Variety-dependent Deletion Types of Stop Deletion

3. Variety-dependent Deletion

Last but not least, the third type of deletion is variety dependent deletion. For the variety dependent, the number is not as much as the other two that is only 37 words. They are 3 words of b-deletion, 7 words of d-deletion, 3 words of g- deletion, 5 words of p-deletion, 18 words of t-deletion, and 1 word of k-deletion. It is most likely due to the variety dependent which is observed is merely on the variant of BrE and AmE in general as it is observed in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary as the main data. As the pronunciation is taken solely from the dictionary, the possible number of this type may be greater in actual fact. Different from the first two types of deletion, the main characteristic of this type of deletion is the great influence of the regional variations to the occurrence of the deletion. That is, the deletion of the stop may be or may not be there on the same exact word. As the name suggested, the deletion is varied depending on the dialectical speech. Likewise, it can be stated as the deletion that typically the same as non-permanent deletion. That is, the deletion is mainly there, but some area may have the stop to be pronounced. In this study, the pronunciation is taken from British English and American English as provided in the LPD. As stated before, in essence, what makes this type of deletion is different from the other two is the existence or non-existence of the deletion from the same, exact word. Thus, it can be stated as the main characteristic of this type of deletion. Unlike the permanent deletion which has permanent attribute or the non- permanent deletion which may have deletion depending on the syllable or morpheme boundary, variety dependent deletion deals exactly with the same word on the deletion. So, it has no different in meaning or origin of the word but it merely occurs because of the distinct area of speech. For instance, some people may have stated rhomb as r m, r mb, r ːm, or r ːmb depending on the area of speech. The example can be observed in Table 13 below. Table 13. Examples of Variety-Dependent Deletion on b-, d-, and t-deletion b-deletion d-deletion t-deletion rhomb r m r mb ǁ r ːm r ːmb grandma ˈɡræn m ː ˈɡrænd-, →ˈɡræm- ǁ -mɔː- often ˈ f ən ˈ ft ən, ˈɔːf ən, ˈɔːft ən ǁ ˈɔːf ən ˈ ːf-; ˈɔːft ən, ˈ ːft subpena s ə ˈpiːn səb-, ˌsʌb- grandmother, ˈɡræn ˌmʌð ə ˈɡrænd-, →ˈɡræm- ǁ -ər twenty ˈtwent i ˈtwen i ǁ ˈtwent i subpoena s ə ˈpiːn ə səb-, ˌsʌb- grandson ˈɡræn sʌn ˈɡrænd- twentyfold ˈtwent i fəʊld ˈtwen-, → -f ʊld Wednesday ˈwenz de -di; ˈwed ənz de , -di In the table above, it can be noticed that most of the words that have this kind of deletion are the words that can fall into homorganic assimilation. That is, the sounds that the features are more or less similar in terms of its organ of speech. In this point, this leads to assimilation of the sounds to become one or to fuse one another. The example can be seen on the words subpena, rhomb, grandma, twenty, and Wednesday. On these words, they have the same interaction in terms of stops. In essence, these stops can be also viewed as homorganic in terms of its place of articulation. For example, the b and p in subpena and the m and b in rhomb are all bilabial stops. The other examples are on the d and the n in Wednesday and the n and t in twenty that are both classified as alveolar stops. In this sense, in terms of homorganic condition, the deletion may possibly influence to the pronunciation. Moreover, the interaction among the sounds in the consonant clusters may affect the occurrence of the deletion. The examples can be seen from the interaction among the n, d, and m in grandma or grandmother where d is flanked by n and m. In this case, though they are all alveolar stops but the features of n and m are closer than d since they have one more similar feature that is [+nasal]. Likewise, the n and d is already homorganic in terms of alveolar as a place of articularion. Thus, the d may be deleted. The comparable case may also be observed from the word often where t is flanked by f and ə. In this point, the feature of f and ə is more alike than t since f is categorized as fricative the air still moves out with turbulence in terms of manner of articulation. If we compare these three sounds, f is closer to ə and therefore, the stop t is possible to be deleted. With this regard, they have a tendency to have homorganic stop assimilation that may lead to the phenomena of variety- dependent deletion. Some areas have the deletion while the others have not. Moreover, if it is looked down more carefully, this type of variety- dependent deletion has such a cluster of sounds that are unfamiliar or different from English. This is possibly the reason of the diverse adaptation to the pronunciation among the area of speech to become varied. The example can be seen in Table 14 below. Table 14. Examples of Variety-Dependent Deletion on g-,p-, t-, and k- deletion g-deletion p-deletion t-deletion k-deletion g neiss na s ɡə ˈna s — German Gneis [ ɡnais] P feiffer ˈfa f ə ˈpfa f ə ǁ - ər t sar tzar z ː ts ː ǁ z ːr ts ːr K nossos ˈkn s s ˈn s-, - əs ǁ ˈn ːs əs g nocchi ˈn k i ˈnj k i, ɡə ˈn k i ǁ ˈn ːk i — Italian [ˈɲɔk ki] P nyx pn ks n ks t sarevich ˈz ːr ə v tʃ ˈts ːr- p shaw p ʃɔː ǁ ʃɔː ʃ ː t sarina tsarina z ː ˈriːn ə ts ː- t sarism tzarism ˈz ːr ˌ z əm ˈts ːr- It can be noted in the data above that the list of words is not the one which comes originally from English. This mark can be proved by the spelling which is not common and also by the original source of the languages. As can be seen on the g-deletion, the word gneiss is originally taken from German and the word gnocchi is originally from Italian. Then, it can be noticed from the spelling that the words such as Pfeiffer, Pnyx, pshaw, tsar, tzar, tsarevich, tsarina, tzarina, tsarism, tzarism, and Knossos are distant from the common English words. The cluster of pf, pn, p ʃ, and ts or tz in fact is not so familiar within the English clusters. Consequently, this may lead to the divergence of pronunciation among English speakers. They probably will eliminate the stop as the effect of the unacceptable or they just follow the original pronunciation as the source of the words is spoken.

B. Phonological Rules of Stop Deletion

This section specifically answers the problem formulation number two that is the phonological rules of stop deletion in English words. As stated before, this