Bleeding order is a term used in
phonology
Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
to describe specific interactions of phonological rules. The term was introduced in 1968 by
Paul Kiparsky.
If two phonological rules are said to be in bleeding order, the application of the first rule creates a context in which the second rule can no longer apply.
The opposite of this is called
feeding order.
Examples
An example of this in
English is the -insertion between a
voiceless alveolar fricative and a
plural
In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
-''z'', as in ''buses'' (with the
underlying representation
In some models of phonology as well as morphophonology in the field of linguistics, the underlying representation (UR) or underlying form (UF) of a word or morpheme is the abstract form that a word or morpheme is postulated to have before any ph ...
). English also has a rule which
devoices segments after
voiceless consonant
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
s, as in ''books'' , with the underlying representation ). In the output form ''buses'',
final devoicing has not applied, because the phonological context in which this rule could have applied has by the application the application of -insertion. Put differently, the application order "(1) -insertion (2) final devoicing" is a bleeding order in English.
Counterbleeding order
If two rules which ''would'' have a bleeding relationship in one order ''actually'' apply in the opposite order, the latter is called a ''counterbleeding'' order. An example of this can be seen in the pronunciation of the
diminutive
A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
of the word ''slang'' ("snake") in the
Dutch dialect of
Kaatsheuvel: . If
insertion had applied first, then the rule which inserts an additional between the
noun stem and the
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
could no longer have applied and the output form would have been . However, the rules have applied in the reverse order.
See also
*
Feeding order
*
Markedness
In linguistics and social sciences, markedness is the state of standing out as nontypical or divergent as opposed to regular or common. In a marked–unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant defau ...
*
Optimality theory
Optimality theory (frequently abbreviated OT) is a linguistic model proposing that the observed forms of language arise from the optimal satisfaction of conflicting constraints. OT differs from other approaches to phonological analysis, which ty ...
*
Phonological opacity
Literature
*Gussenhoven, C. & Jacobs, H. (1998). ''Understanding Phonology''. London: Arnold.
*Jensen, J. T. (2004).''Principles of Generative Phonology: An introduction''.
Amsterdam: J. Benjamins ISBN 978-90-272-7517-2.
References
Phonology
Sound changes
Phonotactics
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