NOTICE: This page is copyrighted 1998 to Johanna Rubba
Processes
and Spelling KEY
EXERCISE
Identify which of the above processes is responsible for the error, and say why the speller probably chose the particular misspelling.
1. sentance < sentence
9. backround < background
Vowel reduction: the second vowel
Syllable-structure simplification:
is unstressed, and therefore pro-
In rapid speech, the /g/ of this word
nounced / \
/. The speller in -
is deleted to reduce the number of
correctly guessed that <a> was the
consonants in the syllable. Since the
needed vowel, probably under the
speller doesn't hear /g/, they don't
influence of the many words that
write <g>.
end in <-ance> in English.
2. pregnate <
pregnant
10. benifit < benefit
Two possible reasons: dissimilation
Vowel reduction. The second syllable
and syllable-structure simplification.
is unstressed, and therefore has
Under dissimilation, a speaker might
schwa as its vowel. The speller guesses
delete the second /n/ to avoid saying
the wrong way to spell the vowel of that
two /n/'s so close to each other. In
syllable, since there is no clue to the
syllable-structure simplification, the
/n/
identity of the phoneme the speaker had
is deleted to simplify the final cluster.
in mind.
In either case, the /n/ is not pronounced,
so the speller doesn't hear it and doesn't
write it.
3. disperse <
disburse
11. deep seeded < deep-seated
Aspiration: After /s/, /p/ is not
Flapping: between the stressed /i/ and
aspirated; in this position /p/ and
the schwa of the <-ed> suffix, both /t/ and
/b/ sound exactly alike. The speller
/d/ would be subject to flapping. This
had to guess whether /p/ or /b/ was
makes the words 'seated' and 'seeded'
intended, and made the wrong guess.
sound exactly alike. Since both make
sense in context, the speller had no
guide in the meaning of the expression
and went for the wrong word.
4.nomatic <
nomadic
12. imput < input
Flapping. See #11.
Assimilation: Most people pronounce this
word with /m/ in normal-speed speech.
They anticipate the bilabial articulation of
/p/ and make a bilabial nasal /m/ instead of
the alveolar /n/. The speller hears an /m/,
is familiar with other words that have an
<im-> prefix like 'impossible', and spells
what is heard.
5. shuttered <
shuddered
13. appose < oppose
Flapping. See #11.
Vowel reduction. See #1, #10.
6. pumkin <
pumpkin
14. formally < formerly
Syllable-structure simplification. See
#9.
Syllable-structure simplification. See #9.
7. ingrediants <
ingredients
15. disgression < discretion
Vowel reduction. See #1, #10.
Aspiration. See #3; in this case, it is /g/
and /k/ that sound the same after /s/.
8. must of/should of
< must have, should
16. duck tape duct tape
have (this involves two processes)
Syllable-structure simplification. See #9.
In normal-speed speech, the 'have' of
Few people pronounce both /t/'s in this
expressions like 'must have' is not
expression.
stressed, and its vowel is reduced to
schwa. Also, the /h/ of 'have' is deleted
17. idenidy < identity (2 processes!)
to simplify the syllable structure, leaving
(1) The first /t/ is deleted to simplify the
fewer consonants to pronounce. These
sylllable structure; (2) the second /t/ is
two proceses make 'have' sound
flapped, because it is between a stressed
just like 'of', and the speller writes
that
and an unstressed vowel. The speller
word.
doesn't hear a /t/, so none shows up in the
spelling; and a flap can be either /t/ or /d/,
and this speller guesses wrong.