PhonologyThe sound patterns of language

Nuha Alwadaani

March, 2014

What is Phonology?

• It is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sound in a language.

• It is based on a theory of what every speaker of a language unconsciously know about the sound pattern of that language.

• Phonology is about the underlying design of each sound type, which serves as the constant basis of all the variations in different physical articulations of that sound type in different contexts. For example, the phonology of English regards [t] in tar [t], star, writer [D] and eighth[etθ] as being the same while in actual speech, these sounds are very different.

• The articulation differences in the examples above are less important to us than the distinction between the distinct meaningful sounds [t], [k], [f] and [b] sounds. Because there are meaningful consequences related to the use of one rather than the others. For example, tar, car, far, bar.

What is the difference between Phonology and Phonetics?

• Phonology is concerned with the abstract or mental aspect of the sounds in language rather than with the actual physical articulation of speech sounds.

• In phonology, we concentrate on the distinct meaningful sounds rather than which individual vocal tract is being used to pronounce them (phonetics).

Phonemes

• Phonemes are the abstract unit, sound type and the meaning distinguishing sounds in a language. For example, the sound types /t/, /k/, /f/, and /b/ in tar, car, far, and bar.

• The sound type /t/ is a phoneme (a sound type), of which all the different spoken versions of [t] in tar, star, writer, and eighth are tokens.

• NOTE that slash marks are used to indicate a phoneme, as in /t/, as opposed to the square brackets in [t] used for each phonetic or physically produced segments.

The Contrastive Property of Phonemes

• This contrastive property is used as a test for determining the phonemes that exist in a language.

• There are two phonemes in English /f/ and /v/ because they are a basis of the contrast in meaning between the words fat and vat, or fine and vine.

• If we substitute one sound for another in a word and there is a change of meaning, then the two sounds represent different phonemes.

How do we distinguish each phoneme from the next?

• By the use of Features.

• If the feature is present, we mark it with a (+) and if it is NOT present, we mark it with a (-).

• For example, /p/ can be characterized as [-voice, +bilabial, +stop], /k/ as [-voice, +velar, +stop].

Natural class of sounds

• If two or more sounds share some features, we describe them as MEMBERS of a natural class of sounds.

• Sounds which have features in common behave phonologically in some similar ways. Sounds which do not share those features would be expected to behave differently.

• For example, /v/ has the features [+voice, +labiodental, +fricative] and so cannot be in the same natural class of the sounds /p/ or /k/.

Phones and Allophones

• Phones are the phonetic units or the versions of the sound-type regularly produced in actual speech “in the mouth.”

• When we have a set of phones, all of which are versions of one phoneme, we refer to them as allophones of that phoneme.

• The prefix “allo-” means One of a closely related set.

• Example, page 43, para-2.

What is the difference between phonemes and allophones?

• Substituting one phoneme for another will result in a word with a different meaning (as well as different pronunciation).

• Substituting allophones only results in a different and perhaps unusual pronunciation of the same word.

• Example, para-3, p. 44.

• It is possible to find the same pair of phonetic segments in two languages, but treated differently. For example, in English, the effect of nasalization [˜]on a vowel is treated as allophonic variation. For example, [˜i] is an allophone of [i] in seen [sin] and [si˜n]. In French, [so] for the word seau (pail) contrasts with [so˜] for the word son (sound) and beau [bo] (good-looking) and contrasts with bon [bo˜] (good). Clearly, in these cases, the distinction is phonemic and the nasalized sounds are distinct phonemes NOT allophones of the same phoneme as we find in English.

Minimal Pairs and Sets

• Phonemic distinctions in a language can be tested via minimal pairs and minimal sets.

• Minimal pairs: when two words are identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme occurring in the same position. For example, pat and bat, fan and van, bet and bat, site and side. They are minimal pair in the phonology of English.

• Minimal sets: when a group of words can be differentiated, each one from the others, by changing one phoneme in the same position in the word. For example feat, fit, fat, fought, foot (vowel phonemes) and big, rig, fig, dig, wig (consonant phonemes).

Phonotactics

• Exercising minimal pairs and sets allows us to see that there are definite patterns in sound combinations permitted and allowed in a language.

• The minimal sets we highlighted earlier do not include lig or vig because they have no meaning in the dictionary. Once they become used words as invented words, we will be able to include them.

• Phonotactics: Constraints or the permitted arrangements of sounds.

• They are part of every speaker’s phonological knowledge.

• For example, the arrangement of sounds in [fsig] and [rnig] are not permitted in English and therefore do not exist in English language.

Syllables

• A syllable: is a larger phonological unit than a phoneme.

• A syllable must contain:• 1. Onset: one or more consonants.

• 2. Rhyme or rime: a vowel treated as the nucleus

• 3. Coda: one or more consonants.

Syllables are of two types:

• 1. Open syllables: syllables that contain an onset and nucleus ONLY.• e.g. me, to and no.

• 2. Closed syllables: syllables that contain onset, nucleus and CODA.• e.g. up, cup, at and hat.

The basic structure of the kind of syllable found in English words like:

Green (CCVC)

Eggs (VCC)

And (VCC)

Ham (CVC)

I (V)

Am (VC)

What about them, like, do, not?

Consonant Clusters

• Consonant clusters are the onset and coda combining more than one consonant as permitted in English phonotactics. For example, stop, post.

• Consonant clusters of two consonants (CC):• black, bread, trick, twin, flat, and throw (consonants+approximents).

• Consonant clusters with three consonants (CCC): the phonotactics of the larger onset (CCC) says that the first consonant must be /s/, followed by a –voice stop (/p/,/t/,/k/) and a liquid or glide (/l/,/r/,/w/).• e.g. stress, splat, splash, strong, square, spring, strong.

Is exclaim included?

Coarticulation effects

• When we describe speech sounds, we pronounce them very slowly and carefully. Real speech is not like that! Most of our talk is fast and spontaneous.

Coarticulation: is the process of making one sound almost at the same time as the next sound.

There are two Coarticulation effects:

• 1. Assimilation: When two sound segments occur in sequence and some aspect of one segment is taken or copied by the other.• Voicing: One voiceless sound affects a preceding voiced sound. For

example, Have to becomes /hæfta/-- /v/ becomes /f/.

• Nazalization: “Any vowel becomes nasal whenever it immediately precedes a nasal--/v˜n/. For example, /pĩn/ and /pæ˜n/.

• Also, velar /g/ becomes /ŋ/ when preceded by a nasal. For example, I can go.

• Moreover, in stressed careful speech we pronounce and /ænd/, but in the normal speech we turn /æ/ to a schwa as in you and me.

• 2. Elision: the process of not pronouncing a sound segment that might be present in the careful pronunciation of a word in isolation.• A. In consonant clusters, especially coda position, /t/ is a

common elision. For example, aspects /æspεks/ and he must be /him(schwa)sbi/ and we asked him.

• In vowels, they disappear in some positions. As in every [εvri], cabinet and suppose.

End of the Lecture