Underlying Representation

Generative Phonology

Robert Mannell

based on web-based
web based notes by
Jonathan Harrington
 Introduction (1)
( )

We have already examined three levels of

abstraction in representing the sound structure
of a language:
language:-
z a phonetic level (reasonably concrete)
z a phonemic level
z phonological (distinctive) features

Ideally the phonetic level is concrete and measurable but we often use
simplifications that are to some extent abstract
abstract. For example
example, we may say
that a vowel is nasalised but there are, in reality, degrees of nasalisation.
2
 Introduction (2)
( )

z In this lecture the terms “root word” or “root

form” may be used. The term “root” is
equivalent to the alternative term “stem”
“stem”.
z A “root word” or “stem” is a word without
additional affixes (prefixes, infixes or suffixes)
z A “root form” is the “underlying” (or cognitive)
phonemic form of a root word.
eg. the root form in the word “dogs” is /dɔɡ/
3
 Introduction (3)
( )

z The idea of “underlying representations” is

an essential part of generative phonology. The
underlying representation (or underlying form)
of a root word or morpheme can be
transformed into other forms (derived “surface”
surface”
forms) by rules. (Chomsky and Halle,1968)
z Individual rules can be expressed in terms off
phonemes or distinctive features (or both).

4
 Introduction (4)
( )

z An underlying representation is regarded

regarded, in
generative phonology, as the underlying
form of a word or morpheme
morpheme.
z Underlying forms are expressed in terms of
phonemes.
z A surface form is the broad/phonemic
transcription of how a word or morpheme is
actually pronounced in a particular context.
5
 Introduction (5)
( )

z An underlying representation is transformed

into a surface realisation as a consequence
of transformational rules
rules.
z These rules might cause a word, which has a
single phonemic underlying form, to be
actually pronounced using different
phonemes.

6
 Introduction (6)
( )

z The underlying form of a word (in the mental

lexicon) is not just its underlying phonemic
form but also the rules which transform that
form,
word into different surface forms (i.e. different
phonemes) in different contexts
contexts.

7
 Introduction (7)
( )

z “Surface form”,
form” in generative phonology
phonology,
refers to the choice of phonemes used to
actually pronounce a word or morpheme
morpheme,
NOT to the allophones used.
z The underlying form of a morpheme is often
written as follows:-
{ } representing
{-s}, ti th
the underlying
d l i fform ((with
ith
phoneme /s/) of the plural morpheme.

8
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (1)
( )

IIn many dialects

di l t off E English
li h ((e.g. B
British,
iti h NZ
NZ,
Australian, American) the are three surface
f
forms for
f the
th plural
l l morpheme
h th
thatt occur in
i
different contexts (i.e. different word final
phonemes
h iin th
the preceding
di roott word):- d)

z /-əz/ following /s,

/s zz, ʃʃ, ʒ
ʒ, tʃ
tʃ, dʒ/
z Otherwise, /-z/ following voiced phonemes
z O
Otherwise, /-s/ following voiceless phonemes
9
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (2)
( )

z For example we might say say, for morpheme {-s}

{ s}
(1) /s/ Æ /əz/ / [+sib] _
which means that “/s/ /s/ becomes /@z/ in the
context of a preceding sibilant”.
((nb. [[+sib]] = /s,, z,, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ,
ʃ, dʒ/)
ʒ )

“Æ” means “becomes”

“/” means “in the context of”
“_” means “place the morpheme here” and so,
“[+ ib] _”” means “a
“[+sib] “ sibilant
ibil t precedes
d ththe morpheme”.
h ”
10
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (3)
( )

z Generative rules are often dependent upon

rule order and this required rule order is also
part of the mental lexicon for a word or
morpheme.
z th {-s}
I the
In { } examplel th
the [[+sib]
ib] rule
l ((rule
l (1))
needs to be applied first and then rule (2)
can be applied:-
(2) /s/ Æ /z/ / [+voice] _

11
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (4)
( )

z Rule 2 works because in the [+sib] context

/s/ has become /əz/ so the next rule can’t
apply to itit. That is
is, the output of rule (1) is the
input to rule (2).
z As /s/ is the underlying form of the English
plural morpheme {-s} we don’t need a rule
f that form
for f as underlyingly it already has
that form.

12
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (5)
( )

z If we had applied these two rules in the

opposite order we would have ended up with
/z/ following /z,
/z ʒʒ, dʒ/ as those phonemes
are also [+voice].
z So, we didn’t need a rule to generate the
underlying form (as its already there) and we
needed to apply the rules in the correct order
to get the correct answer.

13
 Plural morpheme
p in English
g (6)
( )

To summarise,
summarise the mental lexicon in English
contains, for the plural morpheme:-
U d l i fform iis {-s}
1. Underlying { } (ie.
(i /s/)
/ /)
2. Plural morpheme attached to end of root word.
3. Rule 1, applied first: /s/ Æ /əz/ / [+sib] _
4
4. 2 applied second: /s/ Æ /z/ / [+voice] _
Rule 2,
5. No rule required to obtain underlying /s/ as
this is what remains if rules 1 and 2 fail.
fail
14
 Singaporean
g p English
g (1)
( )

z In Singapore English
English, and some other
dialects of English, talkers simplify word-final
consonant clusters by deleting the final stop stop.
For example, words like 'task', 'lift', 'list' are
produced as /tɑs/,
/tɑs/ /lɪf/,
/lɪf/ /lɪs/,
/lɪs/ i.e.
i e without the
final /t/. This is a cluster simplification rule.
z What is the underlying representation off
these words? (e.g. /tɑs/ or /tɑsk/)
This section is based on Mohanan (1992) and Kenstowicz (1994)
15 as well as the web based notes by Jonathan Harrington.
 Singaporean
g p English
g (2)
( )

z We can examine the underlying forms of

“task” and “list” by seeing how the plural
morpheme interacts with themthem.
z If the last phoneme of these two words is
d l i l /t/
underlyingly / / or /k/ then
th {-s}
{ } Æ /s/
/ / then
th
we would end up with /ss/. Another common
E li h rule
English l wouldld th i lif /ss/
then simplify / / to
t /s/
//
z If the underlying last phoneme of these words
is /s/ then {-s} Æ /əz/.
16
 Singaporean
g p English
g (3)
( )

z An assumption of the above rules is that the

morpheme is added BEFORE the final /k/ or /t/
of the root word is deleted
deleted.
/tɑsk/ + /s/ Æ /tɑsks/ (plural added)
/tɑsks/ Æ /tɑss/ (cluster simplification)
/tɑss/ Æ /tɑs/ (geminate [double] reduction)
z If the
th underlying
d l i fform off “task”
“t k” had
h dbbeen /tɑs/
/ /
then we would have ended up with /tɑsəz/.
z We know this because “bus” becomes “busses”
17
 Singaporean
g p English
g (4)
( )

z Singaporean English speakers pronounce

these plurals as /tɑs/ and /lɪs/. So, we must
assume that the underlying form of these
words includes the whole final fricative/stop
cluster. ((We might g gguess that the same is true
for “lift”, but this hasn’t been tested directly)
z When the p plurals are p
produced,, the p
plural
morpheme is added BEFORE the root word
cluster is reduced to produce the final surface
form.
18
 Singaporean
g p English
g (5)
( )

z Examples like this show us that the mental

lexicon is not just a list of pronunciations.
z The mental lexicon is highly abstract and
consists of underlying phonemic forms and
sets of phonological rules that convert
underlying forms into surface forms.

19
 Indonesian Prefixes (1)
( )

z The following example is from Halle and

Clements (1983)
z In this example, we very conveniantly already
know the underlying forms of the root words
some of which have been modified in the
prefixed surface form.
z We also have a prefix morpheme that varies
significantly in its surface form.
20
 Indonesian Prefixes (2)
( )

z The goal of this exercise is to determine the

underlying form of the prefix and the rules
which transform the underlying forms of the
root word and prefix to the example surface
forms.
forms
z The meanings have been omitted from these
tables. Go
G to the associated web page to see
the full table, including meanings.

21
 Indonesian Prefixes (3)
( )

22
 Indonesian Prefixes (4)
( )

z A quick examination of the list indicates that

a few root words appear to have had their
first consonant deleted
deleted. These words are:are:-
/kirim/, /tulis/, /pukul/. In all other cases
the root words are intact
intact.
z We can also see several surface forms for
fi /mə-/
th prefix:-
the / / /məŋ-/
/ / //məɲ-// //məm-//

23
 Indonesian Prefixes (5)
( )

z Another quick check shows that all of the root

words that start with a voiceless oral stop
/p tt, k/ have had that phoneme deleted
/p, deleted.
This proves that there is at least one rule that
affects root word initial phonemes
phonemes.
z We will need to keep our eyes open for more
rules that change the root word. There may
be more, but so far we don’t know.

24
 Indonesian Prefixes (6)
( )

z You also need to be aware that /tʃ/ and /dʒ/

usually represent postalveolar affricates but
that they can behave phonologically as if they
are equivalent to the palatal stop consonants
[ʈ] and [ɖ ] (which they sound very similar to)
to).
z In such cases /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ behave as if they
have the same place off articulation as sounds
like /ɲ/.

25
 Indonesian Prefixes (7)
( )

z If we look at the examples where there is a

final consonant on the prefix and an initial
consonant on the surface form of the root
word we have:-
məŋhituŋ
ŋ ŋ məŋɡambar
ŋɡ məndəŋar
ŋ
məmbantu məɲdʒahit məɲtʃatat
z Five of these are homorganic
g p
pairs
(i.e. oral stop/affricate and nasal stop have
same place of articulation). The only
exception
ti isi məŋhituŋ
hi
26
 Indonesian Prefixes (8)
( )

z When we do a morphophonemic analysis we

should always try to find patterns that can
help to explain the surface forms
forms.
z Assimilation to the same place of articulation
is a very common rule in generative
phonology. So we might consider this a
possible hypothesis.

27
 Indonesian Prefixes (8)
( )

z If we look at the surface forms of the prefix

we find that three of them are nasal stops.
z Its easy to imagine a prefix underlying form
that ends in a nasal stop and ONE
assimilation and ONE deletion rule
rule.
z Its more complex to imagine a prefix /m@-/
and several separate insertion rules some of
which don’t make any sense in some
contexts.
28
 Indonesian Prefixes (9)
( )

z For example if the prefix underlying form is

/mə-/ then how do we get the surface forms
in the case of:
of:-
/məŋ+hituŋ/ /məŋ+ambil/ /məŋ+isi/
/məŋ+undaŋ/
z Why do we get /ŋ/ on these prefixes? There
is no logical phonetic process here.

29
 Indonesian Prefixes (10)
( )

z So, if we hypothesise that the prefix ends in a

So
nasal and that there is an assimilation rule
that changes the final nasal to the same
place of articulation as the first consonant of
the followingg root word,, how much of the
data does this account for?
z It accounts for all but seven of the examples
p
especially if we also add a geminate
simplification rule.

30
 Indonesian Prefixes (11)
( )

z məNmasak Æ məmmasak Æ məmasak

z məNnikah Æ mənnikah Æ mənikah
z məNŋaco Æ məŋŋaco Æ məŋaco
z məNɲaɲi
ɲ ɲ Æ məɲɲaɲi
ɲɲ ɲ Æ məɲaɲi
ɲ ɲ
z məNdʒahit Æ məɲdʒahit
z məNtʃatat Æ məɲtʃatat
(in the above “N” means any nasal stop)

31
 Indonesian Prefixes (12)
( )

z We have good evidence that assimilation to

place of articulation is at work here.
z S how
So h d l i /məŋambil/
do we explain / bil/ //məŋisi/
i i/ and
/məŋundaŋ/? (root words starting with a vowel)
z There’s no logical way that a vowel articulation
can affect the place of articulation of a nasal
stop so the easiest answer is that the underlying
form of the prefix is /məŋ-/

32
 Indonesian Prefixes (13)
( )

z The root words that start with a voiceless oral

stop can be explained by assuming that the
prefix assimilation is applied first and then the
root word initial /p t k/ is deleted.
z /
/məŋkirim/
ki i / Æ /məŋkirim/
/ ki i / Æ /məŋirim/
/ ii /
/məŋtulis/ Æ /məntulis/ Æ /mənulis/
/
/məŋpukul/
k l/ Æ /məmpukul/
/ k l/ Æ /məmukul/
/ k l/
z Why delete? It’s a convention for this language.
33
 Indonesian Prefixes (14)
( )

z An entirely different rule affects the addition

of this prefix to lempar, rasa, wakil and jakin.
Its is a deletion rule that applies to the prefix
prefix.
z /məŋlempar/ Æ /məlempar/
/
/məŋrasa/ / Æ /mərasa/
/ /
/məŋwakil/ Æ /məwakil/
/
/məŋjakin/
j ki / Æ /məjakin/
/ j ki /

34
 Indonesian Prefixes (15)
( )

The underlying form of the prefix is /məŋ-/.

/məŋ /
The rules apply in the following order:-
1. If root word starts with an approximant
delete /ŋ/ from the prefix. We do this first to
prevent the assimilation rule from applying.
2. Assimilate the prefix /ŋ/ to the place of
articulation of a following [-cont] consonant
(i.e. oral stop, nasal stop or affricate)
3. Delete voiceless stop at start of root word.
35
 Indonesian Prefixes (16)
( )

z No other rules are required to explain this

data.
z Th rules
The l must be b applied
li d iin this
hi order.
d
z Knowledge of the underlying forms of the
words and the morpheme PLUS the rules
and the order in which the rules must be
applied must be implicit knowledge for a
linguistically competent speaker of
Indonesian.
36
 Tagalog
g g (1)
( )

z On the web page associated with this topic

there is also a worked example for Tagalog.
z This data includes a vowel deletion rule,
a vowel raising rule /o/ Æ /u/ and a
metathesis rule.
z A metathesis rule, most often applied to a
pair of adjacent consonants, is the swapping
of the order of the consonants. /tp/ Æ /pt/

37
 Tagalog
g g (2)
( )

z An example of a metathesis rule is:is:-

z /atip/ Æ /atp/ Æ /apt/
z /atip/ is the simple form
z //atp/
p/ followingg a vowel deletion rule
z /apt/ following metathesis of the last two
consonants

38
 Tagalog
g g (3)
( )

z You should work through the Tagalog

example on the web site.
z The main problem that people have with this
example is with the meaning of the term
“suffixed form”. It’s the form that the root takes
when it’s followed by a suffix…
i bukas
i.e. b k Æ buks
b k shouldh ld bbe readd as …
bukas Æ buks + an Æ buksan

39
 Zoque
q (1)
( )

z For the Mexican language Zoque,

Zoque no obvious
simple form seems to have been supplied. We
would normally expect a singular rather than a
plural form to be a simple form.
z We have (for example) “clothes”, “my clothes”
and “his clothes”. Plural is common to all forms.
“ ” or “his”
“my” “ ” morphemes are added to the plural
z “clothes” is simpler than “my clothes” and “his
clothes”. (true for 5 out of 7 examples)
40
 Zoque
q ((2))

z plural my his
z pama mbama pjama clothes
z tatah ndatah t͡ʃatah
tʃatah father
z tuwi nduwi t͡ʃuwi dog
z k j
kaju ŋɡaju
j kj j
kjaju horse
z t͡sin nd͡zin t͡ʃin pine
z mok k mok k mjokj k corn
z ʔatsi ʔatsi ʔjatsi brother

In all cases the meanings are plural. e.g. dogs, my dogs, his dogs
41
 Zoque
q (3)
( )

z A quick look at the first two columns shows

shows, for
the first five examples, that a nasal has been
added to the front of the stem and the voiceless
stops and affricates have become voiced.
z e.g. pama Æ mbama (the clothes Æ my clothes)
z This nasal prefix hasn’t got a clear place of
We ll call it /n/ for convenience.
articulation. We’ll
z /n/ assimilates to the place of assimilation of
any following [-cont]
[ cont] (oral or nasal stop or
affricate)
42
 Zoque
q (4)
( )

z [[-voice
voice -cont]
cont] voiceless stops and affricates
become voiced i.e. [-voice] Æ [+voice]
e g pama Æ mpama Æ mbama (/p/ Æ /b/)
e.g.
z resulting geminates simplify
e.g. mokk Æ mmok k Æ mokk
z nasals delete before glottal stop
e.g. ʔatsi Æ nʔatsi Æ ʔatsi

43
 Zoque
q (5)
( )

z A quick glance at the third column suggests

that /j/ is inserted in many examples
e g pama Æ pjama
e.g.
z In the other 3 cases we get an affricate, but
the affricate is post-alveolar. Post-alveolar can
be considered to be a palatalised alveolar.
e.g. tuwii Æ tjuwi
j i Æ tʃjuwi
ʃj i Æ tʃuwiʃ i
tsin Æ tsjin Æ tʃjin Æ tʃin
i
insert assimilate
i il d l
delete
44
 Conclusion (1)
( )

z In this lecture we have examined generative

phonology and have introduced the idea of
underlying representations (UR) and surface
forms.
z We have also examined the rules that govern
the generation of surface forms from URs.
z Implicit knowledge of morpheme/word URs
and the rules that generate surface forms are
essential for linguistic
g competence
p in a
language.
45
 Conclusion (2)
( )

z The URs of word stems (root words) and

affixes can be derived, with often some effort,
via analysis of linguistic data
data. This process is
greatly helped by knowledge of common
generative rules
rules.
z Some generative rules follow common
phonetic and phonological patterns, but
some rules seem idiosyncratic to a particular
l
language ((a speechh community i convention)
i )
46
 Conclusion (3)
( )

Common rules include:-

include:
z assimilation (place and voicing)
z cluster
l t simplification
i lifi ti (i (including
l di geminates)
i t )
z phoneme deletion
z phoneme pair metathesis (swapping)
z vowel rounding, spreading, raising, lowering,
fronting, backing
z phoneme insertion

47
 Conclusion (4)
( )

z In many examples the determination of the

URs of root words is easy and the main task
is determining the URs of the suffixes
suffixes,
prefixes and infixes.
z Sometimes, however, neither are clear and
the full picture must be built up gradually
f
from a series off tested hypotheses.

48
 Further Reading
g

z You should read the topic web page at:

at:-
http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonology/generative/index.html

z Also read the relevant chapter of

Clark, Yallop and Fletcher.

49
 References ((Not required
q reading)
g)

z Chomsky, N
Chomsky N., and Halle
Halle, M
M. 1968
1968. The Sound Pattern of
English. New York: Harper & Row.
z Halle, M. and Clements, G. 1983. Problem Book in Phonology,
MIT Press.
z Kenstowicz, M. (1994) Phonology in Generative Grammar.
Cambridge MA, Blackwell.
z Mohanan, K.P. (1992) “Describing the phonology of non-native
varieties of a language”, World Englishes, 11, 111-128.

50