Phonology: Science of Language

How is phonology different from phonetics?

• Phonetics: Study of the physical properties of speech sounds (acoustics)

• Phonology: How are sounds patterned in a language? (rule-governed)

How are phonemes different from allophones?

• Phonemes: abstract representation of a sound unit

• Allophone: different sounds that get categorized as the same phoneme

What is a speech sound that (can) signal a contrast in meaning between two words.

Phoneme

What do you call two words that differ by a single phoneme?

Minimal pair

True or false: minimal pairs with the differing sound being in the MIDDLE doesn’t counts as a minimal pair

False. The differing phoneme position can be at any point in the word, as long as it’s consistent between the pair.

True or False: “Tap, Tar” is a minimal pair. 

False. If you look at the IPA of the two words, there is more than one unit difference.

The p in “pill” [ph] is aspirated and the one in spill [p] is not. But both are treated as through it was a [p]. This is an example of an…

Allophone

English /l/ has one allophone that appears at the beginning of a

word (light [l]) and one that appears at the end (dark [ɬ]). This is an example of a[n]…

Allophone

Fill in the blank: Some _____ have different _____ in word-initial vs. word-final positions

phonemes, allophones

English vowels are longer before a voiced obstruent (lab) bs before a voiceless obstruent (lap). In English, the vowel sound is a[n]…

Allophone

In Japanese, a long vowel (chiizu, ‘cheese‘) changes the meaning vs a short vowel (chizu, ‘map‘). In Japanese the vowel sound is a[n]…

Phoneme

What are the major natural classes of sounds?

• [+vocalic]: sounds produced with vocal tract mostly open

• [+consonantal]: sounds produced with the articulators blocking airflow (partially and completely both count)

What are the natural classes for place?

• [+labial]: Produced with at least one lip

• [+coronal]: Produced with the tip or blade of tongue

• [+dorsal]: Produced with the back of the tongue

What are the other natural classes?

• [-sonorant]: sounds that are obstruents (stops, fricatives, affricates)

• [+sonorant]: Vowels and vowel-like consonants

• [+continuant]: Air can escape through the center of the oral cavity

• [-continuant]: Air can’t escape.

What is included in the [+sonorant] category?

• Nasals

• Liquids

• Glides

What is included in the [-sonorant] category?

• Stops

• Fricatives

• Affricates

What is included in the [+continuant] category?

• Fricatives

• Liquids

• Glides

What is included in the [-continuant] category?

• Stops

• Affricates

• Nasals

What is included in the [+voice] category?

• All sonorants (nasals, liquids, glides)

• Voiced obstruents (voiced stops, voiced fricatives, voiced affricates)

What is included in the [+nasal] category?

• Nasals

What is included in the [-nasal] category?

• Everything that’s not a nasal

What is included in the [+lateral] category?

• The English lateral /l/

What is included in the [-lateral] category?

• Everything that is not the lateral /l/

What are the features of vowels?

• [-consonantal]

• [+- high]

• [+- low]

• [+-back]

• [+- round]

What are the natural classes for high vowels?

[-consonantal, +high, -low]

What are the natural classes for a low front vowel?

• [-consonantal, -back, +low, -high]

• Have to include +low AND -high bc it’s possible to mix them for a mid vowel [-high, -low]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+sonorant]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-sonorant]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+continuant]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-continuant]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-lateral]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+lateral]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+nasal]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-nasal]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+voice]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-voice]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-high, -low]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+high, -low]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-high, +low]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+back]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-back]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[+round]

Which natural class defines these sounds?

[-round]