introduction to core linguistics (2)

8/17/2019 Introduction to Core Linguistics (2)

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Phonetics: description of speech sounds.Place of articulation

Phonetics Manner of articulation

Voicing

1.

Place of articulation:

Lips

Teeth Mouth

Tongue

Alveolar ridge The roof

Hard palate Of the

mouth

Soft palate/Velum

Tip of the tongue

Blade of the tongue Tongue body

Front of the tongue

Back of the tongue

Uvula

PharynxVocal tract

Glottis

Larynx

Lungs Articulators



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Active: tongue; lips; soft palate (velum)… Articulators

Passive: teeth; alveolar ridge; Hard palate…

Oral Central Airflow Oral

Nasal Lateral (sides)

Air flows either from the oral or from the nasal cavity.Oral: air flows either from the centre or from the sides of the mouth.Ex: r (central); l (lateral)Nasal: the velum lowers and blocks off the oral cavity to let the air out of the nostrils.Ex: m; n; ŋ

Postalveolar/alveopalatal=hard palate + front of the tongue.Ex: dʒ - t ʃ - ʒ - ʃ Retroflex=Tongue tip + Hard palateEx : ɹ

Consonants

Speech sounds Vowels Glides (Semi consonants/vowels)

Lips Teeth Tongue

Alveolar

ridge

Hard

palate

Soft

palate/

Velum

Uvula Pharynx Glottis

Lips

Bilabial(p;b;m;

w)

Labiodental(f;v)

Teeth

Labiodental(f;v)

Interdental/Dent

als

(θ;ð)

Tongue

Interdental/ Dentals

(θ;ð)

Alveolar(t;s;z;d;n;

l;r)

Palatal( ʃ ;ʒ;t ʃ ;d

ʒ;j)

Velar

(k;g;ŋ) Uvular(q;ʀ;x)

Pharyngeal

(ʕ;ħ)

Glottal

(Ɂ;h)

Alveolarridge

Alveolar(t;s;z;d;n

;l;r)

Hard

palate

Palatal( ʃ ;ʒ;t ʃ ;dʒ;

j)

Soft

palate/V

elum

Velar

(k;g;ŋ)

Uvula Uvular(q;ʀ;x)

Pharynx

Pharyngeal

(ʕ;ħ)

Glottis Glottal

(Ɂ;h)



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Consonantal sounds cause an obstruction of airflow in the vocal tract.Ex: d; t; b; k; pVowel sounds cause little to no obstruction of airflow in the vocal tract.Ex: [i:] [a:] [ᴐ:] [з:] [u:] Glides are sounds pronounced with approximately open vocal folds.

Ex: j; w

2. Manner of articulation:

Plosives/stops: sounds produced with the lips. (Complete obstruction of the air).Ex: b; p; t; d; k; gNasals: sounds produced through the nasal cavity.Ex: m; n; ŋ Trills: sounds produced with the tip of the tongue flapping repeatedly the alveolar ridge.Ex: r (rrrrrr)

Tap/flap: sound produced with one single flap by the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge.(Mostly used by the Americans)Ex: ɾ (Bett er) (Ladder)Fricatives: sounds produced with a partial obstruction of the air causing a friction.Ex: f; v; s; z; θ; ð; ʃ ; ʒ

Lateral fricative/Lateral approximant/Alveolar lateral approximant/Lateral liquid: soundproduced with the airflow released from the sides. Ex: lLiquids: sounds produced with an obstruction of the air + frictionless airflow.Ex: l; ɹ Glides: sounds pronounced with approximately open vocal folds. (Frictionless open

approximation)Ex: w; j Affricates= stops + fricativesEx: t ʃ = t+ ʃ dʒ=d+ʒ

Approximants= liquids+glidesEx : l ; ɹ ; w ; jPalatal approximant: is made by raising the tongue body up to the hard palate.Ex: jLabiovelar approximant: an open approximation at the lips and the tongue back is raisedtowards the velum.Ex: w Alveolar approximant/Retroflex liquid: to produce this sound, the tongue tip orblade is raised up towards the alveolar ridge and curved. Ex: ɹ

Primary articulation

Features of consonants (monophthongs): they are three.

Consonant Voicing Place of articulation Manner of articulation

b Voiced Bilabial Stop/Plosive

p Voiceless Bilabial Stop/Plosive

m Voiced Bilabial Nasal and Stop

θ Voiceless Interdental Fricative



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ð Voiced Interdental Fricative

f Voiceless Labiodental Fricative

v Voiced Labiodental Fricative

t Voiceless Alveolar Stop/Plosive

d Voiced Alveolar Stop/Plosive

s Voiceless Alveolar Fricative

z Voiced Alveolar Fricative

n Voiced Alveolar Nasal and Stop

l Voiced Alveolar Liquid

r Voiced Alveolar Trill

ɹ Voiced Alveolar Liquid

ɾ Voiced Alveolar Tap/Flap

ʃ Voiceless Palatal Fricative

ʒ Voiced Palatal Fricative

t ʃ Voiceless Palatal Affricate

dʒ Voiced Palatal Affricate

j Voiced Palatal Glide

k Voiceless Velar Stop/Plosive

g Voiced Velar Stop/Plosive

ŋ Voiced Velar Nasal and Stop

ʀ Voiced Uvular Trill

ᵡ Voiced Uvular Fricative

q Voiced Uvular Stop/Plosive

ħ Voiceless Pharyngeal Fricative

ʕ Voiced Pharyngeal Fricativeh Voiceless Glottal Fricative

Ɂ Voiceless Glottal Stop/Plosive

w Voiced Labiovelar Glide

ʍ Voiceless Labiovelar Glide

Note: all nasals are stops.

Features of vowels: they are four.

Vowel Height of the

tongue

Frontness/backness

of the tongue

Tenseness/laxness

of the tongue

Rounded/unrounded

i High Front Tense Unrounded

ɪ High Front Lax Unrounded

e Mid Front Tense Unrounded

ɛ Mid Front Lax Unrounded

з Mid Central Lax Unrounded

ӕ Low Front Lax Unrounded

a Low Back Tense Unrounded

ʌ Mid Central Lax Unrounded

o Mid Back Tense Rounded

ə Mid Central Lax Unrounded

aɪ Low Front Tense Unrounded



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Ex: the sound [ŋ] This is a voiced alveolar nasal stop. The air starts from the lungs and goes up to the glottis; that is

the pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. The air passes through the glottis between

approximate vocal folds causing vibration. In the phonation process, the air flows through the

nasal cavity while the tongue back comes into contact with the velum that lowers and blocks off

the oral cavity making a plosive sound. Finally, we get a nasal sound out the nostrils.

Secondary articulation:

It is the addition of an approximant or vowel-like articulation to a primary one occurring at thesame time. This has many types:

Labialization: to labialize a consonant is to make it bilabial by adding a bilabial sound directlyafter it.Ex: K + W = [k w] as in “queen” [K] is a sub-script.

[W] is a super-script.The sub-script is not bilabial but the super-script is; so the fact that they occur at the same timemakes of [K] a bilabial sound.Another example is “r” when followed by a round vowel sound like [u], it becomes round too as

in “root” [rwut]

Nasalization: generally, when pronouncing a nasal sound, the velum lowers to let the airthrough the nasal cavity. The same process happens by placing a tilde ~ above the nasalizedvowel.Ex: pin [pĩn] kin [kĩn]

Palatalization: one of the palatal sounds we have seen is [j]. It is used as a super-script toindicate that the preceding sound is palatalized or rather dark. The best example for this is “l”

Ex: lead [ljid] leaf [ljif]

Velarization: the tongue back raises and comes into contact with the velum. A tilde is put

through the velarized sound. Velarized sounds can also be represented by a small velar symbol ɣ

Ex: kill [k ɪɫ ] [k ɪlɣ] heal [hi ɫ ] [hilɣ]

Pharyngealization: when a sound is pharyngealized, the tongue back is pushed as downwardsand as backwards as possible, as if “swallowing.” Arabic and some other languages have

pharyngeal sounds. Here are some Arabic examples:

h becomes [ħ] t becomes [t ʕ ] طd becomes [dʕ]

Major phonetic classes

As we can divide life forms into larger or smaller classes, we can divide speech sounds similarly.

- Noncontinuants: are stops (including nasals) and affricates. (total obstruction of theairstream in the oral cavity)

-

Continuants: All other consonants, and all vowels, are continuants. (the stream of airflows continuously)



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- Obstruents: include the non-nasal stops, the fricatives, and the affricates. (the airstreammay be fully or nearly fully obstructed)

- Sonorants: are vowels, nasal stops, liquids, and glides. (much less obstruction)

- Consonantals: are the obstruents, the nasal stops, the liquids, and the glides. (there is

some degree of restriction to the airflow)- Labials: are the bilabials, the labiodentals, and the labiovelars. (involvement of the lips)

- Coronals: contain the interdentals, the alveolars, the palatals, the affricates, and theliquids. (raising of the tongue blade)

- Anteriors: consist of labials, interdentals, and alveolars. (from the alveolar area forward)

Sounds produced from the alveolar area backward, are posterior sounds.

- Sibilants: produce a hissing sound. [s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] [dʒ]



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PHONOLOGY

Phonology: is the study of the sound system of a language.

First, one should be able to distinguish between phonetics and phonology. Second, one shouldrealize what both the studies have in common.

Phonetics deals with physical properties of speech sounds.

Phonology deals with the organization of speech sounds in a particular language.

What is common between them is that they both deal with speech sounds as whenpronouncing a word or when listening to someone speaking.

Distribution/patterning of speech sounds:

The distribution is where a speech sound occurs in a set of phonetic environments.We have the sound [p] and we want to know where it occurs. Before going any further, we

should know that the sound [p] consists of two allophones (It has two ways of pronunciation);we can simply pronounce it [p] as in spring [sprɪŋ] or [ph] as in port [phᴐ:t]. We call the small h aspiration because when we pronounce the bilabial stop [ph], we produce aspiration as soon asthe air is released; so, we say that [p] and [ph] are allophones of the same phoneme /p/.

English phonemes:

A phoneme is the minimal unit of sound which is significant in a language and capable ofdistinguishing meaning. Phonemes are known to be distinctive, contrastive, phonemic, ornon-redundant for they are able to change the meaning of a word. That is what we callcontrastiveness.

- Contrastiveness: is a change in meaning by replacing one sound with another.Consider these words: K it SitThey have the same pattern but their meaning is different. The responsible is the phoneme thatoccurs at the beginning of each word. Therefore, we would say that /k/ and /s/ are differentphonemes and are in contrastive distribution.If we want to know that two sounds are in contrastive distribution, we construct a minimal pairby interchanging one sound with the other, which result in difference in meaning. Then, we cansay that the two sounds are in contrastive distribution.E.g. Dig Pig /d/ and /p/ are in contrastive distribution because the meaning is different.

Allophone: is a phonetic realization of a phoneme. They are the same as phonetic transcriptions. Allophony: unlike allophones, allophony is a multiple realization of a phoneme and it has twotypes: Complementary distribution and free variation.

[p] Allophone 1Phoneme/p/

[ph] Allophone 2

Now, we have two allophones for the same phoneme. /p/ is phonetically distinct (aspirated vs.unaspirated) but it is the same sound.Again, allophones are known to be non-distinctive, non-contrastive, phonetic, or redundant

for they are not able to change the meaning of a word especially the ones that are aspirated.



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[p] and [ph] are in complementary distribution (They both unite to give us one phoneme) sothe first one is basic and the second one is derived by the application of a rule.

Not all allophones are aspirated! Aspiration does not change meaning in English. Here is a rule of aspiration:

For the occurrence of [ph] it is always word initially before a vowel (It occurs at the beginningof a word before a vowel sound)E.g. port [phᴐ:t] ; pull [phʊl] t ime [t haɪm] ; t ell [t hel]

As for unaspirated sounds, they occur elsewhere (They are either preceded or followed by aconsonant)E.g. spring [sprɪŋ] ; sport [spᴐ:t] curt ain [kз:tən] ; forest [f ɒrɪst]

Now that we know the rule of aspiration, we say that it is predictable (It has a rule and we knowhow to use it)

In some other languages, aspiration is contrastive (It can change meaning). Here is an example ofthe Hindi language:[kap] ‘Cup’ [k ʌp]

[k hap] ‘Phlegm’ [flem]

Free variation: consists of different allophones for the same phoneme, occurring in the sameenvironment with no difference in meaning. This word can be pronounced in three differentways: Bott le [bɒtl] , [bɒɾl] or [bɒɁl] The phoneme /t/ has three different allophones [t], [ɾ] and [Ɂ]. They all represent one phonemeand occur in the same environment with no change in meaning. We can of course add [t h] as

another allophone of /t/ if it is word initially.

Note: phonemes use slashes /p/ while allophones use square brackets [p]

Phoneme VS Allophone

- The same sound in normal spelling. - Similar to phonetic transcriptions.- Abstract mental entity (In the mind) - Related to what is said

- Minimal pair test: Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and have different meanings.

E.g. K it SitDo not confuse a minimal pair with a minimal trio.

- Minimal trio:

A minimal trio has the same rule as a minimal pair except that to a minimal trio adds one moreword.E.g. K it Sit Pit

A minimal pair or a minimal trio can occur anywhere but in the same position.E.g. Bark; Bask Lad; Lap Him; Hit ; Hid



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Sometimes, two different sounds occur in the same pair by changing their meanings; that is anear minimal pair.E.g. Bring; Blink Drink; Blink

Nasalized vowels in EnglishVowels can also be phonemes like the consonants but this time, with nasalization not withaspiration. As we have seen in phonetics lessons, when a vowel appears before a nasal sound, itis nasalized. Otherwise, it is not nasalized.E.g. Bean [bĩn] Bead [bid]

Lame [lem] Lace [les]Song [sŋ] Sought [st]

Each vowel phoneme has two allophones: a nasalized vowel vs. an oral vowel.[i] [e] [ᴐ]

/I/ /e/ //[ĩ] [e] []

Is vowel length contrastive in English??

Of course it is. Let us consider the following examples:fit vs. feet hill vs. heal bit vs. beatsit vs. seat full vs. fool pull vs. poolBoth short and long vowels change meaning in each pair.

Natural class

A group of sounds in a language that share one or more articulatory or auditory property

excluding all the other sounds in that language. They are three in English: /p/ /t/ /k/

/p/: voiceless bilabial stop/t/: voiceless alveolar stop/k/: voiceless velar stop

They are all voiceless stops. Therefore, they form a natural class.

Distinctive features

We know that a phoneme is the smallest unit capable of distinguishing meaning. Yet, distinctive

features are even smaller; they give you an idea about the bundle of features that a phoneme

has.

Syllable

- Syllabic [±syl]: phonemes are known to be either consonants or vowels. A syllable is adivision of a word made by vowels; so, vowels are the ones that make syllables and arereferred to as +syllabic [+syl]. Consonants cannot make syllables without vowels; sothey are referred to as –syllabic [-syl]

[+syl]=vowel [-syl]=consonant



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- Consonantal [±cons]: the [+cons] sounds are the obstruents, the nasals, and the liquids.The opposite are the vowels and the vowel like consonants which are the glides [−cons]

- Sonorant [±son]: the vowels, the glides, the liquids, and the nasals [+son] or [+approx].

The [−son] are the plosives, the affricates, and the fricatives

- Noncontinuant[−cont]: the plosives, and the nasals.- Continuant[+cont]: All other sounds (including fricatives) are continuants.

- Coronals[+coronal]: the interdentals, the alveolars, the palatals, the affricates, and theliquids.

- Strident [±strid] (noisy sound): the fricatives and the affricates included in

labiodentals, sibilants and uvulars are [+strid]; all other fricatives and affricates are[–strid].

-

Delayed Release[±del rel]: only the affricates are [+del rel]

- Nasal [±nas]: nasal stops and nasalized vowels are [+nas]

- Lateral [±lat]: the sound [l] is [+lat]

- Anterior [±ant]: labials, labiodentals, interdentals, and alveolars [+ant]. The posteriors

are the retroflex and the palatals [-ant]

- Voiced [±voiced]: sonorants, including vowels, are all voiced. [+voiced]

- Aspiration [±asp]: aspirated sounds are [+asp]. Otherwise, they are [-asp]

- High [±high]: this feature concerns vowels that are pronounced with the tongue bodyraised close to the roof of the mouth [+high]. Low vowels are referred to as [-high]

- Back [±back]: vowels that are pronounced with the dorsum brought backward are[+back]. Those pronounced with the dorsum brought forward are [-back]

- Low [±low]: low vowels are the opposite of high vowels. - Rounded [±rounded]: sounds pronounced with rounded lips are [+rounded]

Feature matrix

Consonants

b p m θ ð f v t d

±Syl - - -/+ - - - - - -

±Cons + + + + + + + + +

±Approx - - - - - - - - -

±Son - - + - - - - - -

±Cont - - - + + + + - -

±Coro - - - + + - - + +±Strid - - - - - + + - -



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±Del rel - - - - - - - - -

±Nas - - + - - - - - -

±Lat - - - - - - - - -

±Ant + + + + + + + + +

±Voice + - + - + - + - +

s z n l r ʃ ʒ t ʃ dʒ

±Syl - - -/+ -/+ -/+ - - - -

±Cons + + + + + + + + +

±Approx - - - + + - - - -

±Son - - + + + - - - -

±Cont + + - + + + + -/+ -/+

±Coro + + + + + + + + +

±Strid + + - - - + + + +

±Del rel - - - - - - - + +

±Nas - - + - - - - - -±Lat - - - + - - - - -

±Ant + + + + + - - - -

±Voice - + + + + - + - +

j k g ŋ h w

±Syl - - - -/+ - -

±Cons - + + + + -

±Approx + - - - - +

±Son + - - + - +

±Cont + - - - + +±Coro + - - - - -

±Strid - - - - - -

±Del rel - - - - - -

±Nas - - - + - -

±Lat - - - - - -

±Ant - - - - - +

±Voice + - + + - +

Vowels

i

ɪ

e

ɛ

з

ӕ

a

ʌ

o

±High + + - - - - - - -

±Mid - - + + + - - + +

±Low - - - - - + + - -

±Back - - - - - - + - +

±Central - - - - + - - + -

±Round - - - - - - - - +

±Tense + - + - - - + - +

ə aɪ aʊ ᴐ ᴐɪ ʊ u

±High - - - - - + +

±Mid + - - + + - -



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±Low - + + - - - -

±Back - - + + - + +

±Central + - - - - - -

±Round - - + + + + +

±Tense - + + - - - +

Syllable structure

A syllable is the division of a word; it divides it into many parts. A word can have one or moresyllables. Here, we are not going to deal only with syllables but also with the structure of asyllable.

Syllable

Onset Rime

Nucleus Coda

This hierarchy presents what a syllable consists of. The onset is the beginning of the syllable (thefirst sound) which is normally a consonant. The rime contains the nucleus and the coda thatconstitute a subsyllabic unit. The nucleus is the centre of the syllable and is normally a vowelthat makes the syllable. The coda represents the final sound of the syllable.

Big

B Rime

I GB is the onset, I is the nucleus, and G is the coda.

Of

Rime

O FThis word does not have an onset; it has a vowel which is the nucleus followed by a final segment

which is the coda. We notice that the same rime is used in both words BIG and OF:vowel/consonant.

Plain English: this is a rule that has a form of a mathematical notation.Let us take any rule that we have already seen and apply this formal rule to it.

Aspiration: we are going to explain how [p] becomes [ph] when it is word initially before avowel.

C C V[-asp] [+asp]/⧣⧿ [+syl] port [phᴐ:t]

-aspirated consonant becomes +aspirated consonant when it is word initially before a vowel.



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The [-asp] (unaspirated [p])(becomes)

[+asp] (aspirated [ph])/ (when it is)

(word initially)

(before)[+syl] (a vowel)Nasalization: explanation of how vowels become nasalized.When a vowel occurs before a nasal sound.

V V C[-nas] [+nas]/ [+nas] Bean [bĩn]

-nasal vowel becomes +nasal vowel when it occurs before a nasal consonant.

Vowel length: explanation of how a short vowel becomes long.In English, a vowel becomes long when it occurs before a voiced consonant word finally

V V C[-long] [+long]/⧿[+voice]⧣

OrV V C

[+syl] [+long]/⧿[+voice]⧣

Types of phonological rules.

There are seven major types:

Assimilation

Dissimilation

Insertion Metathesis

Strengthening (fortition)

Weakening (lenition)

Deletion/elision

Assimilation: is the absorption of one sound to the other so that they have the same sound.Progressive assimilation: a consonant changes to be like the one that precedes it.E.g. dogs [dɒgz] labs [læbz] lids [lɪdz]Normally, /s/ is a voiceless sound; because it is preceded by the voiced consonant /g/, it

becomes voiced, too.C C C[-voice] [+voice]/ [+voice] ⧿⧣

Regressive assimilation: a consonant changes to be like the one that follows it.E.g. give me gimme let me lemmeAssimilation has three other types:

The assimilation of voice and tension: voicing assimilation occurs in three ways.It occurs either with plural (s), with third person, or with possessive (‘s)

Plural (s)

The sound [s] depends on the nature of the sound preceding it. Therefore, it can be pronounced[s] [z] or [ɪz]. These are called allomorphs.



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If the final sound is voiceless non-sibilant, it takes a voiceless alveolar fricative [s]E.g. belief beliefs [bɪʽli:fs]If the final sound is a voiced non-sibilant, it takes a voiced fricative [z]E.g. kid kids [k ɪdz]If the noun ends in one of the sibilants, it takes [ɪz]

E.g. church churches [t ʃɜ:t ʃɪz]

Third person

This concerns verbs conjugated in the third person singular “He” and it follows the same rule as

the plural (s)E.g. work works [wɜ:ks] dig digs [dɪgz] miss misses [mɪsɪz]

Possessive (‘s)

Again, the same rule applies in this type of voice assimilation.E.g. Jeff’s dog Bob’s computer Josh’s book

Note: when /s/ is preceded by a vowel, it is always pronounced as a voiced sound [z]

The assimilation of place: has the same rule as the regressive assimilation. We notice that there is stress where assimilation occurs.E.g. meat pie meappie [mi:ʽpaɪ] ten men temmen [teʽmen] In the first example, /p/ is the affecting sound and /t/ is the affected sound.

The assimilation of manner: voicing plays an important role in this rule, too.This rule concerns manners of articulation only for the plosives, the fricatives, and the affricates.When they come before a voiceless consonant, they are devoiced (i.e. they become voiceless as

well). That is what we call devoicing.E.g. his [hɪz] fist [f ɪst] his fist [hɪs f ɪst]

with [wɪð] sympathy [sɪmpəθɪ] with sympathy [wɪʽsɪmpəθɪ]

Both /s/ and /θ/ lose their voicing.

Dissimilation: is a process in which one sound becomes different from the neighboring sound.E.g. chimney [t ʃɪmnɪ] some natives pronounce it [t ʃɪmlɪ].

/m/ and /n/ are both nasals. /n/ turns into /l/ which is alveolar.

Insertion: includes a sound that is not present phonemically but is present phoneticallybetween two vowels.E.g. blue eyes [blu: aɪz] is pronounced [blu:waɪz] Ø w/V⧿V

the apples [ðə æpəlz] is pronounced [ðɪjæpəlz] Ø j/V⧿VNothing becomes [w] or [j] when it is intervocalic.

Metathesis: is a change in sounds’ order; a word’s segments are inverted in this process. E.g. first and bird were pronounced [frɪst] and [brɪd] in old English.

Strengthening (fortition): process by which a sound is made stronger.

E.g. bit [bɪt] vs. bid [bɪd] hiss [hɪs] vs. his [hɪz]Although they are phonetically similar, the ones on the right are a little bit longer.



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Weakening (lenition): process by which a sound is made weaker.Should have is pronounced should’ve [ ʃʊdəv]Could have is pronounced could’ve [k ʊdəv]Would have is pronouncedwould’ve [wʊdəv]

Alveolar flapping: /t/ and /d/ are the only sounds changed from alveolar stop to alveolar flap[ɾ] mostly by the Americans. They must occur between vowels and the stress needs to be placedon the syllable preceding /t/ or /d/. E.g. writer [ʽraɪt ə] rider [ʽraɪdə][t] and [d] are different phonemes having the same transcription for ɾ [ʽraɪɾər]

Deletion/elision: in this process, some sounds like coronal stops are no longer pronounced.E.g. hand [hænd] becomes [hæn]

sandwich [sændwɪt ʃ ] becomes [sænwɪt ʃ ]list [lɪst] becomes [lɪs]

For vowels, they become less strong when they follow /p/ /t/ or /k/E.g. potato [pəʽteɪt əʊ]

today [t əʽdeɪ]connect [k əʽnekt]

How to deal with the phonology of foreign languages

Examine the following data set of the Spanish language:[drama] drama [komiða] food[dolor] pain [anda] scram[dime] tell me [sweldo] salary

[kaða] each [durar] to last[laðo] side [toldo] curtain[oðio] hatred [falda] skirt

First, we need to know if [d] and [ð] are allophones of one phoneme, or are separate phonemes.

We should study the distribution of each sound (how they are distributed) and our study will tellus what kind of sounds they are.

1. Draw a vertical line putting one sound at the top.

d

2. Find all the words in which the sounds occur and identify their environment.[drama], [dolor], [dime], [anda], [sweldo], [durar], [toldo], [falda]

d



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⧣ CV⧣

V⧣

C V

C V

V⧣ C V

C V

3. Find all the words in which the sound occur and identify its environment.[kaða], [laðo], [oðio], [komiða]

ðV V

V VV VV V

What do you notice? If we apply a rule for this, it will be easy.

[ð]/V⧿V /d/ [ð]/ V⧿V//

[d] elsewhere

[ð] occurs between two vowels whereas [d] occurs elsewhere.We conclude that the sounds are allophones of one phoneme.

We know that the sound [d] occurs in different environments. Suppose that [ð] occurred in adifferent environment, too. What would be the correct analysis for that?

Look at the following data set of the Southern Kongo:

tobola “to bore a hole” zevo “then” dʒima “to stretch” nselele “termite” noko ʃ i “lion” kunezulu “to heaven” t ʃina “to cut ” adʒimola “alms” kasu “emaciation” lolondʒi “to wash” zenga “to cut ” tanu “five” kesoka “to be cut ” nzwetu “our house” t ʃ iba “banana”

As we did with the Spanish data set, we should first state the distribution of [t, t ʃ ],[s, ʃ ], and [z, dʒ]

t t ʃ [t ʃ ]/⧿ V [+high]⧣ V ⧣ V / /V V ⧣ V [t] elsewhere⧣ V

s ʃ [ ʃ ]/⧿ V [+high]C V V V / /V V [ [s] elsewhereV V



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z dʒ ⧣ V C V [dʒ]/⧿ V [+high]⧣ V V V / /C V ⧣ V [z] elsewhereV V

It seems that [t ʃ ] [ ʃ ] and [dʒ] are derived (they have a rule) but there is something wrong with[dʒ]. In this case, we cannot identify the rule of each sound unless their distribution becomesequal. Even if the environment preceding them is different, they have the same distribution atthe end (followed by vowels). Yet, we still cannot put a rule to that (simply by saying that theyoccur before a vowel) only if we give a description of what type of vowels they are. If we go backto the data set, we will find out that they all precede a high front unrounded vowel which is [i]



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Morphology: is the study of internal words’ structure.

What does a word consist of ?

A word consists of one, two, or more morphemes.

Morpheme: is the smallest unit that has either a meaning or serves a grammatical function.E.g. teacher teach-er teachers teach-er-sThis word has two morphemes: teach+er. Teach is the root or the base, er refers to the doer ofthe action also called the agent , and if we add s, the word will take a third morpheme serving agrammatical function which is the plural form.

Classification of morphemes Monomorphemic: is a one-word morpheme.E.g. secure

Polymorphemic: a word containing two or three morphemes.E.g. beautifully beauti-ful-ly

Free morpheme: a morpheme that stands on its own as one word.E.g. table beauty secure

Bound morpheme: a morpheme that cannot stand alone and that is attached to a freemorpheme.E.g. tables table is a free morpheme, and s is a bound morpheme.

Derivational and inflectional morphemes

Derivational morphemes derive a new word with a change in meaning or lexical category.E.g. able unable able abilityThe first example makes a change in meaning while the second example makes a change in thelexical category (it is changed from an adjective to a noun)

Inflectional morphemes make a change in the grammatical function.E.g. take takes (the third person singular)

easy easiest (the superlative form)

Stems and Affixes

The stem (root, base) is the main morpheme bearing the major meaning in a morphologicallycomplex word.Consider this: disestablishment this is a word of three morphemes whose root is ‘establish’



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Affixes are many types among which there are: prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes. They are attached to free morphemes or to other affixes to add extra information. This process iscalled affixation.Prefixes occur at the beginning: E.g. disagree Suffixes occur at the end: E.g. agreement

Infixes occur in the middle of the root morpheme. In English, infixation is present mostly ininformal words.E.g. fanflamingtastic fan-flaming-tastic , absobloominlutely abso-blooming-lutelyE.g. in Tagalog, sulat means write. If we add the infix mu within the root, we will get sumulat meaning to write.Circumfixes/circumfixation occur at the beginning and at the end. One portion appears beforethe root and the other after.E.g. enlight en disheart en

Affixation

Prefixation: is the addition of a prefix before the stem.

prefix stem

Suffixation: is the addition of a suffix after the stem.

stem suffix

Infixation: is the addition of an infix within the stem.

st infix em

Circumfixation: is the addition of a circumfix before and after the stem.

circum stem fix

Note: morphology uses curling braces instead of slashes or square brackets.

Inflectional affixes of English

Affix Grammatical function Example Number of

morphemes

-s 3rd pers. Sing. pres He proves 2-ed Past tense He proved 2-ing Progressive aspect He is proving 2

-ed, en Past participle He has proved/proven 2-s Plural nouns Houses 2-‘s Possessive The house’s window is

broken.2

-er Comparative John is taller than Jim. 2-est Superlative Mike is the tallest 2



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student.

Note: for verbs that do not change or nouns that do not have a plural form, they are alsoconsidered to having two morphemes when transformed to that grammatical function.

The hierarchical structure of English morphemes

Morphology

Morphemes

Free morphemes Bound morphemes

Lexical Grammatical Affixwords words

Nouns, Conjunctions,Adjectives, Prepositions,Verbs, Articles,Adverbs Pronouns,

Auxilary verbs

Derivational Inflectional

Prefix Suffix Suffix

Pre- -ly -ing -er -sUn- -ist -est -est -‘s Con- - ment -en -ed

Allomorphy Allomorphs: are inflectional suffixes having a certain rule of pronunciation.

- The plural s

This morpheme is pronounced in three ways:[s]: the basic comes after a voiceless consonant caps backs cuffs [z]: the derived comes after voiced consonant cabs bags gloves [Iz]: the vowel insertion comes after a sibilant buses bushes garages

C C[-s]/ [-voice] ⧿ ⧣ or [Ø] [s]/ [-voice]⧿ ⧣

C C Plural [-z]/ [+voice] ⧿ ⧣ or [s] [z]/ [+voice]⧿ ⧣

M C C[-Iz]/[+sibilant]⧿ ⧣ or [s] [Iz]/ [+sibilant]⧿ ⧣

- he past

This is also pronounced in three ways:[d]: the basic comes after a voiced consonant lived combed named [t]: the devoicing comes after a voiceless consonant cooked laughed danced

[Id]: the vowel insertion comes after a voiced consonant wanted decided started



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C C[-d]/ [+voice]⧿ ⧣ or [Ø] [d]/ [+voice]⧿ ⧣

Past C CM [-t]/ [-voice] ⧿ ⧣ or [d] [t]/ [-voice] ⧿ ⧣

C C

[-Id]/ [+voice] ⧿ ⧣ or [d] [Id]/ [+voice] ⧿ ⧣

For the vowel insertion, nothing becomes a vowel when it is inter-consonantal. Ø V/ C⧿CWord-formation processes

Reduplication: process in which a word or a part of it is doubled to make a change in one of thegrammatical functions.E.g. okey-dokey zig-zag ping-pong easy-peasyIn Indonesian, the plural is made by doubling the whole word.E.g. lalat means fly the plural is lalatlalat meaning flies

Alternation: changing internal modifications of morphemes to form words.E.g. f oot (sing) f eet (pl); mouse mice; analysis analyses

Compounding: two separate words join to produce one single word.E.g. sun+tan=suntan, workbook basketball notebook

Clipping/backformation: changing the lexical category of a word, usually from a noun to a verb,by deleting or replacing one of its morphemes with another.E.g. television televise opinion opine light er light emphasis emphasize

Blending: producing a new term by combining two separate forms.E.g. breakfast+lunch=brunch

blot+botch=blotchswear+curse=swurse

Acronyms: a set of words whose initial letters stand for a word.E.g. UNESCO stands for United Nations of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations

RAMED stands for Régime d’Assistance Médicale aux Economiquement Démunis

Coinage: invention of new terms originating from trade names.E.g. Kleenex Xerox aspirin

Borrowing (loan words): using other languages’ words. E.g. hashish (Arabic) crèche (French) Gesundheit (German) spasiba (Russian) grazie (Italian)

Calque (loan translation): direct translation of foreign terms into the borrowing language.E.g. gratte-ciel (scrape-sky) from English skyscraper

power-politics (macht-politik) from German machtpolitik

How to deal with the morphology of foreign languages

kiman “canoe”

nikiman “my canoe” soniya “money”



nisoniya “my money” emihkwan “spoon” nitemihkwan “my spoon” astotan “hat” nitastotan “my hat”

Languages whose morphemes and roots make one word are called agglutinative languages likeArabic, Turkish…. Languages whose morphemes are separate from their roots are called isolating languages suchas French, English… Here we have the first type of language. (The agglutinative)

Look the first word kiman, read it many times so that you learn it by heart and look at itsmeaning in English. (canoe)

Now look at the second word nikiman, and see in what the two words differentiate. Take a penciland try to circle the morpheme that makes the difference ni. Look at the whole meaning (mycanoe) and without thinking much about it, you will certainly recognize the possessivemorpheme making the difference. Do the same thing with the others.

Sometimes we can find exceptions. Consider the following example.

emihkwan is the root meaning spoon; but if we add a possessive morpheme, it will benitemihkwa. Why?? How come that ni becomes nit ?This has a rule.

[ni-]/⧿ C

PossessiveM [nit-]/⧿ V

Ni occurs before a consonant while nit occurs before a vowel.[ni-] [nit-]/⧣ ⧿ V

introduction to core linguistics (2)

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