Advanced Phonetics and Phonology 1302741 Lecture (3) PHONEMIC ANALYSIS
Phonology a field of linguistics which studies the distribution of sounds in a language as well as the interaction between those different sounds. studies the organization of speech sounds in a particular language.
Phonology tackles the following questions: 1. What are the sounds in a language? 2. Which sounds affect the meaning of words? 3. What sounds in a language are predictable? 4. What is the phonetic context that predict the occurrence of these sounds?
Phonology it involves the study of the mental organization of a language s sound system. Units of organization: 1. Biggest: syllables, metrical feet, words 2. Middle: segments (phonemes and allophones) 3. Smallest: features
Segmental Phonology There are hundreds of possible speech sounds Each language only uses a few of these. What is of interest to phonologists is which sounds contrast. Sounds contrast when their presence alone distinguishes forms with different meanings
Phoneme and Allophone A phoneme: a class of speech sounds that are identified by a native speaker as the same sound; e.g. /t/; it s unpredictable A phoneme is an abstract representation & can t be pronounced (not a speech sound) An allophone: the actual phonetic segment produced by a speaker & has been classified as belonging to some phoneme; e.g. [t h ]; it s predictable Or, an allophone: the various ways that a phoneme is pronounced; e.g. [ʔ] and [ɾ] of /t/ in later.
Phoneme and Allophone The phonological system of a language has two levels: 1- the more concrete level which involves the physical reality of phonetics segments, the allophones represented by [ ] (greater number). 2- The abstract (underlying) level which involves phonemes represented by / / (small inventory). In English, /d/ has 3 allophones ([d], [d ], [d ]) Similar to natural sciences (H 2 O is realized as ice, water, & water vapour)
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, doesn t change the meaning of a word)
Real-life analogy of complementary distribution
Two people or one person? Has Lois ever seen Superman and Clark Kent in the same environment?
Emergency Superman is always found in the environment of an emergency.
No Emergency Clark Kent is seen in the environment when there is no emergency.
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: Does Not make a difference in meaning; e.g. /p/ in pin & spin. Example: /t/ in : top [t h ɒp] stop [stɒp] little [liɾl] kitten [kiʔn] hunter [hʌnr]
Distinctive and Non-distinctive Sounds
Distinctive and Non-distinctive Sounds
Crucial concept 1: Phoneme When two sounds contrast they are part of different phonemes. /p/ and /b/ are different phonemes Phonemes are abstract mental units that represent sounds. Be careful! Phonemes are not sounds themselves, they are mental units representing sounds!!!
Crucial Concept 2: Allophones Phonetic forms that don t contrast (don t make a difference in meaning) are called allophones [t], [t h ], [ɾ], and [ʔ] are allophones of the phoneme /t/ Allophones are the various pronunciations of a phoneme.
Phonemes & Allophones Phonemes are written between / / brackets Allophones are written between [ ] brackets /t/ phonemic (abstract/mental) category in your mind [t] [t h ] allophonic (phonetic) realizations what you actually say
Language Specificity In English, [t] and [ɾ] are allophones of the same phoneme (/t/), meaning that a word doesn t change its meaning if you substitute one sound for the other.
Language Specificity But in Spanish, [t] and [ɾ] are not allophones of a single phoneme; each is an allophone of a separate phoneme. For example: Similar argument involves the sounds [d] and [ð]. In English, both make separate phonemes, but in Spanish they are allophones.
Language Specificity The status as a phoneme is a language specific matter
Phonological Rules Two levels of representation: 1- underlying (phonemic, mental) 2- surface (phonetic) Why do we need rules? link the two levels show when a particular allophone should show up on the surface
Phonological Rules PHONEMIC LEVEL (underlying form) RULES PHONETIC LEVEL (surface form)
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
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 widest distribution (occurs in the largest number of environments)
Using Local Environments For establishing that two sounds are in the same phoneme, we need to establish that they are in complementary distribution, and therefore we need to find the environments in which they occur. Maasai (Nilotic, spoken in Kenya and Tanzania), and our focus is solely on the following set of sounds: [p, t, k, b, d, g, β, ð, ɣ].
Using Local Environments
Using Local Environments Maasai (Nilotic, spoken in Kenya and Tanzania), and our focus is solely on the following set of sounds: [p, t, k, b, d, g, β, ð, ɣ].
Using Local Environments /k/ Spirantization k ɣ / [+vowel] [+vowel] /k/ is realized as [ɣ] between vowels. Postnasal Voicing k g / ŋ /k/ is realized as [g] after [ŋ].
Using Local Environments
Using Local Environments
General rules /p,t,k/ Spirantization p,t,k β,ð,ɣ / [+vowel] [+vowel] /p,t,k/ is realized as [β,ð,ɣ] between vowels. Postnasal Voicing p,t,k b,d,g /m,n,ŋ /p,t,k/ is realized as [b,d,g] after [m,n,ŋ].
Using Local Environments we can use features to write general rules that cover all three phonemes at once. The specific analysis sets up the three phonemes /p/, /t/, and /k/ and posits two generalized phonological rules.
In-Class Exercise Voicing in Mohawk
Voicing in Mohawk Iroquoian family; spoken in Quebec, Ontario, New York 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?
Mohawk phonetic data [oli:deʔ] pigeon [ojɑ:gɑlɑ] shirt [zɑhset] hide it! (sg.) [ohjotsɑh] chin [gɑ:lis] stocking [lɑbɑhbet] catfish [odɑhsɑ] tail [sdu:hɑ] a little bit [wisk] five [ jiks] fly [degeni] two [desdɑʔn ] stand up! (sg.) [ɑplɑm] Abram, Abraham [de:zekw ] pick it up! (sg.) [V:] = long vowel, [C ] = voiceless consonant
Stop distribution in Mohawk [p] ɑ l [b] ɑ ɑ h e [t] e # o s [d] i: e o ɑ s u: [k] [g] s # # ɑ: i s e e e w ɑ: ɑ # e # e: s ɑ # = word edge
Summarized contexts [p t k] [b d g] C V # [p t k] and [b d g] are in complementary distribution in Mohawk.
Writing the phonological rule Which rule? Mohawk has /p t k/. Voicing: Stops are voiced before vowels. or? Mohawk has /b d g/. Devoicing: Stops are voiceless word finally or before a consonant.
Writing the phonological rule Choose Voicing. Why? Voicing rule is simpler than Devoicing rule Voicing:...before vowels. Devoicing:...word finally or before a consonant. 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)
Mohawk consonant inventory labial alveolar palatal velar glottal stop p t k ʔ affricate c fricative s h nasal liquid n r glide w j Voicing applies to all of the voiceless stops in Mohawk.
Writing the rule In Mohawk, Stops are voiced before vowels. (sentence formulation) /p t k/ [b d g] / V ( arrow notation) + stop - voiced + stop +voiced / + vowel
/ ði end əv lektʃə θriː /