PHONOLOGY

What is PHONOLOGY?

• Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.

• Phonology is just one of several aspects of language.

• It is related to other aspects such as phonetics, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.

The phonological system of a language includes

• an inventory of sounds and their features, and

• rules which specify how sounds interact with each other.

Phonetics vs. Phonology

PHONETICS• Is the basis for phonological

analysis.• Analyzes the production of

all human speech sounds, regardless of language.

PHONOLOGY• Is the basis for further work

in morphology, syntax, discourse, and orthography design.

• Analyzes the sound patterns of a particular language by determining which phonetic sounds are significant, and explaining how these sounds are interpreted by the native speaker.

Why are Phonetics important?

What is a phoneme?

• A phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language.

Phonologists have differing views of the phoneme. Following are the two major views considered here:

• In the American structuralist tradition, a phoneme is defined according to its allophones and environments.

• In the generative tradition, a phoneme is defined as a set of distinctive features.

Difference between phone and phoneme

PHONE• One of many possible sounds

in the languages of the world.• The smallest identifiable unit

found in a stream of speech.• Pronounced in a defined way.• Represented between

brackets by convention.– Example:

• [b], [j], [o]

PHONEME• One of many possible sounds in

the languages of the world.• A minimal unit that serves to

distinguish between meanings of words.

• Pronounced in one or more ways, depending on the number of allophones.

• Represented between slashes by convention.– Example:

• /b/, /j/, /o/

MODELS OF PHONOLOGY

• In classical phonemics, phonemes and their possible combinations are central.

• In standard generative phonology, distinctive features are central. A stream of speech is portrayed as linear sequence of discrete sound-segments. Each segment is composed of simultaneously occurring features.

• In non-linear models of phonology, a stream of speech is represented as multidimensional, not simply as a linear sequence of sound segments. These non-linear models grew out of generative phonology:

• autosegmental phonology• metrical phonology• lexical phonology

Generative Phonology

• Generative phonology is a component of generative grammar that assigns the correct phonetic representations to utterances in such a way as to reflect a native speaker’s internalized grammar.

Levels of phonological representation

• An underlying representation is the most basic form of a word before any phonological rules have been applied to it. Underlying representations show what a native speaker knows about the abstract underlying phonology of the language.

• A phonetic representation is the form of a word that is spoken and heard.

Distinctive features

• Distinctive features make it possible to capture the generalities of phonological rules.

Linearity

• A stream of speech is portrayed as a sequence of discrete sound segments. Each segment is composed of simultaneously occurring features.

What is autosegmental phonology?

• Autosegmental phonology is a non-linear approach to phonology that allows phonological processes, such as tone and vowel harmony, to be independent of and extend beyond individual consonants and vowels.

• Autosegmental phonology treats phonological representations as multi-dimensional, having several tiers. Each tier is made up of a linear arrangement of segments. The tiers are linked to each other by association lines that indicate how the segments on each tier are to be pronounced at the same time.

What is metrical phonology?

• Metrical phonology is a phonological theory concerned with organizing segments into groups of relative prominence. Segments are organized into syllables, syllables into metrical feet, feet into phonological words, and words into larger units.

• This organization is represented formally by metrical trees and grids.

What is lexical phonology?

• Lexical phonology is an approach to phonology that accounts for the interactions of morphology and phonology in the word building process.

• The lexicon plays a central, productive role in the theory. It consists of ordered levels, which are the domain for certain phonological or morphological processes.

The following are crucial components of lexical phonology:

Lexical rules …• Apply only within words.• Are prone to exceptions.• Require morphological

information.• Must be structure-

preserving.• Will not be blocked by

pauses.• Apply first.

Post-lexical rules …• Apply within words or across

word boundaries.• Do not have exceptions.• Require syntactic information,

or no grammatical information at all.

• Are not necessarily structure-preserving.

• Can be blocked by pauses.• Apply later.

Halle and Mohanan propose the following four levels of morphology in the lexicon:

• Level 1: Class 1 derivation, irregular inflection• Level 2: Class 2 derivation• Level 3: Compounding• Level 4: Regular inflection

LEVELS OF AFFIXATION

LEVEL 1• Affixes include:

– -ate, -ion, -ity, -ic, sub-, de-, in-

• Affixation causes stress shift:– photograph/photographic

• Trisyllabic shortening occurs:– divine/divinity

LEVEL 2• Affixes include:

– -ly, -ful, -some, -ness, re-, un-, non-

• Affixation does not affect stress:– revenge/revengeful

• No trisyllabic shortening occurs:– leader/leaderless

LEVELS OF AFFIXATION

LEVEL 1• Nasal assimilation occurs:

– in + legal -> illegal

• Affixes may attach to stems:– re-mit, de-duce

• Affixation is less productive and more exception ridden.

LEVEL 2• Nasal assimilation is

blocked:– un + ladylike -> unladylike,

not *ulladylike

• Affixes attach only to words:– re-open, de-regulate

• Affixation is more productive and less exception ridden.