Lastly, the syllable boundary means that it happens at the placement of the
syllable in the word. The example is on the word Mo.na.ghan
ˈm n ə hən where the h silent g can be stated as the onset in terms of the syllable boundary.
All stop deletions of b, d, g, p, t, k, m, and n are observed for these phonological rules. Nevertheless, the variety dependent cannot be accounted
for because the deletion is depended on the area of speech. Therefore, the rule is essentially made for permanent and non-permanent deletion. Likewise, the
phenomenon of deletion that occurs in less than two words will not be counted for the rules since there is possibly a hesitance in determining the applicable rule for
the deletion. For discussion, the deletion will be discussed in a sequence from b- deletion, d-deletion, g-deletion, p-deletion, t-deletion, k-deletion, m-deletion, and
n-deletion. They are presented as follows.
1. The Stop b Deletion
The b-deletion has two combinations of orthographical consonant clusters in
the word. They are basically mb and bt. The [b] is deleted when it is
preceded by nasal bilabial stop [m] or followed by voiceless alveolar stop [t]. The two formulas can be formed as below.
a. Examples:
aplomb, bomb, comb, climb, lamb, columb, numb, bombproof, climber, limbless, numbly, thumbnail
Phonological rule: [b] → Ø [m] __ Description: [b] is deleted when it is preceded by [m] at the end of a word
or at a morpheme boundary The first rule is for mb cluster. It is generally occurred at the end of a
word such as in the words aplomb ə ˈpl m, bomb b m, comb kəʊm, climb
kla m, lamb læm, columb ˈk l əm, and numb nʌm. Likewise, it can occur at
the end of morpheme boundary like in the words bombproof ˈb m pruːf, climber
ˈkla m ə, limbless ˈl m ləs, numbly ˈnʌm li, and thumbnail ˈθʌm ne əl.
b. Examples:
debt, debtor, doubt, doubtful, subtly, indebted, undoubted
Phonological rule: [b] → Ø __ [t] Description: [b] is deleted when it is followed by [t] at the end of a word or
at a morpheme boundary This second rule is for the cluster bt. It is occurred at the end of a word
like debt det, and doubt da ʊt, or at a morpheme boundary such as debtor ˈdet
ə, doubtful ˈdaʊt fəl, subtly ˈsʌt əl‿i, indebted n ˈdet d, and undoubted ʌn
ˈdaʊt d.
2. The Stop d Deletion
The d-deletion can be separated into two phonological rules of deletion.
They are dt cluster and dn cluster. The [d] is deleted when it is followed by voiceless alveolar stop [t] or nasal alveolar stop [n]. In this case, the cluster is
more or less similar to b-deletion. a.
Examples: Arendt, Darmstadt, Humboldt, Scheldt,
Schmidt, Wundt
Phonological rule: [d] → Ø __ [t] Description: [d] is deleted when it is followed by [t] at the end of a word
The first rule is about dt cluster. It occurs at the end of a word such as
Arendt ˈ ːr ənt, Darmstadt ˈd ːm stæt, Humboldt ˈhʌm bəʊlt, Scheldt ʃelt,
Schmidt ʃm t, and Wundt vʊnt. From the data, it is also can be observed that
this deletion occurred in the proper noun. It is the geographical name that is typically German.
b. Examples:
Dneper, Dnepropetrovsk, Dniester
Phonological rule: [d] → Ø __ [n] Description: [d] is deleted when it is followed by [n] at the beginning of a
word Meanwhile, the second rule for d-deletion is applied for dn cluster. It also
happens in the proper name. Unlike dt cluster that is observed in the German name, dn cluster is characteristically found in Russian name. The instances are
the names of Dneper ˈniːp ə, Dnepropetrovsk ˌnep rəʊ pe ˈtr fsk,and Dniester
ˈniːst ə. Likewise, this cluster is occurred in the initial position of the word.
3. The Stop g Deletion
