exam 1

Domains of Language, Speech, and Dialect

• Five Domains of Language (pg. 5-6): Language is defined as a shared code that uses arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations to convey concepts. It is categorized into five core domains:

  • Semantics: The study of word meaning and vocabulary, representing language CONTENT.

  • Morphology: The study of word parts and internal word structure, representing language FORM.

  • Syntax: The study of word and phrase order, along with sentence grammar, representing language FORM.

  • Pragmatics: The study of the social use of language and communicative contexts, representing language USE.

  • Phonology: The study of the sound system of a language and its governing structural rules.

• Transmission Modes of Language (pg. 5-6):

  • Oral Transmission (Speech): Physical articulatory movements that create acoustic vibrations.

  • Manual Transmission: Visual-gestural communication systems, such as American Sign Language (ASL).

  • Written Transmission: Textual representation using orthographic symbols.

• Dialect Concepts and Variations (pg. 5-6):

  • Dialect: Systematic variations in a language characteristic of a specific group of speakers, encompassing differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

  • Categories of Dialectal Variation:

  • Regional Dialects: Geographic speech variations.

  • Cultural Dialects: Social and ethnic group speech variations.

  • Mainstream American English (MAE) / General American English (GAE): A dialect variety that is relatively free of prominent regional influences and considered neutral.

• Geographic Dialect Mapping of American English (pg. 5-6):

  • Based on dialectological mapping by Josh Katz (Department of Statistics, NC State University):

  • Western & Pacific: Northwest, Western, Northern California, Utah West, Southern California, Colorado West, Southwest.

  • Midwest & Central: Upper Midwest, Central West, Missouri Apex, Hoosier Apex.

  • Northeastern & Atlantic: New England, Upper North, Lower North, New England New, Eastern New England, Hudson Valley, Southeastern Pennsylvania.

  • Southern & Gulf Coast: Upper South, Virginia Piedmont, Upper Atlantic South, Eastern North Carolina, Lower Atlantic South, Delta South, Alabama, Northern Louisiana, Southeastern Louisiana, West Texas, Lower South, Southern Florida.

• Lexical Dialectical Variations (Case Example: "Crayon") (pg. 5-6):

  • [eja:]: Two-syllable pronunciation ("cray-ahn").

  • [ejp]: Two-syllable pronunciation ("cray-awn", where the second syllable rhymes with "dawn").

  • [æ]: One-syllable pronunciation ("cran", rhyming with "man").

  • [aw]: One-syllable pronunciation identical to "crown".

Morphological and Phonological Structures

• The Morpheme (pg. 6-7):

  • Morphology: The formal study of the internal structure of words and constituent word parts.

  • Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of language that cannot be divided any further without losing or altering its core meaning.

  • Example: The word teacher decomposes into teach + -er ("person who"), yielding "person who teaches".

  • Free Morphemes: Independent units of meaning that can occur alone as distinct words.

  • Bound Morphemes: Dependent units of meaning that must attach to other morphemes (e.g., the -ing suffix).

• The Phoneme (pg. 7):

  • Phonology: The study of the sounds of a language.

  • Phones: Individual, physical segments or units of sound produced in speech.

  • Phoneme: An abstract sound unit capable of signaling a meaningful distinction between morphemes.

  • Minimal Pairs: Words that differ by only a single phoneme in the exact same position (e.g., hat, rat, fat, cat).

  • Phoneme vs. Morpheme Analysis Example: The word Cats

  • Contains 4 phonemes / sounds: $\text{/k æ t s/}$

  • Contains 2 morphemes: cat + plural suffix -s

• Dichotomy Between Phones and Phonemes (pg. 7):

  • Physical vs. Cognitive Location: Phones are produced "out of the mouth"; Phonemes exist "in the head".

  • Linguistic Domain: Speech corresponds to Phones; Language corresponds to Phonemes.

  • Representation Type: Phonemes are mental representations of sounds; Phones are actual physical productions of sounds.

  • Cognitive Processing: Thinking of a word utilizes Phonemes; Thinking how a word is produced utilizes Phones.

Orthography vs. Phonetic Transcription

• Principles of Phonetic Transcription (pg. 7-8):

  • In phonetic transcription, a strict one-to-one correspondence exists: every distinct sound/phoneme is represented by exactly one unique symbol.

  • Orthography (spelling) lacks consistent one-to-one mapping and must be separated from phonetic transcription.

• Orthographic Discrepancies (pg. 7-8):

  • One Grapheme, Multiple Sounds or Silent: A single orthographic letter (grapheme) can represent many different sounds or remain silent (e.g., g in gist vs. go; eigh in weigh).

  • One Sound, Multiple Graphemes: A single speech sound can be represented by various letters or letter combinations.

  • Example: The initial sound in ship ($\text{/ʃ/}$) can be spelled using sh (ship), s (sugar), ss (tissue), ch (machine), ti (nation), ci (special), or xi (anxious).

• Digraphs vs. Consonant Clusters (pg. 7-8):

  • Digraph: Two orthographic letters that together represent a single speech sound.

  • Example digraphs: th, wh, sh, ph, ck.

  • Consonant Cluster: A sequence of two or more adjacent consonants pronounced as separate, distinct speech sounds.

  • Example clusters: sk, tr, pl, spl, sn.

  • Reference Video: "Why English spelling is so hard" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKOrUFwX9mg).

The International Phonetic Alphabet and extIPA

• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) System (pg. 8-9, 310, 314):

  • Developed in the 1800s as a standardized notation system to provide one symbol for every sound in any human language.

  • Diacritic Marks: Specialized markings added to base symbols to denote subtle phonetic modifications.

  • Extensions to the IPA (extIPA): Supplementary chart (revised to 2015) providing additional notation to transcribe disordered or clinical speech.

  • Transcription Notations: Broad transcriptions (phonemic) are enclosed in virgules/slashes ($\text{/ /}$), whereas narrow transcriptions (phonetic/allophonic) are enclosed in brackets ($\text{[ ]}$).

• IPA Chart Categories (2018 Revision):

  • Pulmonic Consonants: Organizes consonants by place of articulation (Bilabial, Labiodental, Dental, Alveolar, Postalveolar, Retroflex, Palatal, Velar, Uvular, Pharyngeal, Glottal) and manner of articulation (Plosive, Nasal, Trill, Tap or Flap, Fricative, Lateral fricative, Approximant, Lateral approximant).

  • Right side of a cell = voiced; left side = voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged physically impossible.

  • Non-Pulmonic Consonants: Includes Clicks, Voiced implosives, and Ejectives.

  • Other Symbols: Includes voiceless labial-velar fricative ʍ, voiced labial-velar approximant w, voiced labial-palatal approximant ɥ, voiceless epiglottal fricative ʜ, voiced epiglottal fricative ʢ, epiglottal plosive ʡ, alveolo-palatal fricatives ɕ and ʑ, voiced alveolar lateral flap ɺ, simultaneous ʃ and x (ɧ), and tie bars for affricates (ts, kp).

  • Vowels: Charted across Front, Central, and Back tongue advancement, and Close, Close-mid, Open-mid, and Open tongue height, with unrounded/rounded pairs.

  • Suprasegmentals: Denotes primary stress ($ˈ$), secondary stress ($ˌ$), long ($ː$), half-long ($ˑ$), extra-short ($˘$), minor foot group ($|$), major intonation group ($||$), syllable break ($.$), and linking ($‿$).

  • Diacritics & extIPA: Symbols for voiceless, voiced, aspirated, dental, apical, laminal, nasalized, nasal release, lateral release, no audible release, breathy voice, creaky voice, linguolabial, bidental, dentolabial, velopharyngeal friction, percussive, whistled speech, ingressive airflow, and unscheduled pauses.

  • Reference Resources: "The language sounds that could exist but don't" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uZam0ubq-Y) and "Weird phonemes: pronouncing the world's rarest sounds" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zB2TG9sVf8).

Phonemes, Allophones, and Language-Specific Rules

• Allophones (pg. 9-10):

  • Variations of a phoneme that do not change the semantic meaning of a word.

  • Example: The phoneme $\text{/t/}$ in hat can be realized as:

  • Unreleased stop: \text{[hæt̚]}

  • Aspirated stop (released with a puff of air): $\text{[hætʰ]}$

  • Both phonetic realizations represent the exact same word hat.

  • Written in narrow transcription using brackets ($\text{[ ]}$) and diacritics.

• Language-Specific Allophonic Rules (pg. 9-10):

  • Sound variations that function as non-contrastive allophones in one language may serve as distinct, contrastive phonemes in another language.

  • Example: Co-articulation of $\text{/k/}$ in English (key vs. coo):

  • In key, $\text{/k/}$ is fronted due to the following high front vowel $\text{/i/}$.

  • In coo, $\text{/k/}$ is backed due to the following high back vowel $\text{/u/}$.

  • In English, fronted $\text{[k]}$ and backed $\text{[k]}$ are non-contrastive allophones of the single phoneme $\text{/k/}$.

  • In Arabic, these two sounds are distinct, contrastive phonemes.

Phonetics vs. Phonology

• Phonetics (pg. 10):

  • The study of the physical production, acoustic transmission, and perception of speech sounds.

  • Focuses on the physical act of producing and perceiving speech.

• Phonology (pg. 10):

  • The study of the systematic organization and mental rules governing sounds within a specific language.

  • Establishes rules regarding phonemic contrasts, phonotactic constraints, word positions, and allowable consonant combinations.

Structural Architecture of the Syllable

• Syllable Definition (pg. 10-11):

  • A structural unit of speech consisting of at least one vowel (or vowel-like component), optionally surrounded by consonant(s).

• Phonotactic Constraints & Structural Complexity (pg. 10-11):

  • Allowable syllable shapes vary by language (e.g., Hawaiian restricts syllable structures to $\text{CV}$ and $\text{V}$).

  • English Onset Limit: Most complex onset in English is $\text{CCCV}$ (e.g., string).

  • English Coda Limit: Most complex coda in English is $\text{VCCCC}$ (e.g., sixths).

  • Canonical English Syllable Shape: $\text{CCCVCCCC}$ (e.g., strengths $\text{/strɛŋkθs/}$).

• Three Structural Components of a Syllable (pg. 10-11):

  • Onset: Sounds prior to the peak.

  • Peak (Nucleus): The most prominent, acoustically intense component; usually a vowel, but can be a consonant called a syllabic consonant.

  • Coda: Sounds following the peak.

  • Rhyme (Rime): Formed by $\text{Nucleus} + \text{Coda}$. Words that share the same rhyme structure rhyme phonologically.

  • Structural Breakdown Example ($\text{/sit/}$ "seat"):

  • Onset: $\text{/s/}$

  • Nucleus: $\text{/i/}$

  • Coda: $\text{/t/}$

  • Rhyme: $\text{/it/}$

• Open vs. Closed Syllables (pg. 10-11):

  • Open Syllables: Syllables that have no coda.

  • Example: $\text{/bi/}$ ("bee")

  • Example: First syllable of $\text{/beɪ.biz/}$ ("babies")

  • Closed Syllables: Syllables that have a coda.

  • Example: $\text{/stap/}$ ("stop")

• Syllable Division and Boundaries (pg. 10-11):

  • Identifying the total number of syllables in a word is straightforward, but agreeing on exact syllable boundaries is more difficult because spoken boundary rules differ from written orthographic rules.

  • Example boundary options for telephone: \text{/tɛ.lɘ.fo͡ʊn/} vs. \text{/tɛl.ɘ.fo͡ʊn/}.

Positional Terminology in Phonetics

• Word-Position Terminology (pg. 11):

  • Describes where a sound occurs relative to a word:

  • Initial: Sound occurs at the beginning of a word (e.g., $\text{/g/}$ in gum).

  • Medial: Sound occurs in the middle of a word (e.g., $\text{/g/}$ in ago).

  • Final: Sound occurs at the end of a word (e.g., $\text{/g/}$ in beg).

• Vocalic-Relation Terminology (pg. 11):

  • Describes a consonant's position relative to vowels within a syllable (linguistically more precise):

  • Prevocalic: Consonant precedes a vowel.

  • Intervocalic: Consonant occurs between two vowels.

  • Postvocalic: Consonant follows a vowel.

  • Comparative Example:

  • In earphones, $\text{/r/}$ is postvocalic.

  • In arrest, $\text{/r/}$ is prevocalic (even though $\text{/r/}$ occupies a word-medial position in both words).