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STUDIESINLANGUAGE

Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle,Editors

THESOUNDPATTERN

OFENGLISH

NOAMCHOMSKY

MORRISHALLE

Harper&Row, Publishers

New York,Evanston,andLondon

HOWARDB.LASNIK

THESOUNDPATTERNOFENGLISH

Copyright©1968byNoamChomskyand Morris Halle

Printedin theUnitedStates ofAmerica.All rights reserved. Nopartof this book may be used orreproducedin anymannerwhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermission except in the case ofbriefquotationsembodied incriticalarticles and reviews.Forinformation address Harper&Row, Publishers,Incorporated,49East33rd Street, New York,

N.Y. 10016.

LibraryofCongress Catalog CardNumber:67-23446

ToRoman Jakobson

PREFACE

This study of Englishsound structureisan interimreporton work in progressrather thananattemptto present a definitiveand exhaustive study of phonological processes in English. We feelthatour work in this area has reached apointwhere the general outlines and major theoretical principlesare fairlyclear and wherewecan identifythe areas requiring additionalintensive study with a reasonable expectationthatfurtherinvestigation within the same generalframework willnot significantlyalter the overallpicture wehave presented, althoughit may well bethatnew and differentinsights-perhapsalong the lines discussed inChapter Nine-willlead to significant modifications. We have decided to publish this study in its present intermediate stage in the hopethatit will stimulate criticism and dis cussion of basic issues and perhaps involve other investigators in the immense task of extending this sketch to the whole of English, providing the same sort of description for other languages, and enriching and sharpening (and, no doubt, revisingin many ways) the phonological theory on which it is based. This book is organized in the following way.PartI opens with anintroductory chapter,ChapterOne, in whichbackgroundassumptions are briefly sketched. InChapter

Two ofPart

lourmajor conclusions with respect to phonological theory and the phonology of English are outlined. Also discussedare the possibleimplications of this work with regard to perceptual processes and the conditions under which knowledge of a language (and, presumably, knowledge of other sorts) can be acquired. We have tried inPartI to present an informal account of the main conclusionsthatwe reach and to illustrate the kinds of datathatsupportthem. Thus, readers interested only in general conclusions may wish to read no further. PartII of the book is anelaborationof the topics treated inChapterTwo ofPart I. Chapters Three andFourexamine in considerable detail two aspects of English sound structure which were only sketched inChapterTwo. In the course of this detailed investi gation of English soundpatternsand their underlying structure, certain rules of English phonology are developed. These rules are restated inChapterFive, which concludesPart Two. The primary emphasis inPartII is on the phonology of English; theory is developed informally as needed for the exposition and analysis. Part IIIdeals with certainof the historical evolution of the soundpatterns revealed in the synchronic study in

Pail;II.

PartIV is devoted to phonological theory. The informal discussion inPartI is ex .panded upon, and the theory presented in f an ad hoc manner inPartII is systematically 'G' vii viiiPrefacePrefaceix developed. The firstchapterofPartIV-ChapterSeven-isconcerned with universal pho netics, thatis, with the generaltheoryof linguisticrepresentationof speech signals.Chapter Eight deals with the principles oforganizationof thephonologicalcomponentof the gram mar, thatis, with the rulesthatrelate syntacticstructurestophoneticallyrepresentedspeech signals. Inthe ninth andconcludingchapter,aproposalis presented for an extension of phonologicaltheory thattakesintoaccountthe intrinsiccontentof features.PartIV isnot concerned with thestructureof Englishbutisintendedratheras acontributionto universal grammar. We have made noattemptto avoidredundancyor repetitiousness where we felt that this would assist the reader in following the analysis or argument. Thus, much of the dis cussion in PartI isrepeatedinPartII, withadditionaldetail and analysis, andPartIV recapitulates,more systematically, much of the contents of Parts I and II. Each of the four partsofthe bookisverynearly self-contained. Inparticular,readers familiar with the general backgroundof this work and itsmajorconclusions as outlined in lectures andpublications duringthe last few years might prefer to skip

PartIaltogether.

In writing thebookwe have had two classes ofpotentialreaders in mind: first, readerswho are concerned only with the generalpropertiesof English soundstructure,with the consequences of thesepropertiesfor general linguistic theory, and with the implications of general linguistictheoryforotherfields; second, readers who are concerned with the detaileddevelopmentofphonologicaltheoryand thetheoryof English, thatis, English grammar. PartI of thebookis directed to the first class ofreaders;Parts II, III, and IV, to the second. Oneotherpointof clarification is needed. We have investigated certain topics in considerabledetail and have neglectedcertainothers in what mightappearto be arather idiosyncraticandunmotivatedpattern.

Forexample, we have studied the stresscontoursof

English in some detail,

butwe saynothingaboutthegradationsofaspirationthatcan easily be observed for English stopconsonants.

Forone concerned solelywith the facts of English,

thegradationsof stress may notseem moreimportantthanthegradationsofaspiration. Ourreasonforconcentratingon theformerand neglecting thelatteristhatwe are not, in this work, concerned exclusivelyor evenprimarilywith the facts of English as such. We are interestedin these facts for the light they shed on linguistictheory(on what, in an earlier period, would havebeen called"universalgrammar")and for what they suggestaboutthe natureof mental processes in general. Itseems to usthatthegradationsof stress in English can be explained on the basis of very deep-seated andnontrivialassumptionsaboutuniversal grammarandthatthis conclusion is highly suggestive for psychology, in many ways that wewillsketch. On theotherhand,gradationsofaspirationseem to shed no light on these questions, and wetherefore devote noattentionto them. Weintendno valuejudgmenthere; we are not asserting thatoneshouldbeprimarilyconcerned with universalgrammarand take aninterestin theparticulargrammarof English onlyinsofaras it provides insight into universalgrammarand psychological theory. We merely want to make it clear thatthis is ourpointofdeparturein the present work; these are theconsiderationsthathavedetermined our choice of topics and the relativeimportancegiven to various phenomena. This general aim of ourbookalso explains why wehave not included a full discussion of exceptions and irregularities.

Hadourprimaryconcern been thegrammarof English,

we would have said very littleaboutthe principle of the"transformationalcycle"(see ChaptersTwo and Three) and its consequences (inparticular,thepropertiesof English stresscontours), butwe would have provided a completeaccountofirregularverbs, ir regular plurals, exceptions to rules of stress placement and vowelalternation,etc. Since our maininterestis,rather,in universalgrammar,wehave followed exactly the opposite course. We discuss thetransformationalcycleand its consequences in detail and we do notinclude

anaccountof irregularities and exceptions, exceptinsofaras thesephenomenaseemrelevantto theformulationofgeneral principles ofEnglish phonology. Given the goals ofthe research

reportedon here, exceptions to rules are ofinterestonly ifthey suggest a different general frameworkor theformulationof deeper rules. In themselves they are of no interest. We do notdoubtthatthe segment of Englishphonologythatwe develop in detail is ,inaccuratein certain respects,perhapsinfundamentalrespects; and it is a nearcertainty thatthephonologicaltheory. weproposewill be shown to requiresubstantialrevision as research progresses. Wementionmany difficulties,inadequacies, and exceptions as we pro ceed. Itwould be atime-consumingbutstraightforwardtask to compile a complete list of exceptions, at least for the rules of word-level phonology. Given thepurposeof this study such an effort would be beside thepointunless it were to lead to theformulationof new and deeper rulesthatexplained the exceptions or to a differenttheory thataccountedbothfor the regularitiesthatour rules express and for some of their defects and limitations. We see no reason to giveup rules of great generality because they are not of even greater generality, to sacrificegenerality where it can beattained.

Itseems hardly necessary to stressthatifwe

are faced with the choice between agrammarG 1 thatcontainsa general rule along with certain special rules governing exceptions and agrammarG 2 thatgivesup the general rule and lists everything as an exception, then we will prefer G

1•

Forthis reason,citationof

exceptions is in itself of very littleinterest.Counterexamplesto agrammaticalrule are of interestonly ifthey lead to theconstructionof a newgrammarof even greater generality or ifthey show some underlying principle is fallacious ormisformulated.Otherwise,citation ofcounterexamplesis beside the point. We stress thispointbecause of what seems to us apersistentmisinterpretation,in linguistic discussion, of the significanceof exceptions to rules-amisinterpretationwhich in partreflectsa deepermisunderstandingas to the status ofgrammarsor of linguistic theory. Agrammaris a theory of a language.Itis obviousthatanytheoryof aparticularlanguage or any general theory of languagethatcan beproposedtoday will be far fromadequate,in scope and in depth. One of the best reasons for presenting a theory of aparticularlanguage in the preciseform of a generativegrammar,or for presentingahypothesis concerning general linguistictheoryin very explicit terms, isthatonly such precise and explicitformulationcan lead to the discovery of seriousinadequaciesand to anunderstandingof how they can be remedied. Incontrast,a system oftranscriptionor terminology, a list of examples, or a rearrangementof thedatain a corpus is not"refutable"by evidence(apartfrom inad vertence-errorsthatare on the level ofproofreadingmistakes).Itis forjustthis reason thatsuch exercises are of very limited interest for linguistics as a field ofrationalinquiry. Inadditionto features of English phonology which seem of no general systematic importance,we have omitted from our discussion many topicsaboutwhich we have not been able to learn enough,thoughthey may very well be of considerableimportance. For example, we have omitted pitch fromconsiderationbecause we havenothingto add to the study of the phonetics ofintonationand have not yetattemptedto deal with the still quite open question of the systematic role of pitchcontoursor levelswithin the generalframework of syntactic and phonological theory as we so farunderstandit. (See Stockwell (I960), Bierwisch(1966), Lieberman (1966)for discussion of these topics.) Thus pitch andterminal juncturewill never be marked in the examples we present. As far as we have been able to determine, the various omissions and gaps have no serious bearing on the questions thatwe have dealt with,although,clearly, one must keep an open mind on this matter.

The dialect of Englishthat

;vestudy isessentiallythatdescribed by Kenyon andKnott (1944). Wedepartfrom theirtranscriptionsoccasionally, in waysthatwill be noted, and we also discuss some matters (e.g., stresscontoursbeyond the word level) not included in theirtranscriptions.For the mostpart,however, we have used very familiar dataof thesort presented in Kenyon andKnott.In fact, theirtranscriptionsare verycloseto our own speech, apartfrom certain dialectal idiosyncrasies of no general interest, which we omit.

Itseems to

xPreface ofEnglish, thoughit goeswithoutsayingthatwehavenotundertakenthevastandintricate studyofdialectalvariation. Forreasonsthatwe will discuss indetail,it seems to us very likely thattheunderlyinglexical(orphonological)representationsmustbecommonto all

Englishdialects,withrareexceptions,

becommonas well. Ofcourse,thisisanempiricalquestion,whichmustbe left tofuture research.We will makeonly a fewremarksaboutdialectalvariation,wherethisseems to havesomebearingon theproblemswe discuss. Thegeneralpointof viewthatunderliesthisdescriptivestudyis onethatseveralof ushavebeendeveloping pendently, butincreasinglyas ajointeffort.ItisrepresentedinsuchpublicationsasChom Current Issues inLinguisticTheory(1964);KatzandPostal,AnIntegratedTheoryofLinguistic

Descriptions

(1964);Chomsky,Aspectsofthe TheoryofSyntax(1965);Matthews,Hidatsa Syntax(1965);Katz,The PhilosophyofLanguage(1966);Postal,AspectsofPhonological

Theory

ofthis pointof view istheresultofhistoricalaccident.Althoughitnaturallyowes verymuch andthatwefollowherehasmuchdeeperrootsin anolder,largelyforgotten,andwidely disparagedtradition.(SeeChomsky(1964, 1966a) andPostal(1964b)fordiscussion.)It seems to usaccuratetodescribethestudyofgenerativegrammar,as it hasdevelopedduring recentyears,asfundamentallya entirelynoveldeparture.

Wehavebeen workingonthis

development. Oneortheotherof ushaslecturedonthismaterialatM.LT.forthepast seven years.Nosystemof rulesthatwehaveproposedhassurvivedacourseoflectures unchanged, andwe donotdoubtthatthesamefateawaitsthegrammaticalsketchthatwe develophere.

Electronics,

M.LT.,andhas beenpartlyassistedbygrantsfromtheNationalScience

13390-01).

ideas.Wewouldlike tothankRobertLeesandPaulPostalfortheirmanyinvaluablecom ments andsuggestions;PaulKiparsky,TheodoreLightner,andJohnRoss forthequestions theyhaveraised andtheanswerstheyhavesuppliedorforcedus to find;RichardCarter, S. JayKeyser,S. Y.Kuroda,JamesSledd,RichardStanley,andRobertStockwellfor readingandcriticizingvariouspartsof thebookindifferentstagesof itsevolution.We owe thankstoPatriciaWanner,who has been inchargeoftypingthenumerousversionsofthe manuscript,toKarenOstapenko,DeborahMacPhail,andMichaelBrame,who have pre formerstudent,who hasdevotedamajorpartof her lifeduringtheselasttwo years to seeing

Wededicatethe

birthday warmfriendshipwhichforsomanyyears haveenrichedourlives.

NOAMCHOMSKY

MORRIS HALLE

CONTENTS

PREFACE

PART IGENERALSURVEY

ONE .SETTING

1.Grammar

2.Linguistic Universals

3.Phonetic Representations

4.Components of aGrammar

5.Surface Structures

5.1.Lexicaland Phonological Representations

5.2.On the Abstractness of Lexical Representations

5.3.Analysisinto Words

6.Summary

TWO . ASKETCHOFENGLISHPHONOLOGY

AND

PHONOLOGICALTHEORY

1.The Principle of theTransformationalCycle and Its Application to English

StressContours

2. On the Reality of Phonetic Representation

3. TheTransformationalCycleWithin the Word

4. The SegmentalPhonology of

English-aFirst Approximation

5. More on theTransformationalCycleWithin the Word

6.Particularand UniversalGrammar

7. On the Abstractness of Lexical Representation

8. VowelAlternations

PARTITENGLISHPHONOLOGY

THREE. THECYCLE INENGLISHPHONOLOGY

1.IntroductoryRemarks

1.1.The Rules of the Phonological Component

7;< vii 3 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 14 15 15 24
26
28
29
43
44
50
59
59
60
xi xiiContents

1.2.NotationalConventions61

1.3. DistinctiveFeatures64

1.3.1.BoundaryFeatures66

1.3.2. SegmentalFeatures68

2. Stress Placement in

Verbs-aFirstApproximation69

3. Stress Placement in

Nouns-aFirstApproximation71

4.AlternatingStress Rule77

5. Stress Placement in Adjectives79

6.DerivationalAffixes80

7. Summary of Stress Placement Rules83

8.NuclearStress89

9.Compounds91

10. Complex Verbs94

11.NounsDerived from Verbs96

12. Revised Version of the Main Stress Rule98

13. ComplexNounsand Adjectives100

14. VowelReduction110

16. Stress as a Lexical Category145

FOUR·WORD-LEVELPHONOLOGY163

1.IntroductoryRemarks163

2.1. LexicalRedundancyRules171

2.2.Treatmentof Exceptions172

3. TheFeatures177

4. VowelAlternations178

4.1.AlternationsofNonbackVowels178

4.2.Alternationsof Back Vowels186

4.3. The Vowel Shift Rule187

4.3.1. Refinements and Extensions of the Vowel Shift Rule188

4.3.1.1.Roundingand BacknessAdjustments188

4.3.1.2.Roundingand Stress190

4.3.2.FinalWeak-Stressed

[0]190

4.3.3. TheDiphthong[5y]191

4.3.4. Prevocalicy-Glides192

4.3.5. Vowel Shift for Lax Vowels201

4.3.6.FurtherRemarks onDiphthongization205

4.3.7.FurtherRemarks onPhoneticallyLow Vowels205

4.3.8.RoundingAdjustment217

5.FurtherConsequences of the Vowel Shift Rule219

6. TheConsonantSystem of English223

FIVE·SUMMARYOFRULES236

1.ReadjustmentRules238

2. Phonological Rules239

PARTIIIHISTORY

SIX .THEEVOLUTIONOFTHEMODERNENGLISHVOWEL SYSTEM 249

1.IntroductoryRemarks249

1.1. On Linguistic Change249

Contents

1.2.GeneralComments on the EarlyHistoryofModemEnglish

1.3.ConcerningExchange Rules

2.John

Hart(1551-1579)

2.1. The Evidence

2.2.Hart'sPattern

3.JohnWallis (1653-1699)

3.1. The Evidence

3.2. Wallis'Pattern

4.ChristopherCooper (1687)

4.1. The Evidence

4.2.Cooper'sPattern

5. T.Batchelor(1809)

5.1. The Evidence

5.2.Batchelor'sPattern

PART IVPHONOLOGICALTHEORY

SEVEN .THEPHONETICFRAMEWORK

1.PhoneticRepresentation

1.1.PhoneticTranscriptionand the Speech Signal

2. ThePhoneticFeatures

2.1. TheNeutralPosition

2.2. VocalCordVibration-Spontaneousand Otherwise

3.MajorClass Features

3.1.Sonorant-Nonsonorant(Obstruent)

3.2.Vocalic-Nonvocalic

3.3.Consonantal-Nonconsonantal

4. CavityFeatures

4.1.PrimaryStrictures

4.1.1.Coronal-Noncoronal

4.1.2.Anterior-Nonanterior

4.2.FeaturesRelating to the Body of theTongue:High-Nonhigh,

Low-Nonlow,Back-Nonback

4.2.1. On theRelationshipBetween theFeatures"Diffuseness,"

"Compactness,"and "Gravity"and theFeaturesofthe

Preceding Sections

4.2.2. Degrees ofNarrowingin the VocalTract

4.3.Rounded-Nonrounded

4.4.Distributed-Nondistributed

4.5.Covered-Noncovered

4.6.GlottalConstrictions

4.7. Secondary Apertures

4.7.1.Nasal-Nonnasal

4.7.2.Lateral-Nonlateral

5.MannerofArticulationFeatures

5.1. (Stop)

5.2. ReleaseFeatures:InstantaneousRelease-DelayedRelease

5.2.1. Release ofPrimaryClosures

5.2.2. Release of Secondary Closures

5.2.3. Comments on the

ReleaseFeatures

xiii 252
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