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Phonology:Contrast and complementary distribution
LING 200
Spring 2006
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Phonemic vs. phonetic representations
• Phonetic representation– directly observable– contains measurable properties
• Phonemic representation– inferred, not observed– abstract, streamlined representation of sound
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In English, which of the following sounds are allophones of /p/?
[p] o
nly
[ph]
only
[p] a
nd [ph]
[p],
[ph] a
nd [b]
3% 5%
90%
3%
1. [p] only
2. [ph] only
3. [p] and [ph]
4. [p], [ph] and [b]
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In Witsuwit’en, [] is not considered a phoneme because
81%
14%5%
1. [] is in complementary distribution with []
2. [] contrasts with []3. [] contrasts with []
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Inferring the phonemic representation
• Primarily, use evidence from:– Minimal pairs/sets (‘contrast’)– Distributional properties of sounds (restricted
distribution, such as ‘complementary distribution’)
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Minimal pairs• Two words which differ in meaning and along only one
phonetic parameter– A minimal pair for voicing
• [kræbi] vs. [kræpi]
• therefore, /p b/ in English
– A minimal pair for labio-dental vs. interdental place• [n] vs. [fn]
• therefore, / f/ in English
• Minimal pairs – contain phonemes
– are a guide to the phoneme inventory the phonetic difference between the pair is not attributable to
context
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Minimal sets
• A minimal set for vowel height– [hid] (heed)– [hd] (hid)– [hed] (hayed)– [hd] (head)– [hæd] (had)
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A near-minimal set
• [tjd] (toyed)
• [hjd] (hide)
• [hwd] (how’d)
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Evidence from restricted distribution
• When aspects of pronunciation are predictable, most likely due to influence of– Neighboring sound– Position (within word, for example)
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Mohawk
• Iroquoian family; spoken in Quebec, Ontario, and New York
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Voicing in Mohawk
• Observation: [p t k b d g] are all sounds of Mohawk
• Suspicion: there are no minimal or near-minimal pairs for voicing
• Question: Is stop voicing phonemic or predictable?
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Mohawk phonetic data
[oli:de] ‘pigeon’ [oj:gl] ‘shirt’
[zhset] ‘hide it!’ (sg.) [ohjotsh] ‘chin’
[g:lis] ‘stocking’ [lbhbet] ‘catfish’
[odhs] ‘tail’ [sdu:h] ‘a little bit’
[wisk] ‘five’ [iks] ‘fly’
[degeni] ‘two’ [desdn] ‘stand up!’ (sg.)
[plm] ‘Abram, Abraham’
[de:zekw] ‘pick it up!’ (sg.)
[V:] = long vowel, [C] = voiceless consonantof interest: [p t k b d g]
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Finding patterns in a mass of data
• Often it is useful to– rearrange the data– simplify the data
• eliminate likely extraneous elements by listing what immediately precedes and follows, including position
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Stop distribution
[p] [b]
___l ___ h___e
[t] [d]
e___# i:___e
o___s o___ s___u:
#___e
#___e:
s___[k] [g]
s___# #___ :i___s e___e
e___w :___
# = word edge
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Summarized contexts[p t k] [b d g]
___ C ___ V
___ #
[p t k] and [b d g] are in complementary distribution in Mohawk.
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The next step
• Beyond complementary distribution: Writing a phonological rule
• Which of the following rules?– Mohawk grammar1: Mohawk has /p t k/ and
rule of Voicing (stops are voiced before vowels). or?
– Mohawk grammar2: Mohawk has /b d g/ and rule of Devoicing (stops are voiceless word finally or before a consonant).
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Writing the phonological rule• Choose Voicing. Why?
– Voicing rule is simpler than Devoicing rule• Voicing: “...before vowels.”
• Devoicing: “...word finally or before a consonant.”
– (A second reason why a linguist would prefer Mohawk grammar1: If Voicing, then Mohawk consonant inventory contains /p t k/. If Devoicing, then /b d g/. But there are no languages with /b d g/ which lack /p t k/. I.e. voiced stops voiceless stops (an implicational universal).)
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A further thought
• What about the voiced affricate []?• One example in this data set:
– [iks] ‘fly’
• Observation: like [b d g], the voiced palatal affricate occurs before a vowel. (Stops and affricates often pattern together.)
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Mohawk consonant inventorylabial alveolar palatal velar glottal
stop p t k
affricate c
fricative s h
nasal n
liquid r
glide w j
Notice that Voicing applies to all of the stops and affricates in Mohawk (that can be voiced).
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Revised rule
•In Mohawk,
Stops and affricates are voiced before vowels, and voiceless elsewhere. (sentence formulation of rule)
/p t c k/ [b d g] / ___ V
( [p t c k] / …)
(‘arrow’ formulation of rule)
… = elsewhere
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Writing phonological rules
• A common format /A/ B / C ___ D
A = phoneme(s) which undergo the ruleB = aspect of pronunciation changed (allophone
created)/ = in the context of___ = location of phoneme in contextC, D = conditioning elements of the context
• = ‘A becomes or adds B when preceded by C and followed by D’
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What kind of phonological rule is Mohawk Voicing?
Ass
imila
tion
Dis
sim
ilatio
n
Epen
thes
is
Del
etio
n
67%
0%
11%
22%
1. Assimilation
2. Dissimilation
3. Epenthesis
4. Deletion
Hint: vowels are voiced (unless transcribed with diacritic for voicelessness, [V].
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Ganda, a.k.a. Luganda
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Ganda Liquids
[kola] ‘do’ [wulira] ‘hear’
[lwana] ‘fight’ [beera] ‘help’
[buulira] ‘tell’ [ukira] ‘remember’
[lja] ‘eat’ [erjato] ‘canoe’
[luula] ‘sit’ [omuliro] ‘fire’
[omugole] ‘bride’ [effirimbi] ‘whistle’
[lumonde] ‘sweet potato’ [emmeeri] ‘ship’
[eddwaliro] ‘hospital’ [eraddu] ‘lightning’
[oluganda] ‘Ganda language’ [wawaabira] ‘accuse’
[olulimi] ‘tongue’ [lagira] ‘command’
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Ganda transcription notes
• [a] = low back unrounded vowel
• [] = voiced palatal stop (cf. [c])
• [uu] = long [u] ([u:])
• [dd] = long [d] ([d:])
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Ganda liquids
• [r] and [l] are in complementary distribution in Ganda. State the conditions under which appears.
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In Ganda,
None
of the
abo
ve.
21%9%
71%1. /r/ [l] / back V __, #
___; [r] / …
2. /l/ [r] / front V___; [l] / …
3. None of the above.
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Ganda liquids in loanword phonology
• In loans from other languages, sometimes Ganda has [r] where the source language has [l], etc.
• Why?
[ebendera] ‘flag’
[leerwe] ‘railway’
[luula] ‘ruler’
[ssaffaali] ‘safari’ (loan from Swahili)
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In borrowed words, why do Ganda speakers sometimes have [l] where the source language has [r], and vice versa?
Gan
da s
peake
rs c
ann..
Gan
da s
peake
rs p
ro...
The
distri
bution is
r...
Liq
uids
in b
orrowed
...
0% 0%0%0%
1. Ganda speakers cannot pronounce liquids properly.
2. Ganda speakers pronounce liquids according to Ganda phonology.
3. The distribution is random.
4. Liquids in borrowed words are pronounced according to the phonology of the source language.