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Phonotactic Rules PDF

This document discusses phonotactics and the sonority hierarchy in English phonology. It defines phonotactics as the study of possible phoneme sequences in a language. It outlines rules for simple vs complex onsets and codas, and lists 7 specific phonotactic rules for English, such as no geminates or affricates in complex onsets. Finally, it presents the sonority hierarchy from most to least sonorous sounds: vowels, glides, liquids, nasals, fricatives, affricates, and plosives.

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Tamer El Deeb
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849 views5 pages

Phonotactic Rules PDF

This document discusses phonotactics and the sonority hierarchy in English phonology. It defines phonotactics as the study of possible phoneme sequences in a language. It outlines rules for simple vs complex onsets and codas, and lists 7 specific phonotactic rules for English, such as no geminates or affricates in complex onsets. Finally, it presents the sonority hierarchy from most to least sonorous sounds: vowels, glides, liquids, nasals, fricatives, affricates, and plosives.

Uploaded by

Tamer El Deeb
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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English Phonology ENG(325)

Phonotactics+Sonority Hierarchy

1
Phonotactics

Phonotactics is defined as the study of the rules governing the possible


phoneme sequences in a language.
Complexity of Onset/Coda
Simple Onset: Onset that contains one consonant sound.

Complex Onset: Onset that contains more than one consonant sound.

Simple Coda: Coda that contains one consonant sound.

Complex Coda: Coda that contains more than one consonant sound.

2
Phonotactic Rules
1. No geminates (germination= is an articulation of a consonant for a longer
period of time than that of a single instance of the same type of consonant.

Examples: Connect [ kənekt ] Occur [ əkɜː(r) ]

2. No onset /ŋ/.

3. No /h/ in the syllable coda.

4. No affricates in complex onsets. Affricates= /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/

5. The first consonant in a complex onset must be:


a. Plosives [p, t, k, b, d, ɡ].
b. Fricatives [f, s, ʃ, x, v, z, ʒ].

3
Phonotactic Rules
It is impossible to have the following in the first place with complex onset:
a. Nasals (m, n, ng).
b. Affricates (/t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/
c. Glides (y, w)
d. Liquids (l, r)

6. If the first consonant in a complex onset is not an /s/, the second must be
liquid or a glide.

7. No glides in codas.

8. If the second consonant in a complex coda is voiced, the first must be


voiced.

4
Sonority Hierarchy/Scale

Sonority is the relative loudness of a speech sound. Sounds are classified


based on certain scale or hierarchy as follows (from the most sonorous
sounds to the least sonorous sounds):

7. Vowels.
6. Glides (semi-vowels) (y, w).
5. Liquids (l, r).
4. Nasals (m, n, ng).
3. Fricatives [f, s, ʃ, x, v, z, ʒ].
2. Affricates (/t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/.
1. Plosives [p, t, k, b, d, ɡ].

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