lecture 10 phonemic analysis (1)

7/27/2019 LECTURE 10 Phonemic Analysis (1)

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PHONEMICANALYSIS


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General assumption:

Speech is composed of phonemes Whenever a speech sound is produced, it

is possible to identify which phoneme thesound in question belongs to.

Still, there are various problems!


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AFFRICATES Phonetically, they are composed of a plosive

+ fricative

But, it is possible to treat each affricate as a

single consonant phoneme (one-phonemeanalysis)

They can also be treated as composed of two

phonemes each, all of which are establishedas independent phonemes in English (two-phoneme analysis)


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/t:t/ & /dd/ In the first case they would be considered as

consisting of 3 phonemes, in the secondcase of 5 phonemes

Which analysis is preferable?

In the 2-phoneme analysis (no separtion ofaffricates) the total number of phonemes is

smaller and should be preferred as moreeconomical (the most efficient codes do notuse unnecessary symbols)


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Still, 1-phoneme analysis is generally chosen by

phonologists as preferable

The arguments for:

1. Phonetic/allophonic argument: phoneticquality of /t/ and // in /t/ and /d/ isdifferent from realisations of the sounds

mentioned found elsewhere, e.g. Differentquality of /t/ in watch apes vs. whatshapes

- still, this argument is weak


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2. Distribution

The proposed phonemes havedistributions similar to other consonants,while other combinations of plosive+fricative do not: /t/ and /d/ are foundinitially, medially and finally while noother combination has such a widedistribution.

However, there are several consonants inEnglish accepted as phonemes in spite ofnot being free to occur in all positions(think ofr, w, j, h, , /


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3. Combining with other cons. Free combining to form clusters would

support the 1-phoneme analysis

- Initially they never occur in clusters

- Finally, they can be followed by t,d andpreceded by l, n

- Another combination: pre-final l,n canoccur with post-final t,d: e.g. squelched,hindged

- So, /t/ and /d/ do not combine freelyto form clusters, particularly not initially


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Two-phoneme analysis Initial /t/ and /d/ would have to be

interpreted as initial t,d + post-initial ,

(besides l,r,w,j) which can combine witht,d, only


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4. Intuition of the native speaker Rather difficult to discover what native

speakers (if untrained in phonetics and

phonology) think or feel


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Other problems: Sounds transcribed as hw, hj

Velar nasal (should it be treated as a

separate phoneme or an allophone of thephoneme n occurring before g)


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The English vowel system Treating all long vowels and diphthongs

as composed of two vowel phonemes:

e.g. long vowels can be seen ascontaining short vowels twice,triphthongs would be composed of abasic vowel + one of,+ (which

makes three phonemes altogether)


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Another way of treating long vowelsand diphthongs

As composed of a vowel + a consonant (j,w, h, r), e.g. /e/ - /ej/, // - /w/,

// - /h/, /i:/ - /j/. /a:/ - /ah/, /u:/ - /uw/

Thus, inequality of distribution is correctedfor consonants that do not otherwise occur

finally in a syllable.


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More about long vowels Remember NEUTRALISATION of /i:/ and

// to /i/; i.e. Cases where contrasts

between phonemes which exist in otherplaces disappear in certain contexts


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Syllabic consonantsA possibility is to add new cons.

Phonemes to the existing list: syllabic

l,r,n as in bottle, button, Hungary


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Clusters of s + plosive

P, t, k in syllable initial position areaspirated, but when preceded by s theybecome unaspirated and could perhapsbe transcribed as b, d, g because

contrast between these two groups ofconsonants become neutralised in thiscontext


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Schwa //// can be treated as an allophone of

several vowels, not only of // inunstressed syllables, e.g.

- Economy vs. economic

- German vs. Germanic


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DISTICTIVE FEATURES Distinctive feature analysis is one of

many different ways of treating thenotion of phoneme.

The principle: phonemes are notminimum, independent, indivisible unitsbut combinations of different features.

In a table showing presence or absence

of features in different consonants therewould be no phonemes with the samecombination of +s ands; otherwise,they could not be treated as differentphonemes


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lecture 10 phonemic analysis (1)

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