Rule Ordering in Uvwie

One of the assumptions underlying theories of phonological derivation is that the phonological architecture of any language consists of, at least, an abstract underlying form, its surface form and conditions which derive the surface form from its underlying form. It is further assumed that the conditions are serially ordered in frameworks which subscribe to the rule ordering such as orthodox generative phonology and lexical phonology. In the present study, these issues are engaged in the case of Uvwie. In particular, the study seeks to investigate the conditions (processes and rules) which derive surface forms from their corresponding underlying forms, and the order in which they apply. Thus the study will examine the different well-motivated phonological rules attested in the derivation of Uvwie formatives, and provide evidence for the order in which the processes apply. The study employe data documented in Ekiugbo (2016), and couched its analysis within rule ordering principle of generative phonology. The study identifies six rules, which are ordered thus: nasal assimilation > glide formation > vowel elision > tone fusion > vowel lengthening > consonant elision.