Phonology, part 2

1. Phonology, part 2 • While you work on another Quick Write, here’s a funny painting of Superman based on a kid’s drawing: October 29, 2012

2. Weekday Update • We’re still working on grading the mid-terms… • Hopefully they’ll be back on Friday. • Today: more phonology • = we’ll look at distributions again from a slightly different angle. • Then we’ll discuss some reasons why linguists believe that phonology is part of what you “know” as a speaker of a language • ...even though it is subconscious knowledge • But before we get into that, let’s take a look at the last Quick Write…

3. A Noble Spirit

4. A Noble Spirit

5. A Noble Spirit

6. Allomorphy • What’s going on here? • /in-/ + probable = improbable • /in-/ + mobile = immobile • /in-/ + possible = impossible • /in-/ changes to /im-/ before both /p/ and /m/. • /p/ and /m/ are both produced with the lips. • To explain patterns like this, we’re going to need to know something about how we actually produce the sounds of English. • We have to study Phonetics!

7. Place Assimilation • Place assimilation occurs when: • One consonant’s place of articulation becomes identical to that of a neighboring consonant. • /n/ often takes on the place of articulation of a following consonant. • ‘unpleasant’ • ‘month’ • ‘engrossed’ • Likewise, alveolars--except for /s/ and /z/--assimilate to following dentals • Ex: width, tenth, wealth

8. Where Were We? • In phonology, there are both phonemes and allophones. • Phonemes are contrastive sounds. • Change meaning in minimal pairs, etc. • Represent mental abstractions. • Allophones are variants of phonemes. • They appear in particular phonetic environments. • Represent observable, concrete reality. • There are formal rules that determine when a phoneme becomes an allophone in some environment. • /Phoneme/  [Allophone] / Environment

9. Where Were We? • For example: • In English, [t] and [th] are allophones of the phoneme /t/. • /t/  [th] / at the beginning of stressed syllables • (unless it’s preceded by /s/) • In “Japanese”, [s] and are allophones of the same phoneme. • Example rule (Japanese): • /s/  / __ [i] • (__ [i] = before an [i])

10. Explanations • Question: • How do we know that the /s/ changes to an in Japanese, and not the other way around? • Answer #1: • It’s the simplest way to describe the pattern. • Answer #2: • Japanese speakers think of the sounds as “the same”, at some level. • Remember: we’re trying to describe the phonological rules (grammar) that speakers of a language “know”.

11. Distributions • Question: • How do we know that the /s/ changes to an in Japanese, and not the other way around? • However, if we’re not speakers of Japanese… • We have to take into consideration the distribution of the two sounds. • The distribution is the set of phonetic environments in which a sound appears. • Two kinds of distributions: • contrastive • complementary

12. Contrastive Distribution • Two sounds are in contrastive distribution when they can both appear in the same phonetic environment. • Sounds that change the meaning of words in a minimal pair are in contrastive distribution. • (Because they contrast with each other) • Example: ‘bit’ vs. ‘pit’ [bIt] vs. [phIt]  [b] and [ph] belong to different phonemes • Note the distribution: • the sounds surrounding [b] and [ph] in this example are exactly the same.

13. Complementary Distribution • When sounds are in complementary distribution, they never appear in the same phonetic environment.

14. Complementary Distribution • When sounds are in complementary distribution, they never appear in the same phonetic environment. all possible phonetic environments sound 1 appears in these environments sound 2 appears in these environments

15. Complementary Distribution • When sounds are in complementary distribution, they never appear in the same phonetic environment. all possible phonetic environments there is no overlap in where the two sounds appear

16. Examples • [s] and are in complementary distribution in Japanese • appears before the vowel [i] • [s] never appears before [i], but it appears most everywhere else • [th] and [t] are in complementary distribution in English • [t] appears after the consonant [s], and at the end of syllables • [th] appears at the beginning of stressed syllables, but never after [s] • Sounds that are in complementary distribution are generally allophones of the same phoneme

17. Types of Allophones • A restricted allophone is one that appears in only a limited set of phonetic environments. • in Japanese (only before [i]) • [t] in English (only after [s]) • A basic allophone is one that appears in a less restricted set of environments. • The basic allophone is also supposed to represent the phoneme in speakers’ heads. • [s] in Japanese (phoneme = /s/)

18. More Japanese Words • What is the distribution of [h], [ç] and [f] in the following Japanese words? • ([ç] is a voiceless palatal fricative) • [çito] ‘person’ [haha] ‘mother’ • [çifu] ‘skin’ [asaçi] ‘morning sun’ • [heta] ‘awkward’ [fune] ‘ship’ • [hon] ‘book’ [hai] ‘chopsticks’ • [fuhenfuto:] ‘neutrality’ • Q: Are they in complementary or contrastive distribution?

19. Some Rules • In Japanese, • [h] appears before [a], [o], and [e] • [f] appears before [u] • [ç] appears before [i] • Q: Which is the basic allophone, and which are restricted? • [h] is the basic allophone; [f] and [ç] are the derived allophones. • Two phonological rules account for the distribution: • /h/  [f] / ___ [u] • /h/  [ç] / ___ [i]

20. Distributions • A “distribution” is simply the collection of phonetic environments in which a sound may appear. • Phonetic environment = the sounds surrounding the phoneme or allophone in question. • Contrastive distribution: • Two sounds can both appear in the same phonetic environment. • And they can change the meaning of a word (as in a minimal pair). •  The two sounds are allophones of different phonemes.

21. Complementary Distribution • When sounds are in complementary distribution, they never appear in the same phonetic environment. • (They appear in non-overlapping environments.) • [h], [ç] and [f] are in complementary distribution in “Japanese” • [ç] appears before the vowel [i] • [f] appears before the vowel [u] • [h] appears before all the other vowels. • Sounds that are in complementary distribution are generally allophones of the same phoneme. • The phoneme just changes shape, depending on the context….

22. Enter…the Batman

23. An Analogy • Consider Commissioner Gordon. He knows a couple of guys: • Batman • Bruce Wayne • He’s noticed that he never sees them together, in the same place, at the same time. • In fact, one of them (Batman) really only shows up in certain situations…

24. The Distribution of Batman and Bruce Wayne • Batman appears when: • The Joker is on a crime spree. • The Penguin has kidnapped the mayor’s daughter. • Catwoman just broke out of jail, etc. • Bruce Wayne appears when: • They’re at a philanthrophy convention. • The auto show is in town. • He’s jogging in Central Park, etc.

25. Conditioning Environments • Do these environments have anything in common? • The Joker is on a crime spree. • The Penguin has kidnapped the mayor’s daughter. • Catwoman just broke out of jail, etc. • They’re all crimefighting/supervillain situations • Do these environments have anything in common? • They’re at a philanthrophy convention. • The auto show is in town. • He’s jogging in Central Park, etc. • They’re just non-crimefighting normal people stuff (“elsewhere”) situations…

26. Complementary Distribution • Bruce Wayne and Batman are in complementary distribution • They never appear together in the same place, at the same time Batman appears here Bruce Wayne appears here other situations crimefighting situations

27. Analyzing Distributions • Given two sounds in a language, treat them like Batman and Bruce Wayne. • Ask yourself: is it possible to show that they’re meaningfully different sounds (or people)? 2. Try to force them into the same situation together • In the case of Batman and Bruce Wayne, invite them both to the same party. • In the case of sounds, see if they ever appear in the same phonetic environment

28. Strategy, continued 3. Describe what kind of phonetic environment each sound appears in. • Figure out if there is anything in common among the various phonetic environments in which each sound appears. • If two different sounds never appear in the same phonetic environment, they’re in complementary distribution. •  You can then assume that they’re allophones of the same phoneme.

29. Restricted and Basic • A sound that only appears in a limited set of environments is the restricted allophone. • Ex: Batman only appears in crimefighting situations, so… • Batman is the restricted “allo-person” • A sound that appears more generally is the basic allophone. • Bruce Wayne is the basic “allo-person”. • In Japanese: • [f] only appears before [u]  restricted allophone • [h] appears before [a], [e], [o]  basic allophone

30. Phonological Rules • In general, you can assume: • The basic allophone is the representation of the underlying phoneme. • The appearance of the restricted phoneme is conditioned by its environment. 4. You can write a rule for the conditioned allophone: /Bruce Wayne/  [Batman] / __ crimefighting situations /h/  [f] / ___ [u]

31. Non-Complementary • What happens if you find two sounds in the same environment? • There are two possibilities: • They are in contrastive distribution • …if they contrast between the meanings of different words • They are in “free variation” • …if they do not change the meaning of the words

32. Free Variation • = Two different sounds appear in the same environment, but they don’t change the meaning of the word. • Ex: vs . “kit” •  and are allophones of the same phoneme. • They are in free variation. • = you can freely substitute one for the other. • Another example (some dialects of English): • “thought” • “thought” • Also witness: Tina Fey