Phonological rules describe how sounds are produced in spoken language, varying between languages and dialects. They include the underlying sound, the environment in which it is altered, and the specific alteration. There are four main groups of alteration: assimilation, dissimilation, insertion, and deletion. These rules do not imply a correct or preferred mode of pronunciation and are used to study the interaction between mental and physical speech.
A phonological rule is a method of describing how individual sounds are produced in spoken language. These rules are written in a specialized notation that encodes how a sound or group of sounds is altered to appear in a specific linguistic context. Phonological rules vary between languages and dialects and reflect the common pronunciation habits of various language groups. By studying how a particular phonological rule operates in spoken language, linguists are able to determine the physiological and neurological mechanisms that translate mental language into spoken language.
A complete phonological rule includes the underlying sound that is altered, the environment in which it is altered, and the specific alteration that takes place. The rules might concern groups of underlying sounds if all sounds undergo the same alteration when placed in the same linguistic environment. Language environment describes the types of sounds that must exist before or after the underlying sound for the alteration to take place, and can include both positive and negative characteristics. For example, a phonological rule might describe an alteration that occurs after a consonant in a stressed syllable and before a vowel in an unstressed syllable. Alteration is usually expressed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or as a description of common characteristics between multiple altered sounds, and communicates the sound that results from the underlying altered sounds.
The phonological rules are substantially divided into four main groups, which are distinguished by the type of alteration that takes place. Assimilation is the alteration of a sound that makes it more similar to nearby sounds, making the word easier to pronounce by eliminating some movements of the speech organs. Dissimilation is an alteration that causes a sound to be less similar to nearby sounds, which can make certain sounds more likely to be heard by the listener. Insertion is the introduction of an unwritten sound between sounds that are very similar or difficult to pronounce, such as the “-e” commonly inserted when pluralizing a word ending in “s”. Deletion or truncation occurs when a sound is masked or dropped completely from a word.
Although called rules, phonological rules do not imply a correct or preferred mode of pronunciation. They can be, and often are, written to reflect non-standard dialects and ways of speaking. Phonological rules are simple descriptions of pronunciation. They are generally used to study the interaction between mental and physical speech and the physiology of the speech organs rather than the cultural aspects of a particular pronunciation.
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