Phonotactic-rule assignment

Give two examples of phonotactic rules in English. I want two rules, not examples of
words that violate a phonotactic rule. Use examples other than those that were used in
class or in your text. I want you to come up with examples on your own; i.e., you should
not search the web or use any other resources. The purpose of the assignment is to help
you to learn what phonotactic rules are. Finding examples on the web is not a good way
to do this.

Please do not use examples of sound combinations that do not occur because they
are either unpronounceable or very difficult to pronounce; e.g., do not use examples
such as “words cannot begin with /gb/”, “words cannot begin with /zʃ/”, or “words cannot
begin with /pf/” since they are either difficult or impossible to pronounce. If you are in
doubt about this, choose a different example. There are many examples of sound
combinations that are easily pronounceable but which do not occur in English. A few
examples are given below:

English words cannot begin with /sv/.

English words cannot end with /ɛ/.
English words cannot begin with /ŋ/.

Notes:

1. If you get stuck: There are many examples of consonants that cannot follow /ʃ/ at the
beginnings of English words – even though the consonant blend is easy to pronounce.

2. Phonotactic rules are always specified at the phonemic level, not the phonetic level.
Note that the examples above use slashes rather than brackets.

3. There are some specific examples that have been submitted many times and should be
avoided:

Any example that we discussed in class – whether it is in the lecture notes or not.
Words cannot end in /h/.
Words cannot end in /j/.
Words cannot start (or end) with /ʒ/. (There aren’t many, but they can.)
Words cannot begin with /ʊ/. (This one is actually correct, but it’s fairly obscure and
very easy to find on the web.)
Avoid examples involving [ɾ, ʔ, or ə] – or any other allophone. (If individual speech
sounds are mentioned in your rule – and they probably will be – they should be
enclosed in slashes, not square brackets.]

4. Resubmissions. If there are problems with your assignment, you will be given one
chance to fix the problem(s) and resubmit. Resubmissions are due at class time of the
next class meeting. However, resubmissions will not be accepted if the problem with
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your assignment is that you did not follow the instructions. Failure to follow the
instructions has become a very big problem recently.

5. Letters are entirely irrelevant. Phonotactic rules specify permissible and impermissible
combinations of phonemes, not letters. Any example that makes any reference to
spelling or uses characters such as ‘q’, ‘c’, and ‘x’ has to be wrong. These are letters in
English orthography but they are not phonetic symbols (at least not in English). For
example, “’i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ is a spelling convention, not a phonotactic rule.
Spelling is irrelevant to all sound-pattern rules.

6. The assignment needs to be turned in on time. I’ll tell you when the assignment is due.
The assignment will be graded pass/fail. If a good-faith effort has been made, you’ll
have a chance to fix any errors and resubmit, but just one chance.

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Exception: You will not have an opportunity to resubmit if the problem with your
assignment is that you did not follow the directions.

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Hand-written assignments are fine, but I need to be able to read the thing. This is
sometimes a problem. Assignments (and resubmissions) are due at the start of class.
One point will be deducted from your final grade if an assignment is not turned in
(or not turned in on time), if you did not follow the instructions, or if any problems
with an assignment are not fixed on the next submission. Resubmitted assignments
need to be turned in at the next class meeting. If you cannot be in class for any reason
on the day the assignment (or resubmission) is due, you will need to make
arrangements to get it to me at the start of class. Unless you make arrangements with
me (or your grad assistant) email submissions are not acceptable.

7. You need to do your work independently. It is alright to discuss the assignment with a
classmate, but you need to do your own work. This is true for all of your assignments.
Submitting an assignment that is not your own work is considered academic
misconduct.

8. Case matters. If you are using an upper case phonetic symbol /G, F, N, L, …/, it is
guaranteed to be wrong.

9. The word English is a proper noun. Do not write it as ‘english’. The same is true of
Spanish, French, Japanese, Latin, etc., and all other proper nouns.

10. Come up with your own examples. Do not find your examples by searching the web or
consulting a textbook or by “borrowing” an example from a classmate.
11. Phonetic symbol font: Hand-written assignments are fine, but they need to be legible.
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CHECK LIST
(NOTE: THIS NEEDS TO BE TURNED IN WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENT.)

 My example produces words that are easy to pronounce (e.g., not something like
“words cannot begin with /ztʃ/”, “words cannot begin with /bn/”, “words cannot
begin with /zʃ/”, or “words cannot begin with /pt/”). If you are not sure, find
another example. (Notice that the three examples that are given on page 1 are all
very easy to pronounce – yet they do not occur because of an English
phonotactic rule.)

 My example has nothing to do with letters or spelling.

 I came up with my examples on my own; i.e., my examples were not used in

class or in any of the readings, I did not collaborate with anyone, and I did not
get my example on the web or in a book or anywhere else. This is a big deal.

 My rules are not on the list of examples that I asked you to avoid (e.g., words
cannot end in /h/, words cannot end in /j/, …).

 I did not confuse upper and lower case phonetic symbols.

 Proper nouns (especially English) start with upper-case letters.

 The examples I submitted are phonotactic rules, not non-phonotactic

phonological rules.

 I have turned in the phonotactic rule assignment and not the flap assignment.

 I put my name on the assignment.

 My examples are rules rather than a word or words that are intended to illustrate
the rules.

 My examples are phonotactic rather than non-phonotactic phonological rules.

 I turned in the phonotactic rule assignment, not the flap assignment.

 Proper nouns such as English are not written as english.

 The pages of my assignment are attached with a staple and only a staple rather
than something like a paper clip or rope or silly putty or a nail.

 If I had trouble thinking of an example, I followed the advice in note 1, page 1.

 I turned this check list in with my assignment.