Phonology

1. Phonology LI 2023 Nathalie F. Martin

2. Introduction: Phonology • No human language exploits all phonetic possibilities • Every language makes its own particular selection from the range of all possible ___________

3. IntroductionPhonological Representation Phonology/fənɒlədʒi/ : • The components of grammar that determines the _______of speech sounds and that ______both the sound ______ and the systematic phonetic variation found in language.

4. IntroductionPhonological Representation • The task of phonologists: • To ________and ________the systematic phonetic patterns found in individual languages • To discover the ___________ ____that underlie the patterning of sounds across human languages.

5. IntroductionPhonological Representation • Three major phonological units: • ___________ • ___________ • ___________

6. IntroductionPhonological Representation Wd σσ s è g m F n t - syllabic + sonorant … Word level Syllable level Segment level Feature level [ ]

7. IntroductionPhonological Representation • Segment: • ___________ ___________ • Feature: • Features correspond to articulatory or acoustic ___________such as [voice] or [strident] • Smallest building block of phonological structure • Syllable: • A syllabic element – usually a vowel- and any preceding or following segments that are associated with it

8. Segments in Contrast Contrast • All speakers knows which segments contrast and which ones don’t … • Segments are said to _______when: • Their presence alone may distinguish forms with different meaning from each other • Ex: sip [sɪp] and zip [zɪp] • Ex: hit [hɪt], hat [hæt] & hot [hɒt]

9. Segments in Contrast Minimal Pairs • The first step in the analysis of the phonology of language is to establish which sounds in that language are in ______with each other • In order to establish contrast, it is necessary to examine the ___________ of sounds in words and to compare word meanings. • This can be accomplished through the ______________

10. Segments in Contrast Minimal Pairs • Minimal pair: Consists of _______with ___________ that differ by ______ ____ ______found in the same position in each form. • Example: • sip [sɪp] and zip [zɪp] • Therefore the segments [s] and [z] contrast

11. Segments in ContrastMinimal Pairs – English Consonant • Example:

12. Segments in ContrastMinimal Pairs – Definitions • Environment: • The phonetic _________in which a sound occurs. • Near minimal pairs: • Pairs of words that have segments in nearly identical environments (ex: assure & azure)

13. Segments in ContrastMinimal Pairs – Definitions • Phoneme: • Segments that _______with each other ___________ _______are said to belong to separate phonemes of that language • Contrastive phonological units • Not to be confused with ________

14. Segments in ContrastVowel Contrast in English

15. Segments in ContrastVowel Contrast in English

16. Segments in ContrastLanguage-Specific Contrasts • Important: • - Two sounds can be phonetically distinct without necessarily being phonologically distinct or contrastive. • - Sounds that are contrastive in one language may not necessarily be contrastive in another.

17. Segments in ContrastLanguage-Specific Contrasts • Example: • In English [ɛ] & [æ] are contrastive (ex: Ben & ban) • In Turkish (ex: the word “I” can be said [bɛn] & [bæn])

18. Segments in ContrastPractice & Homework • Find minimal pairs to show contrast between all English consonants (15 phonemes) • Exceptions which are hard to find: • [ŋ] [h] • [ʔ] [ʒ]

19. Complementary distribution

20. Phonetically Conditioned Variation Introduction • Phonetic variation is systematic • Occurs most often in phonetically similar segments • Conditioned by the ___________ or environment in which the segments are found

21. Phonetically Conditioned Variation Introduction - Variation • Variation occurs because segments are affected and altered by phonetic characteristics of neighboring elements or by the larger phonological context in which they occur • Speakers and listeners of any language tend to factor out this type of variation in order to focus on contrast that affect meaning

22. Phonetically Conditioned VariationComplementary Distribution • In English, all Ls are not identical • Different sounds: [l̥̥] (voiceless l)& [l] (voiced l) • Yet they do not contrast • There are no minimal pairs in which the phonetic difference [l̥̥] & [l] functions to indicate difference

23. Phonetically Conditioned VariationComplementary Distribution • Examine the distribution of the two Ls • All of the voiceless [l̥̥] occurs after the class of ___________ ___________ • Voiced [l] never occurs after voiceless stops • Predictable property of phonology in English

24. Phonetically Conditioned VariationComplementary Distribution • Therefore: • Since no voiced [l] ever occurs in the same phonetic environment as a voiceless [l̥] (and vice versa), we say that that the two variants of L are in ___________ ___________

25. Phonemes and allophones

26. Phonetically Conditioned VariationPhonemes and allophones • Allophones: • When segments are phonetically distinct, but not phonologically the same they are considered _________(predictable variants) of one _________(contrastive phonological unit).

27. Phonetically Conditioned VariationPhonemes and allophones • Phonetic representation: • Consists of predictable variants or allophones • Phonemic (or phonological) representation: • Consists of the phonemes to which the allophones belong. Phonemic representation (phoneme) /l/ Phonetic representation (allophones) [l̥̥] [l] Symbols for allophones are enclosed in square bracket [] Symbols for phonemes are placed between slashes //

28. Phonetically Conditioned VariationPhonemes and allophones • Phonemes: • Are _________representations: the way in which sounds are stored in the mind. • Are in your ________ • Allophones: • Are not part of what you remember when you store a word in your mind • Come out of your mouth

29. Phonetically Conditioned VariationPhonemes and allophones • An important part of phonological analysis thus deals with discovering ___________ of the phonemes of language and accounting for ___________ ___________.

30. Classes and generalization

31. Phonetically Conditioned VariationFree Variation • Free variation: • Various forms that do not change the meaning since they are phonetically similar. • They are therefore allophones of a phoneme • Ex: [stɒp!], [stɒp̚] & [stɒpʔ] • [p!], [p̚] & [pʔ] are different allophones of the phoneme /p/ Notice that the narrow transcription of these words and the different allophones are in square brackets and that the phoneme is in between slashes. Forceful articulation (Feature rep. only used in the book) Coarticulation with glottal stop Extended closure

32. Phonetically Conditioned VariationClasses & Systematic Variation • Everyday speech usually _______ systematically according to phonetic classes

33. Phonetically Conditioned VariationClasses & Systematic Variation In English, liquids have _______ __ __ _____after voiceless stops and ___________ __elsewhere. General Statement

34. Phonetically Conditioned VariationClasses & Systematic Variation In English, liquids and glides have ___________ ________after voiceless stops, and _________ __ ___________ elsewhere. General Statement

35. Phonetically Conditioned VariationClasses & Systematic Variation • One of the major goals of phonological description is the discovery of such ____ __ ________, and the formulation of the most ___________ ____possible to describe them.

36. Phonetically Conditioned Variation Canadian Raising English mid vowels and glides Language-specific patterns

37. Phonetically Conditioned VariationCanadian Rising • Canadian rising is another example of allophonic variation in English [aj] before the class of ____________________ or in _________________ [ʌ j] before the class of ________________________________________

38. Phonetically Conditioned VariationCanadian Rising • [aj] before the class of ___________ or in ___________ • [ʌ j] before the class of ___________

39. Phonetically Conditioned VariationEnglish Mid Vowels and glides • In most dialects of English, the mid tense vowels [e] & [o] are always diphthongized • [ej] & [ow] [e] and [o] are both mid tense vowels [e] and [j] are both back and unrounded [o] and [w] are both back and unrounded

40. Phonetically Conditioned VariationEnglish Mid Vowels and glides The ___________ ___________ are predictably followed by a ___________ that has the same ___________ and ___________ as the vowels General Statement

41. Phonetically Conditioned VariationLanguage-specific patterns • Important: • The phenomenon of allophonic variation is universal. • However, just as the phonemic contrast found in each language are specific to that language, the actual ___________ of phonemes and allophones is also language-specific. • Thus, whatever we discover for one language may not hold true for another.

42. Phonetically Conditioned VariationLanguage-specific patterns • Nasals in Scots Gaelic: • Vowels are nasal in Scot Gaelic when preceded or followed by a nasal consonant

43. Phonetically Conditioned VariationLanguage-specific patterns • Nasals in Malay: • In Malay, all vowels and glides following a nasal and not separated from it by a non-nasal consonant are nasalized (until an obstruent, liquid, or glottal is reached)

44. Phonetically Conditioned VariationLanguage-specific patterns • English and Khmer (Cambodian) stops:

45. Phonetically Conditioned VariationLanguage-specific patterns • English and Khmer (Cambodian) stops:

46. Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription

47. Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription

48. Phonetic and Phonemic TranscriptionInventory of Vowels

49. Phonetic and Phonemic TranscriptionInventory of Consonants

50. Phonetic and Phonemic TranscriptionLet’s Practice! • Transcribe the following words • Phonemically • Phonetically • Don’t forget the predictable properties mentioned on the previous slides