accommodate this restriction in terms of dissimilarity of the language borrowed and the borrowing language. The first thing is to take the similar form of the
borrowing language if it is feasibly adequate. For example as in the word futon, English is straightforwardly stated as [fut
ɒn] just like the word spelling. However, for the second case, as in the borrowing words from Greek pneumonia and
psychology, since pn and ps clusters is prohibited, English at the moment only
preserved the original spelling but the p in the cluster is mute to become [nu
ˈmoʊni‿ə] and [saɪˈkɒlədʒi] Fasold and Connor-Linton, 2006: 43.
13. List of Symbols used in this Thesis
It is recognized that there are many variations in transcribing symbols for phonetic descriptions. To avoid such confusions, this thesis uses the same manner
of symbols as Longman Pronunciation Dictionary LPD which is the source for this study. They are listed as follows.
Table 3.
Key to English Phonetic Symbols Used for This Thesis Adapted
from LPD, 2000: i Consonants
Vowels and Diphthongs
p pen b back
t tea t city
d day k key
ɡ get m moon
n nice
ŋ ring t
ʃ chair d
ʒ judge f fat
v van θ thing
ð they s soon
z zoom
ʃ sure ʒ vision
h hot l lead
r right j yet
w wet kit
e bed æ trap
lot ʌ love
ʊ good iː fleece
e face a try
ɔ boy uː two
əʊ goat BrE o
ʊ goat Ame a
ʊ mouth ə near
e ə square
ː start ɔː thought
ʊə cure ː nurse BrE
ː nurse AmE i happy
ə about u influence
intend ʊ stimulus
Other symbols
ˈ primary stress mark ˌ secondary stress mark
‿ linking absence of a break ǁ AmE follows GenAm
Besides, there is a list of representative symbols used for phonological rules of stop deletion discussed in the analysis Chapter 4; section 2. They are used for
the underlying and surface representation of the deletion. To be precise, they are presented as below.
Table 4.
Representative Symbols for Deletion Rule Adapted from O’Grady et al
., 2005: 92; Giegerich, 1992: 298; Soltan, 2012
Symbol Representation
→ __
+
Ø {}
becomes is rewritten as changes to in the following environment
position of the input relation to the other element in the phonological environment e.g. before after
word boundary syllable boundary
morpheme boundary deletion zero
option multiple context
B. Related Studies
In relation to the topic of the study, there are at least five studies which are closely related to this research. The first study is conducted by Peters 2012. She
focuses her study on letter silencing in English which is challenging especially for teachers from linguistically diverse background. On her study, it is estimated that
60 of English words have the so-called letter silencing. In this case, the paper tries to clarify the causes for English having letter silencing in most of words, how
having letter silencing in English beneficial to its users, and what various types of letter silencing are in English.
The goal of the research is to be able to identify them and be able to understand the purpose so that the students can make sense of
them while attempting to learn English.
