Introduction to Linguistics 2The Sound System

Prof. Jo Lewkowicz

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Review of week 1

1. What is language?2. In what ways do languages differ from each other?3. In what ways is human language similar to / different

from animal communication?4. What role does context play in determining meaning?5. What is the difference between an utterance and a

sentence?6. What do you understand by the following utterance?– If you leave your car in this road, it’s likely to get a ticket.

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Systems of language

• Language consists of 3 interlocking systems– The system of sounds– The system of words – The system of grammar

• These systems form the resources for creating meaning

• Each system is language specific• Each can be pulled apart and put back

together again

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The sound system

• The sound system of any language can be studied from two points of view:– how individual sounds in the language are made

(phonetics)– The relationship between sounds and meaning

(phonology)

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Organs of speech

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How do we make speech sounds?• Use air from our lungs as well as the organs of speech, i.e. lips,

tongue, teeth , vocal cords to create different sounds• By manipulating the sounds in different ways we make different

sounds– Phonemes are different sounds that indicate a different meaning, e.g.

pill/bill, till/dill, mill/nil– Allophones are variations in pronunciation of individual sounds that

do not signal difference in meaning, e.g. the difference in the way the /l/ is pronounced according to the sounds that surround it, as in plane and pail.

• Which sounds can be put together in a given language is rule governed, i.e. certain sounds can go together while others cannot. In English /ng/ can appear at the end of a string of sounds as in ‘sing’ but not at the beginning (as opposed to languages such as Thai where /ng/ can appear at the beginning).

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Processes of speech production

• Initiation– process of expelling air from the lungs

• Phonation – process of opening or narrowing of the vocal chords

as the air stream goes through, producing either voiced sounds (e.g. /b/, /d/) or voiceless sounds (e.g. /p/, /t/)

• Articulation– The way in which the tongue and lips impede and

manipulate the flow of air.

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Representing spoken language• More sounds in English than letters

– e.g.12 vowel sounds, only 6 vowel letters• The relationship between spelling and the way words are

pronounced is opaque in English (as compared to Finnish)– Would you consider Polish a more or less opaque language?

• To represent pronunciation the International Phonetic Alphabet has been created– Allows representation of how words are pronounced

• coot /ku:t/– cute /kjut/ – Allows dialectical variations to be noted

• coupon /kupan/ - /kjupan/– Allows the notation of languages for which there is no writing

system e.g. Kpelle spoken in Liberia

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Types of sounds 1• Consonants

– Made by obstructing the air stream in different ways as it leaves the lungs. – Consonants are classified according to:

• Voicing (voiced / voiceless)• Manner of articulation (how the sound is made, e.g. by stopping the air in the mouth

and then expelling it quickly as in the plosive sounds /p/ & /b/.– Plosives (stops) /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /?/– Nasals /m/,/n/, /ŋ/– Fricatives /f/, /v/, /θ/, / ð/, /s/, /z/, /∫/, /З/, /h/– Affricates /t∫/, /dЗ/– Liquids /l/ , /r/– Glides /w/ , /j/

• Place of articulation (where in the mouth the air is stopped or obstructed)– Bilabial (2 lips)– Labiodental (teeth and lips)– Interdental (tongue between the teeth)– Alveolar (tongue touching the alveolar ridge)– Palatal (tongue raised towards the hard palate)– Velar (back of the tongue raised at the velum)– Glottal (air is stopped at the glottis)

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Types of sounds 2• Vowels– Air stream is never blocked when producing vowels– They form the nucleus of the syllable & can stand

alone– Vowels are classified according to:

• Tongue height (high, mid, low)• The part of the tongue being raised (front, middle, back)• Shape of the lips ( spread, neutral, round)• Vowel length (short, long)

• Diphthongs– Combination of 2 sounds (vowel + glide)

• e.g. fly, toy, cloud

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Vowel Chart

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Sound and meaning

• The study of sounds & the relationship between sound and meaning is called phonology

• Two branches of phonology– segmental: involving individual sounds– suprasegmental: stress, rhythm & intonation

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Segmental phonology• Look at the following pairs of sentences: in what way do they

differ?– He beat the dog - Look at that rock!– He bit the dog - Look at that lock!

• The differences are in a single sound (phoneme)• Phonemes are the building blocks of meaning• Words that differ in a single phoneme (either vowel or consonant)

are known as minimal pairs• Languages do not necessarily share the same phonemes, e.g. In

Japanese there is no distinction between /l/ & /r/, hence you might think a Japanese air steward(ess) has said:– Have a good fright, instead of : have a good flight

• Make a list of 5 minimal pairs in English

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Suprasegmental phonology• Stress – emphasis placed on a syllable or a word– This 'building is 'VERY 'noisy– THIS 'building is 'very 'noisy

• Rhythm – tune of the language, pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables– English is a stress-timed language, therefore the pattern is

irregular• Intonation – raising and lowering of voice pitch to

convey aspects of meaning not different meaning as in tonal languages– This is the house. (falling tone)– This is the house? (rising tone)

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Communicative functions of intonation

• Emotional– to express boredom, excitement, surprise etc.

• Grammatical– to mark grammatical contrast such as positive & negative or question vs. statement

• Information structure– to mark new or important information, to give prominence to the part of the utterance the

speaker wants the listener to take note of• Textual

– to give larger stretches of discourse a melodic shape: this allows us to discern the type of discourse (e.g. a news-report, football results etc.)

• Psychological– to make language more easily understandable/accessible: we learn and remember in chunks

rather than individual words• Indexical

– as markers of personal identity and the social & professional groups we belong to

(From Crystal, D. (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

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Written and spoken forms• In written form a difference is often noted by

punctuation, whereas when spoken it is the stress pattern which indicates meaning– Compare:

• White House -white house• Let’s hunt, Sam – Let’s hunt Sam• My sister, who lives in Bristol, is coming to Warsaw next week –

My sister who lives in Bristol is coming to Warsaw next week • Stress patterns are easily acquired by children, but

seem much more difficult to acquire by adult learners• Stress patterns of a language is a major contributor to

a foreign accent

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Accent vs. dialect

• Accent– Refers to particular ways of pronouncing a

language and varies according to geographical origin, educational background and social class

• Dialect– Refers to varieties of language that vary

phonologically, lexically and even to some extent grammatically

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