Make a narrow transcription of the script
Imagine the following is a transcript of you in conversation with another person. Make a narrow transcription ofthe script, using all aspects of connected speech that we have considered in class. Remember, you are capturing spoken English not transcribing written English.
DONKEY: What’s your problem? What you got against the whole world anyway?
SHREK: Look, I’m not the one with the problem, okay? It’s the world that seems to have a problem with me. People take one look at me and go. “Aah! Help! Run! A big, stupid, ugly ogre!’ They judge me before they even know me. That’s why I’m better off alone.
DONKEY: You know what? When we met, I didn’t think you was just a big, stupid, ugly ogre.
SHREK: Yeah, I know.
DONKEY: So, uh, are there any donkeys up there?
SHREK: Well, there’s, um, Gabby, the Small and Annoying.
DONKEY: Okay, okay, I see it now. The big shiny one, right there. That one there?
SHREK: That’s the moon.
DONKEY: Oh, okay.
Part two:
1.‘twelfths’ /twelfθs/ ‘text’ /tekst/
(i) Draw syllable trees for both ‘twelfths’ /twelfθs/ and ‘text’ /tekst/ (noun, inf. verb). Account for all the sounds in the onsets and codas of both words in terms of the SonoritySequencing Principle.
(ii) In speech, the codas of both words are usually simplified by deleting one sound. In /tekst/ it is final [t]. However, research suggests that for/twelfθs/, as many people produce/twelfs/as do/twelθs/. Analyse the sounds in the coda of /twelfθs/ and offer suggestions as to why for /tekst/ we find an obligatory deletion where in /twelfθs/ we seem to have options. ‘Ease of articulation’ is not a sufficient answer.
2. In English onset clusters, /j/ has a special status
It may only precede /u/
kj cute pj pewter dj duty
It is able to occur after non-sonorants that do not occur in clusters otherwise
vj view hj huge zj Zeus.
It can occur after sonorants
mj mute nj new lj lewd
Propose and discuss a modification to the syllable onset structure and nucleus that might accommodate /j/’s somewhat eccentric behaviour. Draw a tree to illustrate your modification.
