LING403 Quiz 2

phonology

the study of speech sound and sound patterns

what does phonology include?

set of sounds that occur in a given language

permissible arrangements of these sounds in words

process of adding, deleting, or changing sounds

are there some sounds in our language that we are mentally aware of?

yes

are mental and physical reality the same?

no they are quite different

phonemic

what is produced in the mind

put in. between slashes (/ /)

underlying representation

phonetic

how it is produced

put in brackets ([ ])

surface variant

sounds in the mind are…

phonemes (in slashes)

what is the first step in analyzing a language’s phonology?

determine its basic sounds (phonemes)

minimal pairs

words that differ in only one sound but have different meanings

what do minimal pairs tell us?

that the sounds are separate phonemes

what do phonemes serve to distinguish?

words from one another

what is the most effective way to show that 2 phones are distinct and members of separate phonemes?

finding minimal pairs

what type of distribution are phonemically distinct sounds said to be in?

contrastive distribution

how to determine if there is contrastive distribution?

look at all the words and try and find a minimal pair or near-minimal pairs

near-minimal pair

words that differ in 2 sounds and have different meanings

can we predict the environments that sounds occur in when they are in contrastive distribution (aka separate phonemes)?

no

if there are no minimal pairs, what is the next step?

look at the before and after environments for the specific sounds and see if one occurs in a simple and predictable environment

when one sound occurs in a predictable environment and the other occurs elsewhere (never in that same enviroment) they are said to be in what type of distribution?

complementary distribution

if 2 sounds are in complementary distribution they are…

allophones of the same phoneme

which is the surface representation: phoneme or allophone?

allophone

can the same set of sounds be in different distributions in different languages?

yes

the steps for phonemic analysis

1. look for minimal pairs

2. if not, make a before and after environment chart

3. look for relevant patterns and generalize the environment

4. decide on the basic sound

5. form the rule in prose and formally

which one is the phone aka basic sound

the one that occurs in a mixed, less predictable environment

which one is the allophone?

the one that occurs in a simple, predictable environment

general tips for phonemic analysis

compare before with before and after with after

if no clear patterns, look at both before and after simultaneously

sonorants

nasals and approximants

piece of evidence for the psychological reality of the phoneme

people hear related allophones as the same sound

in some languages, can hear more fine distinctions

1st language phonemes and allophonic relations can transfer over when learning a new language

criteria of phonetic similarity

allophones of a single phoneme generally resemble one another to a certain degree (not a clear cut answer where to draw similarity line)

underlying representation (UR)

form that is represented in the mind

issues in phonemic analysis

borrowed sounds

segment/sequence problem (uncontroversial if contrast, if not rely on principle of economy)

principle of economy

keep the mental lexicon as simple as possible

the fewer the phonemes the better

less to store, more predicted by rule

free variation

2 words differ in one sound but not in meaning

sometimes can function as separate phonemes in a language and hence we can hear a difference

sometimes different pronunciations exist due to

style

issues with free variation and elicitation

social context

formal situation

stranger

linguist being present and non-native speaker

pressure

ways to help issues with elicitation and free variation

ask to repeat a few times

use connected speech

use spontaneous speech

can phonemes only contrast in certain contexts

sometimes

phonotactics

possible sound sequences

common phonotactic constraints

nasal and oral consonants should agree in the same place of articulation (not universal but common)

voicing agreement in obstruents

systematic gaps

sequences that fail to occur (and speakers judge as ungrammatical)

accidental gaps

potential word or sound sequences phonologically well-formed, but doe not exist in the language

phonotactic constraints cause…

systematic gaps

alternations

alternations

positionally-conditioned changes (which we can express via rules)

types of alternations/phonological processes

assimilation

dissimilation

insertion (epenthesis)

deletion (elision)

metathesis

coalescence

fortition

lentition

assimilation

when a sound becomes more like a neighboring sound with respect to some phonetic property

nasal assimilation: the nasal takes on the same place of articulation as the consonant following it

vowel harmony

dissimilation

where 2 close or adjacent sounds become less alike with respect to some property

insertion (epenthesis)

when a sound appears in the surface phonetic form which was not in the underlying form

ex: English voiceless stops inserted to match place of articulation of the previous nasal

deletion (elision)

when a sound which is present in the underlying phonetic form is not expressed at all in the surface phonetic form

context: function words

metathesis

when there is a change in the order of sounds

coalescence

combination of two sounds into one

example: vowel coalescence in xhosa (high and low vowel become mid vowel)

fortition (strengthening)

when a sound becomes stronger

ex: english aspiration

lenition (weakening)

when a sound becomes weaker

ex: english flapping

features can be thought of as

the phonetic properties which combine to form the speech sounds of language and/or the instructions the articulators need to produce a particular sound

are features properties of speech sounds

yes

binary features

use + or -

unary feature

only marked if it has the property

what are the levels at which generalizations (or rules) are made

features

major class features

[+/- syllabic]

[+/- consonantal]

[+/- sonorant]

[+/- continuant]

[nasal]

[lateral]

[delayed release]

major class features provide a rough first…

grouping of sounds into functional types that include the consonant/vowel distinction

[+/- syllabic]

roughly divides consonants and vowels

However, goes beyond the intuitive vowel/consonant split: any segment that can form a syllabic peak is [+syllabic]

[syllabic] can be considered outside the system since all the categories could be [+syllabic]

[+/- sonorant]

whether there is a buildup of pressure behind oral constriction

[+sonorant] have a wider opening which lets more air through = louder sounds

[-sonorant]= obstruents

[+sonorant]= sonorants (aka vowels, glides, nasals, lateral, approximants)

why are obstruents [-sonorant]

have more of a constriction and therefore more effort needed to maintain voicing

why are sonorants [+sonorant]

vocal tract is loose enough that no special effort is required to maintain voicing

[+/- consonantal]

addresses whether there is any major constriction in the vocal tract

[-consonantal]= vowels and glides

[+consonantal]= everything else

[+/- continuant]

is there full closure in the oral portion of the vocal tract

[-continuant]= stops and affricates and nasals

[+continuant]= fricatives, approximants, laterals, glides, vowels (no complete closures)

[nasal]

applies to all sounds that are articulated with the velum open

[lateral]

can air pass around (over the sides of) the tongue

distinguishes [l] and lateral fricatives from everything else

[delayed release]

refers to the period of semi-closure during which the frication noise is produced

aka for affricates

laryngeal features

[+/- voice]

[spread glottis]

[constricted glottis]

[+/- voice]

are the vf vibrating or not

[+voice]= vf vibrating

very important phonemic distinction among obstruents

where is voicing seldom phonemic? never phonemic?

seldom: sonorants

never: vowels

[spread glottis]

indicates that the vf have been places relatively far apart, producing a wide glottis

used for aspirated stops

[constricted glottis]

adduction of the vf to narrow or close glottis

used for the glottal stop, glottalized consonants (t to the glottal stop and creaky sounds), ejectives

what do place features tell us

about the active articulator involved

place features

[labial]

[coronal]

[dorsal]

[pharyngeal]

[laryngeal]

[labial]

articulated with the lips

bilabials and labiodentals

[coronal]

articulated with the front of tongue (tip or blade)

dentals, alveolars, post-alveolars, reftroflexes, palatals

[dorsal]

articulated with the tongue body

palatals, velars, uvulars

why are palatals [dorsal] and [coronal]

involve an extended constriction of both tongue blad and body against the upper surface of the vocal tract, so may be considered both

[pharyngeal]

articulated with tongue root

pharyngeal fricatives

[laryngeal]

constriction at the glottis

[h] and glottal stop

features further classifying consonants

[+/- anterior]

[+/- distributed]

[+/- strident]

[+/- anterior]

how far forward the tongue us

[+anterior] coronals: articulated at alveolar ridge or more forward (alveolars and (inter) dentals)

[-anterior] coronals: articulated behind alveolar ridge (post-alveolars, retroflexes, palatals)

[+/- distributed]

how long the constriction is

[+distributed]: laminal coronals that can be made using tongue blade ([tʃ] , [ʃ])

[-distributed]: apical coronals that use the tongue tip ([t], [s])

[+/- strident)

only for fricatives and affricates

how noisy and pitched is the frication

[+strident]: sibilants ([s], [z], [ʃ], [tʃ], [ts], [dz], [ʒ], [dʒ]), labiodental and uvular fricatives and affricates

[-strident]: all other fricatives and affricates

features for classifying further back consonants

[+/- high]: [+high]= palatals and velars, [-high]= uvulars

[+low]= uvulars, pharyngeals, laryngeals

vowel features

[+/-high]

[+/-low]

[+/-back]

[+/-round]

[+/-ATR]

[+/-long]

[+/-stress]

[nasal]

[+/-high]

is body of tongue raised from neutral position

[+high]= [i, I, u, ʊ]

[-high]= every other vowelthe

[+/- low]

body of tongue lowered from neutral position

[+low]= [a, æ]

height features for mid vowels

[-high, -low]

[+/- back]

how far forward or back the tongue is

[+back]= [u, ʊ, o, ɔ, a, ə, ʌ]\[-back]= all other vowels

when a language has central vowels, what is typically used to distinguish from, back vowels

[+/- round]

[+/-round]

are lips protruded or not

[u, ʊ, o, ɔ] = [+round]

[+/- ATR]

involves position of the tongue root similar to tense/lax

often considered undefined for low vowels

[+ATR]= [i, e, u, o]

[+/- long]

has a greater duration

[+/-stress]

technically a feature of a syllable rather than a vowel, but it is worth mentioning

phonological rules

generalizations about the pattering of allophones

formalizing the rule

the change that is taking place/ the environment in which the change is taking place

phonological rule format

A —> B/ X__Y

A is pronounced as B when preceded by X and followed by Y

XAY is pronounced XBY

A in rules

the affected segment, focus, target

B in rules

structural change that the rules requires