PHONOLOGY

Nabaz N. JabbarEnglish Language TeachingNear East University17th Nov 2011

What is Phonology

• The study of the structure and systematic patterns of sounds in human language.

Three major units of phonological analysis:-

1. Segments: Individual speech sounds.

2. Syllables: units of linguistic structure that consists of a syllabic element and any segments associated with it.

3. Features: units of phonological structure that make up segments.

Minimal Pairs

• Minimal Pairs: A basic test for a sound's

distinctiveness. It consists of two forms

with distinct meaning that differ by only

one segment found in the same position in

each form.e.g. [f] and [v] in fat and vat

SEGMENTS IN CONTRAST

• Segments are said to contrast (or to be distinctive or be in opposition).

e.g. The segment [s] and [z] contrast in the word sip and zip

Vowels contrast in English

• English vowels are distinctive, so they contrast.

e.g. The difference between [ɪ] and [e] in [bit] and [bet]

LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC CONTRAST• Sounds that are distinctive in one language

will not necessarily be distinctive in another.

e.g. In English there is crucial difference between these two vowels: [e] and [æ]

• But in Turkish this difference in pronunciation is not distinctive.

e.g. The word for 'I' is [Ben] or [Bæn]

• Conversely, sounds that do not contrast in

English such as long and short vowels, may

be distinctive in another language, like

Japanese and Finnish.

• e.g. [tori] ‘bird’ [tori:] ‘shrine gate’

• e.g. [tuli] ‘fire’ [tu:li] ‘wind’

Phonetically conditioned variation:

• It occurs most often among phonetically

similar segments and conditioned by the

phonetic context in which the segment are

found.

COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION

• Variants of a phoneme that never occur in the same phonetic environment*.

e.g. voiced [l] in slip [slɪp] voiceless [l] in clap [klæp]

*Environment is the phonetic context in which a sound occurs.

Sounds in contrast• Phoneme: The phonological unit of speech

that differentiates or extinguishes meaning.

• Phone: Any speech sound in human language.

• Allophones: Variants of a phoneme, usually in complementary distribution and Phonetically similar.

Some other considerations

• Some sounds do not contrast in initial position:

e.g. [h] and [ŋ] in [həʊp] 'hope' and [ŋəʊp] doesn't exist.

• Also they do not contrast in final position:e.g. [sɪŋ] 'sing' and [sɪh] doesn't exist

Free Variation

• When sounds do not contrast and can

occur in identical phonetic environments

and are phonetically similar.

e.g. [p] in stop [stɒp!] , [stɒp G] and [stɒ?p]

THE REALITY OF PHONEMES

• Speakers of English often have a hard time

hearing the phonetic difference between the

voiced and voiceless allophones of /l/,

because the difference is not contrastive, but

it's easy to contrast between /l/ and /r/ as in

lift and rift

• But, speakers of other languages like Japanese

sometimes find it difficult to distinguish

between them, because in their language /l/

and /r/ are allophones of the same phoneme.

e.g. collect & correct

CLASSES AND GENERALIZATION IN PHONOLOGY• Liquid and glide phonemes have (at least) two

allophones, one voiced and the other voiceless.

• Liquids and glides have voiceless allophones after

voiceless stops, and voiced allophones elsewhere.

e.g. Liquid /r/

• voiced → green [gri:n] , voiceless → creep [krQi:p]

Glide /w/ and /j/

• voiced → beauty [bju:tɪ] , voiceless → cute [kjQu:t]

Liaison (Linking):• British English involve linking where having

two distinct vowel phonemes next to each

other tends to be avoided, so one of the

approximants /r/, /j/ or /w/ is inserted to link

the vowels.

English vowels and glides:

• If the first vowel is not high, a linking r is used.

e.g. Star [sta:] starring [sta:rɪŋ] star in [sta:r ɪn]

• If the vowel is high, a glide is inserted between

the vowels.

e.g. See [si:], seeing [si:jɪŋ], see in [si: jɪn]

Show [ʃəʊ], showing [ʃəʊwɪŋ], show it [ʃəʊ wɪt]

Intrusive r.• is used productively in present-day English

even in contrasts, it's obvious in borrowed and

foreign words.

e.g. [emər ætkɪnz] 'Emma Atkins'

[əkrɑ:r ən dækɑ:] 'Accra and Dakar'

TENSE AND LAX VOWELS• Tense vowel: A vowel that is made with a

placement of the tongue that result in relatively the greater vocal tract constriction.

e.g. Heat and boat• Lax vowel: A vowel that is made with a

placement of the tongue that result in relatively less vocal tract constriction.

e.g. Hit and but *There's no possibility of contrast between

tense and lax vowels.

The distribution of tense & lax vowels• Closed stressed syllables: Any kind of vowel

except schwa, i.e. one that ends in a consonant.e.g. Seek /i:/

• Open stressed syllables: Any tense vowels are allowed, i.e. ones that end in a vowel.

e.g. Raw /ɔ:/

• Syllables closed by [ŋ]: Any lax vowels except [ə]e.g. Bunk /ʌ/

LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC VARIATION IN ALLOPHONIC NASALIZATION

• It's not unusual for nasal vowel allophones to occur

near a nasal consonant, but the patterning may vary

from language to language.

o Vowels are nasal in Scots Gaelic when preceded or followed by a nasal consonant.

e.g. [mu] 'about' [run] 'secret‘

o In Malay, all vowels and glides following a nasal consonant and not separated from it by a non-nasal consonant are nasalized.

e.g. [mãkan] 'eat' [rumãh] 'house'

LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC VARIATION IN ALLOPHONIC DISTRIBUTIONPhonemic contrast in one language may not prove to

be a phonemic contrast in another.

In English, aspirated and unaspirated stops are allophonic without contrasting form.

e.g. [pɪk] and [phɪk]

But in Khmer (Cambodian), unaspirated and aspirated voiceless stops contrast.

e.g. [pɔ:ŋ] 'to wish' [phɔ:ŋ] 'also'.

Defining the Syllable:

• Syllable: A unit of linguistic structure that

consists of a syllabic element and any

segments that are associated with it.

Four subsyllabic units of internal structure Nucleus (N): A vocalic element that forms the core

of a syllable.e.g. [æ] in Patrick Coda (C): The elements that follow the nucleus in

the same syllable.e.g. [nt] in Sprint Rhyme (R): The nucleus and coda of a syllable.e.g. [u:] in Root Onset (O): The longest sequence of consonants to

the left of each nucleus.e.g. [sl] from [slɪm] in slim

ONSET CONSTRAINTS PHONOTACTICS:

• The set of constraints on how sequences of

segments pattern.

e.g. The Russion word vbrog [fbrɔk]

pronounced as [fəbrɔk] or [prɔk] in English.

SOME ENGLISH ONSETS:

• There are syllable-initial consonant sequences

contain a voiceless stop consonant.

• e.g. [pl] in please

• And word-initial three-consonant cluster, which the

first is always s, the second is always voiceless stop

and the third is either a liquid or a glide.

• e.g. [spr] in spring

Accidental and systematic gaps

• Accidental gaps:Non-occuring but possible forms of a language.

e.g. Blork

• Systematic gaps: Gaps in the occuring syllable structure of a language that result from the exclution of certain sequences.

e.g. pfordv

Language-specific phonotactics Some onset sequences can be found in many

languages while some onset sequences are rarely if

ever found. So, some onset sequences appear to

exist as part of human linguistic capacity.

e.g. pl as in play and lp as in help

Each language has it’s own set of restrictions on the

phonological shapes of it’s syllable constituents.

e.g. fsl as in fslux ‘aloud’ which is not found in English.

Some further syllabification

• Turkish language has different syllable structure

constraints than English language.

e.g. alt, alta and altta

Syllabic phonology

• Syllables are units of phonological analysis because

they affect the distribution of allophonic features.

Aspiration

Ambisyllabicity

Vowels lengthen

ASPIRATION IN ENGLISH

• Articulation accompanied by the release of air, that is heard after the release of certain stops in English.

e.g. the first sound of /tɒp/

• English voiceless stops are aspirated when initial in a stressed syllable.

Ambisyllabicity

o The simultaneous presence of a segment in two adjoining syllables.

e.g. attack /əthæk/

PHONETIC LENGTH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• English vowels are phonetically somehow shorter than they would normally be, when they occur before voiceless consonants, before sonorant consonants and in word-final position

e.g. Bad [bæd]• Conversely, the vowels are relatively longer

than they would normally be, when they occur before voiced non-sonorant consonants.

e.g. Revise [rɪ.vaɪz]

Syllables and stress in English• Penultimate: The syllable before the very last

one in a word, i.e. next to the last syllable.• Antepenultimate: Stressed on the third syllable

from the end of the word.

So, English nouns are stressed on the penultimate syllable when it’s Heavy; otherwise, they are stressed on the antepenultimate.

e.g. Cɑ�binet

The features of English

1. Major class features:

• Consonantal [p b s z ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ]

• Syllabic [i: e ɑ: ɭa ra m n]

• Sonorant: only the singables: vowells, glides,

liquids, and nasals.

The features of English

2. Laryngeal features:

• Voice: according to voiced and voiceless

sounds.

• Spread glottis: distinguishes unaspirated from

aspirated consonants.

• Constricted glottis: In English there's only the

glottis stop [?]

The features of English

3. Place features:

• Labial: [p] [b] [f] [v] [w]

• Round: Sounds that made with the lips rounded

• Coronal: [t] [d] [θ] [ð] [s] [z] [tʃ] [dʒ] [n] [ɭ ] [r]

• Anterior: [p] [b] [t] [d] [s] [z] [θ] [ð]

• Strident: The noisy fricatives and affricates only.

[s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] and [dʒ]

The features of English

4. Dorsal features:

• High: Sound made with the tongue raised.

• Low: Vowels made with the tongue lowered.

• Back: Any sound articulated behind the palatal

region of the oral cavity.

• Tense: Follows the tense and lax vowels.

• Reduced: Only the schwa [ə]

The features of English

5. Manner features:

• Nasal: Any sound made with the velum

lowered.

• Continuant: Vowels, fricatives, glides and

liquids.

• Lateral: [ɭ ]

• Delayed release: Only affricate sounds [tʃ] [dʒ]

Thank You

• My only reference was the book of: Contemporary Linguisticso By William O’Grady Michael Dobrovolsky Francis Katamba