Phonological Analysis

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In order to be able to know which consonants are produced in which context it is necessary to look at the distribution of single consonants firstly.

After having examined the syllabic structure of the words, the consonants are classified regarding their position in the word. The different position are SIWI (Syllable Initial Word Initial), SIWW (Syllable Initial Within Word), SFWW (Syllable Final Within Word) and SFWF (Syllable Final Word Final). The results are shown in the following table.

SIWI

SIWW

SFWW

SFWF

Nasal

m (3) n (2)

m(1) n(1)

m (2) n(3)

n(16)

Plosive

b (13) d (31)

d(21) p(1)

b(6)

p(3) k(4) t(20)

Fricative

s(11)

Approximant

Affricate

Voiceless labial-velar approximant

w(10)

w(10)

1.1.5. Distribution of consonant clusters

The same as for single consonants is true for consonants cluster. They must be detected and analyzed regarding their position.

SIWI

SIWW

SFWW

SFWF

ts (10)

pts (1)

nt (1)

2. Statement of Constraints

2.1. Inventory of vowels

When looking at Stuart’s data it soon becomes quite obvious that according to this data set he produces exclusively monophthongs, whereas diphthongs are completely missing. Therefore it can’t even be claimed that they are emerging. However, also when it comes to monophthongs he produces rather short than long monophthongs. Since Stuarts has a Scottish accent it should be looked at the Scottish vowel chart also.

Aitken (1984: 96) mentions that the vowel system of Scottish Standard English typically consists of nine monophthongs. These are /ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, a, ɔ, ʉ, i, e, o/. Scobbie, Turk and Hewlett (1999: 1617) furthermore argue that there are 3 vowels which are typically for Scottish, namely /i:, ʉ/ and the diphthong /ai /. Therefore it can be adhered that almost all of them are present. However, Stuart’s data also contains another vowel, which is according to Aitken not typical for Scottish accents but rather for British English, namely the schwa-sound. For now, it could be assumed that Stuarts inventory of vowels is developing containing both RP and Scottish features.

The assumption of Scottish features seems also to become true when trying to find an answer in case of the missing diphthongs. According to Fodor (2014: 4) a lot of monophthongs in Scottish English conform to RP diphthongs. This is due to Scottish being a rhotic language. The monophthongs assimilate to PR centering diphthongs by adding the /r/ to the monophthongs. This leads to a smaller inventory of diphthongs in Scottish language. This might be an explanation for the complete absence of diphthongs. However, obviously this is only an assumption based on reviewed literature and therefore cannot be taken as a fact.

2.2. Inventory of consonants

As already mentioned above, the inventory of consonant phones seems to be very poor. Most present are plosives, in particular the voiced alveolar plosive. Beside that, only two nasals, one fricative and a labial-velar approximate could be detected. Furthermore affricates were completely missing as well as dentals and palatals.

2.3. Inventory of word shapes

Stuart’s data contains a lot of monosyllabic and disyllabic words. They are almost balanced and also syllabic structure varies a lot. Though, he seems to have a preference for CVC structures. However, multisyllabic words are almost completely missing. Stuart’s data set contains only one word which consists out of more than two syllables. Therefore it could be assumed that polysyllabic structures are slowly developing.

2.4. Distribution of single consonants and consonant clusters

Single consonants and also consonant clusters are unbalanced distributed. When looking at the table of single consonants the distribution is particularly poor in the Syllable Final Within Word position. Also fricatives are restricted to the Syllable Final Word Final position.

While single consonants are better distributed, the distribution of consonant clusters is completely unbalanced. Besides that, only a few consonant clusters could be detected in the data set, there is a constraint against clusters, in all positions other than the Syllable Final Word Final position.

3. Phonological Processes

Phonological Processes are so-called errors that occur in order to resolve difficulties in the production of speech and also simultaneously to ensure optimal perceptibility. These processes are governed by the speaker’s physiology and his articulatory capabilities (cf. Goman 1979: 1). Donegan (1978: 2) puts it that way, “processes [...] are the living expression of the phonetic capacity of the individual.”

In other words this means, that children are producing these errors while learning to talk like adults. Therefore phonological processes are natural and part of acquiring a language. However, when learning to speak adult-like, children are eliminating those phonological processes gradually. Specialists suppose certain ages by which certain processes should not be present any more (Bowen, Speech-Language-Therapy 2016).

Below Stuart’s data set will be analyzed regarding the presence of certain phonological processes. There are processes which can be considered as simplifications regarding the structure