Phonetics and Phonology Lecture Notes

Distribution and Contrast: Phonemes vs. Allophones

Georgian (Kartvelian; Georgia)

  • Data:

    • a. ɫamazad ‘prettily’
    • b. leɫo ‘goal’
    • c. saxɫʃi ‘at home’
    • d. ɫxena ‘joy’
    • e. kbiɫs ‘tooth (dative)’
    • f. zarali ‘loss’
    • g. kaɫa ‘tin’
    • h. pepeɫa ‘butterfly’
    • i. kleba ‘reduce’
    • j. ertʰxeɫ ‘once’
    • k. xeli ‘hand’
    • l. xoɫo ‘however’
    • m. ʦʰeʦʰxli ‘fire’
    • n. vxleʧʰ ‘I split’
    • o. ʦʰoli ‘wife’

  • Observation: Two distinct lateral sounds: "clear" [l] and "dark" (velarized) [ɫ].

Question 1: Phonemes or Allophones?

  • Do [l] and [ɫ] represent separate phonemes, or are they allophones in complementary distribution?

  • Distribution Chart:

    • [l]:

      • #
      • k
      • e
      • x
      • o

    • [ɫ]:

      • #
      • e
      • x
      • i
      • a
      • o

  • Key Observation:

    • [l] only occurs before [i] or [e] (front vowels).
    • [ɫ] never occurs before [i] or [e].
    • Complementary distribution is observed.

  • Natural Class: /i, e/ can be defined as the class of front vowels.

  • Distribution Rule:

    • [l] occurs only when followed by a front vowel.
    • [ɫ] occurs elsewhere which includes:
      • followed by non-front vowels ([u], [o], [a])
      • before a consonant
      • at the end of a word

  • Conclusion: [ɫ] and [l] are allophones of a single phoneme, likely /ɫ/, with [l] being a special case.

  • Phonological Rule: /ɫ/ is realized as [l] when followed by a front vowel, otherwise as [ɫ].

Question 2: Comparison to English

  • Similarity: Both Georgian and English have [l] and [ɫ] as allophones of a single phoneme.

  • Difference: Distribution differs.

    • English: [ɫ] is typically syllable-final (coda), before a consonant, or at the end of a word. It does not typically occur before a vowel, even back vowels, unlike in Georgian.

    • Different dialects of English may vary.

Greenlandic (Inuit–Yupik–Unangan; Greenland)

  • Data:
    • a. tuluvɑq ‘raven’
    • b. isse ‘eye’
    • c. qɑtiɡɑq ‘back’
    • d. sɑko ‘tool’
    • e. oʁpik ‘tree’
    • f. ivnɑq ‘bluff’
    • g. mɑʁːɑq ‘clay’
    • h. seʁmeq ‘glacier’
    • i. nɑnoq ‘bear’
    • j. iɡɑ ‘pot’
    • k. sɑkiɑk ‘rib’
    • l. iɡdlo ‘house’
    • m. neʁdloq ‘goose’
    • n. qilɑluvɑq ‘beluga’
    • o. uɡsik ‘cow’
    • p. sɑvɑ ‘sheep’
    • q. ine ‘room’
    • r. nunɑ ‘land’

Question 1: Phonetic Vowel Inventory

  • The phonetic vowel inventory of Greenlandic includes: [i e ɑ o u].

Question 2: Vowel Distribution and Complementary Distribution

  • Distribution Chart:

    • [i]:

      • #
      • s
      • n
      • q
      • s
      • #
      • #
      • t
      • s

    • [u]:

      • l
      • l
      • n
      • t

    • [e]:

      • s
      • n
      • s
      • #
      • ʁ

    • [o]:

      • k
      • l
      • n
      • #
      • ʁ

    • [ɑ]:

      • ɡ
      • v
      • n
      • ʁ
      • m

  • Observations:

    • [e] and [o] occur only in word-final position or before a uvular consonant ([q] or [ʁ]).
    • [i] and [u] occur in a wider range of environments but never in word-final position or before a uvular consonant.

  • Complementary Distribution:

    • [i] and [e] are in complementary distribution.
    • [u] and [o] are in complementary distribution.

  • Conclusion: [i] and [e] are allophones of one phoneme, and [u] and [o] are allophones of another.

Question 3: Basic Allophones

  • The question is whether the vowel phonemes are fundamentally /i u/ or /e o/ with rules adjusting them.

  • The better hypothesis is that they are fundamentally /i u/ with a lowering rule.

  • Reason: [i] and [u] occur in more varied environments, making a raising rule for /e o/ harder to formulate.

Question 4: Distribution of Special-Case Allophones

  • The two environments in which /i u/ are realized as [e o] are:

    • word-final position
    • before a uvular consonant

  • Two separate phonological rules are needed.

  • Rule 1: A high vowel becomes mid when at the end of a word.

  • Rule 2: A high vowel becomes mid when followed by a uvular.

  • Formal Notation:

    • high vowel → mid / ___ #
    • high vowel → mid / ___ uvular

  • Using Features (Gussenhoven & Jacobs):

    • [+syllabic] → [-high] / ___ #
    • [+syllabic] → [-high] / ___ [+consonantal, -high]

Canadian (Quebecois) French

  • Data (with conservative pronunciation):
    • a. vie [vi] ‘life’
    • b. riz [ri] ‘rice’
    • c. lit [li] ‘bed’
    • d. vitesse [vitɛs] ‘speed’
    • e. vider [vide] ‘to empty’
    • f. richesse [riʃɛs] ‘riches’
    • g. déraciné [derasine] ‘uprooted’
    • h. pipe [pɪp] ‘pipe’
    • i. vite [vɪt] ‘fast’
    • j. chic [ʃɪk] ‘chic, stylish’
    • k. vide [vɪd] ‘empty’
    • l. vice [vɪs] ‘screw’
    • m. riche [rɪʃ] ‘rich’
    • n. ville [vɪl] ‘city’
    • o. fou [fu] ‘crazy’
    • p. trou [tru] ‘hole’
    • q. boue [bu] ‘mud’
    • r. coupe [kupe] ‘to cut’
    • s. souder [sude] ‘to solder’
    • t. toucher [tuʃe] ‘to touch’
    • u. pousser [puse] ‘to push’
    • v. coupe [kʊp] ‘cut’
    • w. croûte [krʊt] ‘crust’
    • x. pousse [pʊs] ‘push’
    • y. touche [tʊʃ] ‘touch’
    • z. foule [fʊl] ‘crowd’
    • aa. soûle [sʊl] ‘drunk (fem.)’
    • bb. boule [bʊl] ‘ball’

Analysis of [i] vs. [ɪ] and [u] vs. [ʊ]

  • Question: Are [i] and [ɪ] separate phonemes, or allophones? What about [u] vs. [ʊ]?

  • Key Observation: Lax vowels [ɪ] and [ʊ] are only found before a word-final consonant (____ C#).

  • Tense vowels [i] and [u] never occur in that environment; they occur at the end of a word or before a non-word-final consonant.

  • Conclusion: [i] and [ɪ] are allophones of a single phoneme, and [u] and [ʊ] are allophones of a single (different) phoneme.

  • The tense vowel is the "elsewhere" case, and the lax vowels are limited to specific environments.

  • Phonological Rule (Initial Formulation):

    • Tense high vowels become lax before a word-final consonant.
    • tense high V → lax / ___ C #

Refined Analysis: Syllable Structure

  • Tense allophones [i, u] occur in open syllables (no coda).

  • Lax allophones occur in closed syllables (coda consonant).

    • Intervocalic consonants are grouped with the following syllable (e.g., [vi.tɛs]).

  • Alternative Interpretation:

    • Tense high vowels become lax before a consonant in the same syllable (tautosyllabic).

Alternations

  • Data set shows cases of alternations, where a single morpheme shows up with either [i] or [ɪ], and similarly [u] or [ʊ], depending on context.

  • Examples:

    • [vi.tɛs] ‘speed’ and [vɪt] ‘fast’ contain the root morpheme /vit/.

    • [ri.ʃɛs] ‘riches’ and [rɪʃ] ‘rich’ contain the root morpheme /riʃ/.

    • [kʊp] ‘cut’ (noun) vs. [ku.pe] ‘to cut’ (verb) contain the root morpheme /kup/.

English Child Language

  • Data from a child learning English:
    • a. suːpʰ ‘soup’
    • b. tɛpʰ ‘stamp’
    • c. keɪpʰ ‘escape’
    • d. ɛbu ‘apple’
    • e. pʊdɪn ‘pudding’
    • f. pɛɡu ‘pedal’
    • g. wɒbɪn ‘shopping’
    • h. pɛn ‘band’
    • i. piːɡu ‘beetle’
    • j. pɔː ‘ball’
    • k. kɪpʰ ‘crib’
    • l. peɪbu ‘table’
    • m. pʌpʰ ‘bump’

Analysis of Bilabial Plosives

  • In adult English, /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes.

  • Question: For this child, do [b], [pʰ] and [p] represent one, two or three phonemes?

  • All three appear to be allophones of a single phoneme, as they are in complementary distribution:

    • [p] only in word-initial position
    • [pʰ] only in word-final position
    • [b] only in intervocalic position (between two vowels)

  • Comparison to Adult Pronunciation:

    • Words with /p/ and /b/ in adult pronunciation are pronounced with the same type of plosive by the child.

    • Examples:

      • pudding and beetle both have [p] initially.
      • shopping and table both have [b] intervocalically.
      • stamp and crib both have [pʰ] finally.

  • Conclusion: The child likely has a single labial plosive phoneme, not two contrasting phonemes like adult English.

  • It's hard to decide which is the "elsewhere" allophone without more data.

Generalization to Other Places of Articulation

  • Question: Does a similar pattern hold for plosives across all places of articulation (alveolar, velar)?

  • Evidence: Yes, it does.

    • Word-initial: voiceless unaspirated [t] and [k]
    • Intervocalic: voiced [d] and [ɡ]

  • Even without word-final examples, the pattern suggests that the child would likely pronounce them as voiceless aspirated [tʰ] and [kʰ].