where the reduction

in the strength of obstruction in the production of

consonants takes place, i.e. between vowels.

LENITION of consonants is typical of Celtic

languages (Irish, Welsh).

Cf. in North Welsh:

i/ [

] „head‟ [] „his head‟

(voiceless stop  voiced stop)

ii/ [

] „brother‟  [] „his brother‟

(voiced stop  voiceless fricative)

iii/ [

] „ship‟  [] „his ship‟

(voiceless fricative  voiced lateral approximant)

Historical examples of LENITION (observe the

movement along the Sonority Scale / Strength

Hierarchy):

LATIN ITALIAN

SPANISH

FRENCH

vita

vita

vida

vie [vi:]

„life‟

(voiceless stop  voiced stop  zero)

Examples of FORTITION processes:

1/ Devoicing of obstruents in word-final position

(e.g. in Russian, Polish, German);

2/ Insertion processes:

2a/insertion of a glottal stop prevocalically in

Polish, as in [

].

2b/ Insertion of plosives in connected speech in

nasal+fricative clusters in English, e.g. prince

[

], sense [].