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Chapter7 Phonemic Analysis

Chapter7 Phonemic Analysis. PHONOLOGY (Lane 335). What is Phonology?. It’s a field of linguistics which studies the distribution of sounds in a language as well as the interaction between those different sounds. What is Phonology?. Phonology tackles the following questions:

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Chapter7 Phonemic Analysis

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  1. Chapter7Phonemic Analysis PHONOLOGY (Lane 335)

  2. What is Phonology? It’s a field of linguistics which studies the distribution of sounds in a language as well as the interaction between those different sounds.

  3. What is Phonology? Phonology tackles the following questions: • What sounds in a language are predictable? • What is the phonetic context that predict the occurrence of these sounds? • Which sounds affect the meaning of words?

  4. Phonetics Vs Phonology • Phonetics: studies how speech sounds are produced, their physical properties & how they are interpreted. • Phonology: studies the organization of speech sounds in a particular language.

  5. Distinctive and Non-distinctive Sounds • Distinctive (contrastive) Sounds: make a difference in meaning; e.g. /p/ & /b/ in pin, bin. • Non-distinctive (non-contrastive) Sounds: Does Not make a difference in meaning; e.g. /p/ in pin & spin. Example: /t/ in : top [thɒp] Stop [stɒp] Little [liɾ l] Kitten [kiʔ n] Hunter [hʌ nr] (non-distinctive)

  6. Phoneme and Allophone • A phoneme: a class of speech sounds that are identified by a native speaker as the same sound; e.g. /t/; unpredictable • A phoneme is an abstract representation & can’t be pronounced (not a speech sound) • An allophone: the actual phonetic segment produced by a speaker & has been classified as belonging to some phoneme; e.g. [th]; predictable • Or an allophone: the various ways that a phoneme is pronounced; e.g. [ʔ], [ɾ]

  7. Phoneme and Allophone • The phonological system of a language has two levels: 1- the more concrete level which involves the physical reality of phonetics segments, the allophones represented by [ ](greater number). 2- The abstract (underlying) level which involves phonemes represented by / / (small inventory). • /p/ has 3 allophones ([p], [ph], [p̚ ]) • Similar to natural sciences (H2O is realized as ice, water, & water vapor)

  8. Distribution of Speech Sounds • The distribution of a phone: the set of phonetic environments in which it occurs. • Contrastive Sounds: if two sounds are separate phonemes, they are contrastive (interchanging the two, change the meaning of a word) • Non-contrastive Sounds: if two phones are allophones of the same phoneme, they are non-contrastive (interchanging the phones, doesn’t change the meaning of a word)

  9. Minimal Pairs • A way to determine whether sounds are distinctive or not. • Defined as a pair of words with different meanings which are pronounced exactly the same way except for one sound that differs. • In some languages, no minimal pairs, but we can establish phonemes • Near Minima Pairs ‘mission’ & ‘vision’ • Example: • [ti:m] and [di:m]: /t/ & /d/ are separate phonemes. • [ti:m] & [ti:n]

  10. Kinds of Phonemic Distribution • Overlapping Distribution: when the sets of phonetic environments in which two sounds occur are partially or completely identical. bait [bet] date [det] lobe [lob] load [lod] knobs [nabz] nods [nadz] bleat [blit] Two Kinds: 1- contrastive distribution (give different meanings= belong to different phonemes = appear in minimal pairs) 2- Free Variation (never cause a contrast in meaning = allophones of the same phoneme = no minimal pairs)

  11. Kinds of Phonemic Distribution • Complementary Distribution (mutually exclusive, non-overlapping): when sounds DON’T occur in the same phonetic environment spat [spæt] pat [phæt] spool [spul] pool [phul] speak [spik] peek [phik] • No minimal pairs for such sounds • Phones in CD are allophones of a single phoneme • The appearance of one allophone or the other is PREDICTABLE.

  12. Phonological Rules • Two levels of representation: 1- underlying (phonemic, mental) 2- surface (phonetic) • Why do we need rules? - link the two levels - show when a particular allophone should show up on the surface

  13. Phonological Rules PHONEMIC LEVEL (underlying form) RULES PHONETIC LEVEL (surface form)

  14. Phonological Rules • state that some item becomes some other item in some specific environment • The common way of expressing rules: A B/ X____ Y • A becomes ( ) B in the environment of (/) being preceded by X and followed by Y • ____ represents the position of the item affected by the rule

  15. Phonological Rules • Example: ˷ ˷ • [fæn]: /æ/ /æ//____/n/ • Vowels in English are nasalized before any nasal stop. • [+ syllabic] [+nasal]/ __ [+nasal]

  16. Choosing the Underlying Form • How we decide on the representation at the phonemic level? • Phonemes and their allophones SHARE some phonetic features • The choice is “phonetically natural” • Take the form which has the widest distribution (occurs in the largest number of environments)

  17. Phonetic naturalness & Phonological Analysis • Natural means “to be expected”, “frequently found across languages” • Does NOT mean “English-like” • No words in English begin with onset clusters like [ps], [pn], [pt]. • Clusters appear word initial in other languages like German, Greek, & French.

  18. Phonetic Similarity • To choose the phonemic form, we have to consider phonetic similarity. • Example: [h] occurs syllable-initially [hæ m] [ŋ ] occurs only syllable-finally [brɪ ŋ] • Not allophones of the same phoneme • They lack phonetic similarity • [h]: non-nasal, obstruent, continuant • [ŋ] nasal, sonorant, non-continuant

  19. Pattern Congruity • Phonologists consider the consequences of choosing one morpheme over the other • Pattern Congruity: the systematic organization of the set of phonemes and their distribution. • Choosing an allophone depends on the overall patterns found in the phonological system (pattern congruity) • For example: In English: obstruent clusters have uniform voicing Either all members of the cluster are [+ voice], or [- voice]. ‘Mixed voice’ DON’T occur phonemically

  20. Process Naturalness • In choosing the underlying form, the linking processes should be considered • pass [pæ s] pass you [pæʃ ju] • this [ðɪ s] this year [ðɪʃjiə ] • [s] appears in more environments • Assimilation: • [s] alveolar [+coronal, +anterior] becomes [ʃ] palato-alveolar [+coronal, - anterior] when followed by [j] palatal [+ coronal, - anterior]

  21. Phonology • Phonology is concerned with the organization of the system underlying the speech sounds • The phonemic level represents native speakers’ knowledge of the sound system of their language

  22. Phonology vs. phonetics • Phonology: is a cognitive study deals with the representation of knowledge in the mind • Phonetics: deals with the physical properties of speech sounds

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