LINGUSTICS 1 FINAL TORRENCE - UCLA

bilabials

between both lips

labiodental

bottom lip to upper teeth

interdentals

tongue between teeth

alveolars

tongue touching the alveolar ridge

palatals

tongue raised to the (hard) palate

velars

back of tongue raised to the velum (soft palate)

glottals

flow of air through open glottis

[p]

bilabial, oral stop, voiceless

pit, pale, poke, top, hip, cap

[b]

bilabial, oral stop, voiced

buy, bet, big, hub, knob, superb

[m]

bilabial, nasal stop, voiced

man, my, more, some, doom, seem

[f]

labiodental, fricative, voiceless

fast, fat, philosophy, off, stuff, cough

[v]

labiodental, fricative, voiced

van, very, vile, stove, leave, save

[θ]

interdental, fricative, voiceless

thigh cloth bath breath

[đ]

interdental, fricative, voiced

thy clothe bathe breathe

[t]

alveolar, oral stop, voiceless

two, tall, tea, hot, put

[d]

alveolar, oral stop, voiced

do, deal, dust, odd, prod, cod

[n]

alveolar, nasal stop, voiced

no, new, nose, ban, soon, keen

[s]

alveolar, fricative, voiceless

sit, soap, same, boss, kiss, house

[z]

alveolar, fricative, voiced

zoo, xenon, zoom, is, has, booze

[l]

alveolar, liquid (lateral), voiced

low, let, like, owl, cool, well

[ŋ]

velar, nasal stop, voiced

thing, long, sang, singer, longing, bringing

[r]

alveolar, liquid (retroflex), voiced

red, rich, rake, boar, care, tour

[ʃ]

palatal, fricative (issue), voiceless

shy, shot, chef, posh, bush, douche

[ʒ]

palatal, fricative (leisure), voiced

genre, version, measure, garage, equation

[tʃ]

palatal, affricate, voiceless

chat, China, choose, rich, catch, much

[dʒ]

palatal, affricate, voiced

judge, enjoy, jam, major, july

[j]

palatal, glide, voiced

you, yet, yawn, pure, cure, few

[k]

velar, oral stop, voiceless

keep, cat, character, sock, bloc, cheek

[g]

velar, oral stop, voiced

go, get, grass, big, dog, fig

[h]

glottal, fricative, voiceless

high, how, hot, somehow, ahead, adhere, hill

[Ɂ]

glottal, oral stop, voiceless

uh oh

[w]

bilabial/velar? glide, voiced

we, wow, wax, dwell, swine, twain

[ʍ]

bilabial/velar? glide, voiceless

hwhat, hwhere, and hwhy (like these words but when you pronounce them with an h in front)

[i]

beet

[ɪ]

bit

[e]

bait

[ɛ]

measure, bet

[æ]

bat

[ʌ]

but

[a]

cot

[ə]

about

[u]

boot

[ʊ]

book

[o]

boat

[ɔ]

thought (bought, caught = a)

[aj]

eye

[ɔj]

boy

[aw]

house

labiovelar

pursed lips + back of tongue to velum

3 features of consonants

voicing, place of articulation, manner of articulation

Voiceless vs. Voiced

Voiceless: vocal chords APART, air flows freely through glottis

Voiced: vocal chords TOGETHER, causing vibrations because air forced through

Manner of Articulation

the extent to which airflow is interrupted by parts of the mouth in the production of consonant sounds

stops

complete obstruction of airflow somewhere in the vocal tract

oral stops

[p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g] [?]

nasal stops

[m] [n] [ŋ]

aspiration

puff of air -- written with superscript h [p^h] [t^h] [k^h]

Fricatives

[f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ], [h]

major but not complete obstruction in vocal tract, turbulent noise

Affricates

[tʃ], [dʒ]

fricative-like noise is made; a stop followed by a fricative

Liquids

[l], [r]

some minor obstruction of the vocal tract, but air still passed through

[l] is a lateral liquid and [r] is a retroflex liquid because the tip of the tongue is curled backwards

glides

[j], [w] very small obstruction of airflow

e.g. you, what

4 features of vowels

tongue position, tongue height, tenseness, lip rounding

tongue position

front, central, back

tongue height

high, mid, low

tense vowels

[I], [e], [u], [o], [a]

muscles are tensed, mouth relatively narrower

lax vowels

[ɪ], [ɛ], [æ], [ʊ], [ə], [ʌ], [ɚ]

muscles a bit more relaxed

rounded vs unrounded

4 rounded: [u] [o] [ʊ] [ɚ]

8 unrounded: [a] [e] [i] [ɪ] [ɛ] [æ] [ə] [ʌ]

cot-caught merger

[a] and [ɚ] have been merged

what is one in one dialect is the other in another

Dipthongs

two vowels to make another sound, oe in "shoe"

cow - 'ow' - [aʊ]

eye - [aɪ]

boy - 'oy' - [ɔɪ]

voiceless fricatives (a type of natural class)

f, θ, s, ʃ, h

voiced oral stops

b, d, g

Phonology

how speech sounds are organized in different languages

Sign Language Phonetics

you can express anything in a signed lang that you can in a spoken lang

-they differ in the hand shapes that are permissible

Features of ASL

handshape, place of articulation, movement, palm orientation

Linguistics

the scientific study of language

Do all languages have grammar?

yes

What type of process is language?

subconscious

2 ways of approaching language

1) tool for communication

2) knowledge (a finite set of building blocks/rules that you know how to use subconsciously)

Phonetics

the inventory of sounds in your language

Morphology

structure of words, how to build good words

lexicon

your mental dictionary, words you know

Syntax

Sentence structure

Semantics

Meaning of words and sentences

What is NOT knowledge of a language from a linguistic perspective?

reading and writing, word history, education

linguistic competence

our knowledge of words and grammar

linguistic performance

the application of linguistic competence to actually producing an utterance (what actually comes out of your mouth)

features of language

arbitrariness (absence of any natural or necessary connection between a word's meaning and its sound or form), creativity (finite set of building blocks but infinite set of new sentences), structured by UG

prescriptive grammar

a set of rules designed to give instructions regarding the socially embedded notion of the "correct" or "proper" way to speak or write

descriptive grammar

A linguist's description or model of the mental grammar, including the units, structures, and rules. An explicit statement of what speakers know about their language.

Universal Grammar (UG)

the set of linguistic rules common to all languages; hypothesized to be part of human cognition

-the basic blueprint that all human languages follow.

-We are born with it.

-It is a series of principles that characterize all grammars.

All typically developing children acquire language...

of their environment spontaneously, exhibit linguistic creativity, and pass through similar stages as they build their grammar

Evidence for UG - language universals

-all Langs have words

-negation

-questions

-creativity

-stimulus freedom (ability to say anything at all—including nothing—in any circumstances.)

-ways to discuss past, present, & future events

-ways to discuss abstract & concrete concepts

-displacement—the ability the talk about things other than the here and now or things that don't exist.

Why might a native speaker of English think that this language is a form of "broken" English?

because English is the lexifier language

corpus collosum

bundle of axons connecting L & R hemispheres in brain

Contralateral Control

Each hemisphere of brain controls the opposite side of the body

• Stimulus from one side is sent to the opposite side of the brain first

• Information can pass through the corpus callosum to get to the other hemisphere

vision, hearing, and touch

Support for Lateralization

language is "lateralized" to the left hemisphere.

-Dichotic Listening

-Split Brain Patients

-Wada Test

Without access to the left cerebral hemisphere, normal language processing cannot occur.

This strongly suggests that language functions are primarily lateralized to the left side of the brain.

dichotic listening

- Different sounds are played in both ears

- Subject reports hearing only one

- Sound from right ear is almost always reported

Conclusion: at least auditory processing of language seems to be in the left hemisphere

Split brain patients

- In severe cases of epilepsy, the corpus callosum is sometimes severed

- As a result, the two hemispheres can not share information ( no communication btwn the two hemispheres)

- Linguistic responses are not possible if stimulus was presented to the right hemisphere (left visual field).

Wada Test

- In patients with epilepsy, the solution is often to remove a small piece of the brain.

- However, before surgery the neurosurgeon wants to be sure that they aren't going to do damage to parts of the brain that control language.

- They use sophisticated procedures to isolate where in the brain language is controlled.

- One hemisphere of a patient's brain is temporarily put to sleep.

- Patient then asked to read words &/or numbers, identify objects, & respond to questions.

Result? An inability to produce language when left side is anesthetized.

However: can identify picture of object

Indicates left hemisphere plays a critical role in language abilities.

Localization

different cognitive abilities and functions are localized to specific parts of the brain

- Motor cortex

- Visual cortex

Studying aphasia gives us knowledge of

localization within the left hemisphere