Phonology

October 25, 2010

Today’s Plan• To begin with...

• Phonetics homeworks to hand in!

• Then:

• Another Simpsons-based Quick Write

• Today: Phonology

• Wednesday: review for mid-term.

• Friday: mid-term!

• Note: we will be splitting up into three separate rooms for the mid-term. (more details to come on Wednesday)

Phonology• The study of how the pronunciation of sounds changes according to context is called phonology.

• We have already seen some phonological changes with respect to the phoneme /t/.

• English /t/

Word Broad Narrow Description

‘top’ aspirated

‘stop’ unaspirated

‘batter’ flapped

‘kitten’ glottalized

‘nitrate’ /najtrejt/ palatalized

Phonemes and Allophones• Recall: the basic idea behind the IPA is to have one

symbol for each sound.

• Principle of Contrast:

• “There should be a separate letter for each distinctive sound; that is, for each sound which, being used instead of another, in the same language, can change the meaning of the word.”

• Phonemes contrast with each other; they are “distinctive sounds”

• Allophones do not contrast with each other;

• They cannot distinguish between words.

Phonemes and Allophones• For example--[t] and [d] are two different sounds

(phonemes) in English;

• they can change the meaning of a word--

tip vs. dip ~ [t] vs. [d] ~ pat vs. pad

• Remember: two words that differ in only one sound are called a minimal pair.

• However, there is no minimal pair in English distinguished by a flap vs. a voiceless stop.

• Canadian English: “bottom”• British English: “bottom”

Wait a second…• Sounds that are distinctive, or contrast, in one language, are not necessarily distinctive in another.

• Ex: [s] and are distinctive in English.

sheep vs. seep

shack vs. sack

shoot vs. suit

mash vs. mass

etc.

• But they are not distinctive in Japanese…

Some Japanese Words‘this year’ ‘outside’

‘a little’ ‘to know’

‘world’ ‘to do’

‘sugar’ ‘to force/cause’

• Q: What’s the pattern?

• A: appears before [i]: ____ [i]

• [s] appears elsewhere

• There are no minimal pairs for and [s] in Japanese.

In Japanese, they are not contrastive sounds.

Biblical Parallels

“And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, ‘Let me go over,’ the men of Gilead said to him, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ When he said, ‘No,’ they said to him, ‘Then say Shibboleth,’ and he said, ‘Sibboleth,’ for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan.”

--Judges 12:5-6

Modern-day Shibboleths(Canadian) Jon (American) Steve

“house”

“howl”

“bike”

“bile”

• Also note (Canadian) Amber:

Modern-day Shibboleths• Canadian English is distinctive in that it “raises” the first part of the diphthongs [aj] and [aw].

• In both cases, [a]

[aj]

[aw]

• This is “raising” because a low vowel becomes a mid vowel.

• Technical term: Canadian Raising.

Canadian Raising• Canadian Raising only occurs in certain sound environments:

• “house” “loud”

• “write” “ride”

• “pipe” “bribe”

• “like”

• Q: When does Canadian Raising occur?

• (what is the relevant sound environment?)

• A: [aj] and [aw] “raise” whenever they appear before a voiceless consonant.

Another Pattern• Here’s one that we’ve seen before:

[phæt] ‘pat’ [spæt] ‘spat’

[thap] ‘top’ [stap] ‘stop’

[khar] ‘car’ [skar] ‘scar’

• Voiceless stops are aspirated when they appear at the start of a stressed syllable.

• Unless they appear immediately after s: s___

• Because aspirated and unaspirated stops don’t appear in the same phonetic environment in English….

• They are not contrastive sounds.

However…• In languages like Quechua, there are meaningful contrasts between aspirated and unaspirated stops and affricates.

• Some minimal pairs:

Different Levels• In all languages, there are sounds which contrast.

• They make meaningful differences between words.

• = “phonemes”

• Phonemes also have variants which do not contrast.

• …but reliably appear in particular phonetic environments.

• = “allophones”

• Phonemes represent abstract, psychological reality

• broad transcriptions

• allophones represent concrete, physical reality.

• narrow transcriptions

Big Picture Flashback• Knowing how the broad level of transcription relates to the narrow level of transcription is part of what you know as a competent speaker of a language.

• = knowing which allophone to use for a particular phoneme, in some particular circumstance.

• Another word for this knowledge is phonology.

• This is subconscious knowledge

• This knowledge takes the form of rules…

• For that reason, it can apply to new, creative forms.

• Try, for example, nonsense words like “mowch” or “skype”.

Example Rule• In Japanese, [s] and are allophones of the same phoneme.

Phoneme: /s/

Allophones: [s]

• Observations:

• appears only in front of /i/

• [s] appears everywhere else

• Rule: /s/ surfaces as in front of /i/

• Speakers of Japanese “know” this rule

Phonological Rules, formalized• Phonological rules can be written in the following form:

/Phoneme/ [Allophone] / Environment

• The environment is where we see the phonological transformation taking place.

• Usually, the phonetic environment consists of the sounds surrounding the phoneme in question.

• Example rule (Japanese):

/s/ / __ [i]

(__ [i] = before an [i])

Distributions• Question:

How do we know that the /s/ changes to an in Japanese, and not the other way around?

• 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

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.

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

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

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

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

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/)

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’ [hai] ‘chopsticks’

[fuhenfuto:] ‘neutrality’

• Q: Are they in complementary or contrastive distribution?

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]

English Consonant Chart

Complete IPA Chart

Patterns• Sometimes, the rules for one phoneme’s distribution are identical to the rules for another phoneme’s distribution.

• /t/ [t] / after [s]

/t/ [th] / at the beginning of stressed syllables

[thap] ‘top’ [stap] ‘stop’• /p/ [p] / after [s]

/p/ [ph] / at the beginning of stressed syllables

[phæt] ‘pat’ [spæt] ‘spat’• /k/ [k] / after [s]

/k/ [kh] / at the beginning of stressed syllables

[khɛr] ‘care’ [skɛr] ‘scare’

Natural Classes• The same rules apply to /p/, /t/ and /k/. Why?

• /p/, /t/ and /k/ form a natural class of sounds in English.

• They are all voiceless stops

• No other sound in English is a voiceless stop

• A natural class is set of sounds in a language that:

• share one or more phonetic features

• to the exclusion of all other sounds in that language.

• The phonetic “features” that characterize natural classes are generally the phonetic labels we’ve already learned.

(velar, voiceless, high, tense, round, fricative, etc.)

Natural Class Examples• Examples of natural classes:

• [k] and [g] form the natural class of oral, velar stops

• [u] and [o] form the natural class of rounded, tense vowels

• What natural classes are formed by the following groups of sounds?

• [v], [ð], [z], [ʒ]

• [t], [d]

• [i], [ɪ], [u], [ʊ]

Features•There are two phonetic features we need to add to our list:

• Obstruent

• includes stops, fricatives and affricates

• these sounds obstruct the flow of air in the mouth

• Sonorant

• includes vowels, glides, liquids, nasals

• these sounds resonate when they’re produced

More Patterns• Recall that the prefix /in-/ exhibited allomorphy.

• The shape of this morpheme changed, depending on what it attached to.

• Examples:

/in-/ + accurate inaccurate

/in-/ + tolerant intolerant

/in-/ + possible impossible

/in-/ + mobile immobile

/in-/ + coherent [iŋ]coherent

More Unnecessary Rules• In order to account for the allomorphy of /in-/, we might propose the following rules:

• /n/ [m] / ___ [p]

• /n/ [m] / ___ [m]

• /n/ [ŋ] / ___ [k]

• What do all of these rules have in common?

• What change is made?

• What relationship does it have to the phonetic environment?

Place Assimilation• A new rule:

• the place of articulation of /n/ becomes identical to the place of articulation of a following stop.

• If the following stop is bilabial, the /n/ becomes a bilabial [m]

• If the following stop is velar, the /n/ becomes a velar [ŋ]

• Assimilation: a type of phonological change in which one sound becomes more like another

• Place Assimilation: the place of articulation of one sound becomes identical to that of another sound

• Moral: make phonological rules as general as possible.

Mid-term rooms• ENC 033 and ENC 123.

Modern-day Shibboleths• Can I get a volunteer from the audience?

English Non-Contrasts• English voiceless stops are often aspirated.

• Voiceless stops include [p], [t], [k]

• Aspiration: puff of air escapes from the mouth, after each stop

• A timing issue with closing the glottis

• Aspiration is symbolized with a superscript [h]

• For instance:

[thap] ‘top’

[phæt] ‘pat’

[khɛr] ‘care’

Broad - Narrow Examples• English /t/

Word Broad Narrow Description

‘top’ /tap/ [thap] aspirated

‘stop’ /stap/ [stap] unaspirated

‘batter’ /bætr/ [bæɾr ̩] flapped

‘kitten’ /kɪtn/ [khɪʔn̩] glottalized

‘nitrate’ /naɪtreɪt/ [naɪtʃreɪt] palatalized

Broad vs. Narrow• Remember: the IPA is an alphabet for all languages

• It therefore includes symbols for sounds which are contrastive in any given language.

• Alternatives: broad vs. narrow transcriptions

• Broad transcriptions:

• Only represent sounds which are contrastive in the language

• Enclosed in slashes / /

• Narrow transcriptions:

• Represent all sounds, whether or not they are contrastive

• Enclosed in brackets [ ]

Different Levelsphoneme: /t/

allophones: [th] [t] [ɾ] [ʔ] [tʃ]

A phoneme is a set of meaningfully equivalent speech sounds in a language.

Different phonemes make distinctions in meaning.

Allophones (Gk: “different sounds”) are physically different manifestations of a phoneme.

Phonemes represent abstract, psychological reality; allophones represent concrete, physical reality.

Grammar Schematic

Phonemic Form

phonological rules

Phonetic form

Further Examples• Different /t/ allophones and their distributions:

[t] appears after the consonant [s] and at the end of syllables

[ɾ] appears at the end of stressed syllables, before [l], [r] and [m]

[ʔ] appears at the end of stressed syllables, before [n]

[tʃ] appears at the beginning of syllables, before [r]

[th] appears at the beginning of syllables