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Phonology. Introduction to Linguistics (Ling 101.02) Duke University Gareth Price. Phonetics vs. Phonology. SOUND. physical objects and categories Acoustic properties Biological bases of sounds Phones meaning Relations between objects and categories Permissible sound patterns
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Phonology Introduction to Linguistics (Ling 101.02) Duke University Gareth Price
Phonetics vs. Phonology SOUND • physical • objects and categories • Acoustic properties • Biological bases of sounds • Phones • meaning • Relations between objects and categories • Permissible sound patterns • Meaning-marking • Inter-changeability • Phonemes
Which of the following could be classed as ‘words’ in English? • ftrɒmp • strɒmp • ʃtrɒmp • sɪftr • sɪʃt • strɪst • sistr • siʃtr • knixt • mistreit • sɪʃtr • wɪʃtreɪ • wɪstrei • wɪftrei • wiːʃtrei • skel • sbel • Sdeb • bisd • fəsdəd • mbeld • beld • mdelb • melbd • kzmet
Phonotactics and Phonotactic Constraints • In any given language, some combinations are permissible, whereas others aren’t • So, in English: • fəsdəd /sd/= permissible consonant cluster • kzmet /kzm/ = not permissible • Ftrɒmp/ftr/ = not permissible
Phonotactic Constraints • /sd/ – only permissible in word-medial position, not word-initial or word-final position • So: • /fəsdəd/ but not /sdeb/ or /bisd/ • /ʃtr/ ? • /wɪʃtreɪ/ but not /ʃtrɒmp/ or /sɪʃtr/ • (and, arguably, only permissible in compound words, eg. ash + tray = ashtray)
Consonant Clusters in Other Languages • /ftr/ permissible in word-initial position in Russian • /ʃtr/ permissible in word-initial position in German • /kn/ permissible in German and Dutch. Not permissible in word initial position in Modern English ... But was in Old and Middle English hence /knixt/ ‘knight’ • Languages change over time • Speech changes faster than writing • Japanese, • Mandarin and Hawaiian don’t permit consonant clusters • So – consonants must be followed by a vowel
Syllables • Other types of constraints: • Syllables consist of: Onset [consonant or consonant cluster] (optional) + Rime(obligatory) NucleusCoda [[usually]vowel mono/diphthong] [consonant or consonant cluster] (obligatory) (optional)
Some languages only have a vocalic (vowel) nucleus e.g. Mandarin: pjaʊ, mən, zhæŋ English has consonantal nuclei or syllabic consonants, but only generally with nasal or lateral liquid consonants [ŋ], [n], [m], [l] (so sədn or bred n bə? ə or kæʃ n kæri:) and are often identifiable by the lack of audible vocalic release in the preceding stop. Mandarin is limited in the possible consonants that are allowed as coda ([ŋ] or [n] or [w]).
Languages can be classified then in terms of syllable structure, so: oʃi:moʃi: V CV CVCV kætækænæ CV CVCVCV • Japanese does not permit coda and that all words must end with a CV syllable Walmatjari (Australian Aboriginal language): ngapa (‘water’)[ŋa pa] CV CV kurrupa (‘hand’) [kura pa] CV CVCV ngarpu (‘father’) [ŋarpu] CVC CV • Syllable realised as either CV or CV, but all words must end with a CV syllable.
Phonological Environment and Phonological Conditioning • One sound segment or two? • Chips, cheese, judge • In word initial position in English, we don’t perceive affricates as stop + fricative • However, consider: • He cheats vs. heat-sheets • What can each add? Vs. What can eat shad? • Lychee vs. light-ship • Ketchup vs. pet shop • Urchin vs hurt shin
Similarly, diphthongs can be tricky. • In English, we treat them as one sound segment and one syllable: • haʊ, baʊ, kaʊ • ɑɪ, hɑɪ, pɑɪ • heɪ, meɪ, leɪ, peɪ • However: in Komering (Southern Sumatra) • Mait(‘corpse’) tuot(‘knee’) and kuah(‘sauce’) • Perceived (and articulated) as two syllable words.