Chapter 7/8 Fall 11 Phonemic Analysis

PHONOLOGY (Lane 335)

What is Phonology?

It is 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:

What sounds in a language are predictable? What is the phonetic context that predicts the occurrence of these sounds? Which sounds affect the meaning of words?

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.

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: Do NOT make a difference in meaning; e.g. [ph] in pin & spin. Example: /t/ in : top [thp] stop [stp] little [li l] kitten [kin] (n is syllabic here) hunter [h nr]

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 (given in in pin like the example above we CANNOT predict which sound can come before it like bin, tin, din, kin, gin, fin, thin, sin, shin, chin) A phoneme: a class of speech sounds that are identified by a native speaker as the same sound; e.g. /t/; phonemes are unpredictable A phoneme is an abstract representation & cannot be pronounced (it is not a speech sound) A phone: the actual phonetic segment produced by a speaker & has been classified as belonging to some phoneme; e.g. [th]; predictable An allophone: a variant of a phoneme, e.g. /t/ = [], []

Phoneme and Allophone

The phonological system of a language has two levels: 1- the more concrete level which involves the physical reality of phonetic segments, the allophones represented by square brackets [ ] (greater number).

2- The abstract (underlying) level which involves phonemes represented by / / slanted brackets (small inventory).

]) /p/ has 3 allophones ([p], [ph], [p

Similar to natural sciences (H2O is realized as ice, water, & water vapor); different realizations/forms of the same thing.

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, doesnt change the meaning of a word BUT it changes the pronunciation)

Minimal Pair : Commutative test

A test to determine whether sounds are contrastive or not. Defined as a pair of words with different meanings which are pronounced exactly the same way except for one sound that differs: pat, bat, fat, sat, mat Thus /p, b, f, s, m/ are separate phonemes.

In some languages, no minimal pairs, but we can still establish phonemes Near Minimal Pair: (differ in more than one sound but the environment of the sound is identical short i and schwa in mission & vision)

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]

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) mat mat ma can be released, unreleased or a glottal stop either ir air neither nir, nair tomato tmt, tomet - data dta , deta

Kinds of Phonemic Distribution

Complementary Distribution (mutually exclusive, nonoverlapping): when sounds DONT occur in the same phonetic environment

English spat [spt] spool [spul] speak [spik]

pat [pht] pool [phul] peek [phik]

No minimal pairs for such sounds Phones in Complementary Distribution are allophones of a single phoneme The appearance of one allophone or the other is PREDICTABLE.
In Thai and Korean [p] and [ph ] are separate phonemes

Phonological Rules
Two levels of representation: 1- underlying (phonemic, mental) 2- surface (phonetic)

Why do we need rules? - to link the two levels - to show when a particular allophone should show up on the surface

Phonological Rules
PHONEMIC LEVEL (underlying form)

PHONOLOGICAL RULES

PHONETIC LEVEL (surface form)

Phonological Rules

Examples Discussion (English) Definition Here Here are is some a diagram examples of the ofstages theset derivations in derivation. of words A phonological derivation is the of a stages used to Phonological rules influence therepresentation negative each prefix stage /In/: ofword a derivation: generate thehaving phonetic of a from its underlying representation.

Phonological Rules

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 ( XAY) becomes (XBY)

Phonological Rules
Example from English: [fn]: // // /____/n/ A vowel is nasalized whenever it immediately precedes a nasal stop [+ syllabic] [+nasal]/ __ [+nasal]

A +syllabic sound (= a vowel) becomes + nasal (= nasalized) when it comes before a + nasal sound (= m, n, )

The above captures a generalization about all vowels not only [] and all nasals not only [n].

Choosing the Underlying Form

How do 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 simplest form

Choosing the Underlying Form

How do we decide on the representation at the phonemic level?

We can use an arbitrary number like 3 or Fred = harder to read the rules Using /p/ tells us that the allophones associated with /p/ all share some features like [voice, continuant, anterior, coronal]. /p/ is the simplest of the 3 phonetic forms with nothing added to its p-ness like being aspirated or being unreleased: /p/ and /p/ Use the form with the widest distribution

7.13 p. 104 Form with the widest distribution: Take the case of the devoicing of liquids and glides following voiceless consonants kwit, flei, trap, pjur, swaip (all are devoiced) js, wi, b, sk^ri, brik glas, fi, fim

If the [voice] allophone were chosen to represent then our rule(s) would specify many environments thus the rule would be:

A voiceless oral sonorant (liquid or glide) becomes voiced when:

1. word-initial 2. word-final 3. before a consonant 4. between two vowels 5. following a voiced consonant (see p. 105)

So using the voiced member of the pair i.e. the allophone with the widest distribution is:

Simpler Expresses a generalization that non-nasal sonorants (liquids and glides) devoice following voiceless segments Shows there is an assimilation process with voicelessness spreading to the following consonant.

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].

These clusters appear word initially in other languages like German, Greek, & French.

Phonetic Naturalness & Phonological Analysis (cont)

What applies to one language is not necessarily true of other languages. English /p/ has unaspirated p and aspirated p as allophones Thai /p/ and /ph/ are two phonemes:

paa forest ph aa to split

English has /p/ and /b/ Arabic has /b/ with two allophones [b] and [p]

Phonetic Similarity

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

Pattern Congruity

Phonologists consider the consequences of choosing one phoneme 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 clusters DONT occur phonemically

Pattern Congruity
/-ft, -pt, -ps, -kst, -sp/ e.g. daft, apt, apse, next, asp /-bd, -dz, -zd, -vz/ e.g. robbed, adze, phased, leaves
* /-fd, -bt, -pz, -ds/

Process Naturalness

In choosing the underlying form, the linking processes should be considered pass [ph s] this [s] pass you [ph ju] this year [ji ]

[s] appears in more environments so it makes sense to choose it as the underlying form instead of vice versa Assimilation: [s] alveolar [+coronal, +anterior] becomes [] palato-alveolar [+coronal, - anterior] when followed by [j] palatal [+ coronal, - anterior]

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

Phonology vs. Phonetics

Phonology: is a cognitive study which deals with the representation of knowledge in the mind
Phonetics: deals with the physical properties of speech sounds

Chapter 7 Exercises Exercise 1 page 110/130

Consider the distribution of [w] and [] in the following data. Are the phones allophones of the same or different phonemes? Why? If they are allophones of a single phoneme, give a rule to account for the distribution. a. ae why h. we way b. which i. we^r weather c. ^t white j. wnt want d. ez whales k.w witch e. p whip l. ^p wipe f. ^l awhile m. wez Wales g. ^r whether n. awash

Chapter 7 Exercises
a. ae why b. which c. ^t white d. ez whales e. p whip f. ^l awhile g. ^r whether h. we i. we^r j. wnt k. w l. ^p m. wez n. way weather want witch wipe Wales awash

Chapter 7 Exercises
a. bomba b. bea c. tuo d. paa bomb plain tube pay e. bega f. boa g. gato h. tumbo (s/he) comes foolish cat fall

i. rondar j. dar

to patrol to give

k. roar l. deo

to roll finger

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