weeks 4 and 5

ling 101

suprasegmental information

phonetic information that may be combined with segments in a non-sequential manner

3 kinds of suprasegmentals

pitch, length, loudness

pitch

scale of high to low pitch

length

duration of a segment

loudness

volume of a segment

faster vibration = (___) pitch 

higher

intonation

pitch modulation signals a grammatical or semantic information above the word level. happens in all languages

tone

single-syllable words which differ only in pitch have different meanings in most languages

intonation example

Danny became a lawyer ./?/!

two types of tones

register tones and contour tones

register tones

a single level pitch in one syllable. at most 5 different level tones per language, usually only 3. english examples: H, M, L

contour tones

have a rise or fall in pitch in a single syllable. can have many contrasts within a single language

length

may signal word meaning contrasts

no language is known to use _____ alone to signal word meaning contrasts

loudness

loudness may be used as one component of indicating …

stressed vs. unstressed syllables

stress

the perceived syllable prominence in a multi-syllable word

phonetic correlates of stressed syllables

higher pitch, longer duration, louder volume, more peripheral vowel quality

two conflicting pressures on speech production - articulatory processes

ease of articulation, ease of perception

ease of articulation

speaker tries to maximize ease of production; sounds may become more like neighboring sounds as a result. getting your words across in the simplest way

ease of perception

speaker maximizes distinctiveness of segments in order to communicate clearly

6 types of articulatory processes

assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, insertion, metathesis, vowel reduction

assimilation

one segment becomes more like a neighboring segment

progressive assimilation

a feature spreads forward.

regressive assimilation

a feature spreads backward

intervocalic / interconsonantal assimilation

a segment picks up a feature of surrounding Vs or Cs

liquids in english become voiceless when they follow a voiceless stop. The voiced liquid is ____ in voicing to the preceding voiceless stop

assimilating - progressive

Vowels in English often become nasalized when they precede a nasal consonant. The oral vowel is _____ in nasality to the following nasal

assimilating - regressive

In English, [t] often becomes a flap between vowels (when not at the beginning of a stressed syllable. This is _____ in both voicing ([t] is becoming voiced) and manner ([t] becomes a more open liquid) to the surrounding vowels

assimilation - intervocalic

dissimilation

when one segment becomes less like a neighbor

dissimilation examples

fricative fricative fricative → fricative stop fricative

schwa deletion in english

in an unstressed syllable when the following syllable is stressed

insertion (aka epenthesis)

in English, often insert an oral stop between a nasal stop and a fricative

metathesis

recording of segments, often happens after a historical change over time, may start as a speech error

vowel reduction (weakening)

a vowel is articulated more toward the center of the vowel space, typically as a schwa or changing tense to lax

assimilation examples

progressive assimilation examples

regressive assimilation examples

intervocalic assimilation examples

dissimilation examples

deletion examples

insertion (epenthesis examples)

metathesis examples

vowel reduction examples

/dogs/ → [dogz]

progressive assimilation - s became voiced

/cats/ → [kæts]

Progressive assimilation — plural ending stays voiceless after voiceless t

/inˈpʊt/ → [ɪmˈpʊt]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ changes to /m/ before bilabial /p/.

/hændbæɡ/ → [hæmbæɡ]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ becomes /m/ due to following /b/.

/bʌtɚ/ → [bʌɾɚ]

Intervocalic assimilation — /t/ becomes a flap [ɾ] between vowels.

/sɪti/ → [sɪɾi]

Intervocalic assimilation — /t/ flaps between vowels.

/ɡrændpɑ/ → [ɡræmpɑ]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ changes to /m/ before /p/.

/ɡʊs + z/ → [ɡʊsiz] (hypothetical “gooses”)

Progressive assimilation — suffix voiced to match stem’s final sound.

hændboʊk/ → [hæmboʊk]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ changes to /m/ before /b/.

/wɔtɚ/ → [wɔɾɚ]

Intervocalic assimilation — /t/ becomes a flap between vowels.

/faɪvθ/ → [faɪfθ]

Regressive assimilation — /v/ becomes voiceless /f/ before /θ/.

/ɡɪvz/ → [ɡɪvs]

Progressive assimilation — /z/ stays voiced after voiced /v/.

/haʊs + z/ → [haʊzɪz]

Progressive assimilation — plural morpheme voiced after voiced /z/.

/hɪs + z/ → [hɪsɪz]

Progressive assimilation — plural morpheme keeps voiceless quality after /s/.

/tɛnboʊl/ → [tɛmbol]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ becomes /m/ before /b/.

/bætɚ/ → [bæɾɚ]

intervocalic assimilation — /t/ becomes a flap between vowels.

/ɹænbæɡ/ → [ɹæmbæɡ]

Regressive assimilation — /n/ changes to /m/ before /b/.

/klɪps/ → [klɪps]

Progressive assimilation — /s/ stays voiceless after voiceless /p/.

sound inventories

the group of speech segments used in a language. no language uses all the possible sounds found in the world

english is _____ average in its number of consonants

slightly above

english is _____ average in its number of vowels

way above

all front vowels are …

unrounded

all back non-low vowels are …

rounded

rounding in other languages - front

this might be the only feature that distinguished a pair of vowels (ex: French, German)

rounding in other languages - back

back vowels tend to be rounded cross-linguistically

some consonants used in english are very common worldwide, but the english __ sounds are not common

“th”

retroflex articulation

articulated with the tongue curled backwards in the alveolar area

uvular articulation

articulated with the back of the tongue moving towards the uvula

pharyngeal articulation

articulated with the root of the tongue moving towards the ball wall of the pharynx

types of non-pulmonic airstream mechanisms

clicks, implosives, ejectives

most consonants have a _______ airstream mechanism

pulmonic egressive

clicks

aitsteram mechanism - velaric (lingual ingressive). can be made at various places of articulation