Phonology Cont.

Review

Phoneme / /– Abstract, never pronounced

Allophone [ ]– Pronounced, variation of a phoneme

Contrastive Distribution– [khQt] vs [hQt]

Complementary Distribution– [thap] vs [stap]

Possibilities

Allophones of separate phonemes/t/ /th/

[t] [th]

Allophones of the same phoneme/t/

[t] [th]

Allophones of separate phonemes (Tagalog)

Are [h] and [/] allophones of separate phonemes?

[kahon] “box”

[ka/on] “to fetch”

[/umagos] “to flow”

[humagos] “to paint”

Allophones of separate phonemes (Tagalog)

Are [h] and [/] allophones of separate phonemes?

YES

/h/ ///

[h] [/]

Allophones of separate phonemes (Spanish)

Are [p] and [b] allophones of separate phonemes?

[peso] “(monetary unit)”

[beso] “kiss”

[kompa] “mate”

[komba] “skipping”

Allophones of separate phonemes (Spanish)

Are [p] and [b] allophones of separate phonemes?

YES

/p/ /b/

[p] [b]

Allophones of the same phoneme (Spanish)

Are [d] and [D] allophones of the same phoneme?

[deDo] “finger”

[kaDa] “each”

[kasaDa] “married”

[duna] “dune”

Allophones of the same phoneme (Spanish)

Are [d] and [D] allophones of the same phoneme?

YES

/d/

[d] [D]

Allophones of the same phoneme (English)

Are [t] and [th] allophones of the same phoneme?

[thep] “tape” [stap] “stop”

[thin] “teen” [stol] “stole”

[thap] “top” [stek] “steak”

Allophones of the same phoneme (English)

Are [t] and [th] allophones of the same phoneme?

YES

/t/

[t] [th]

But what about Hindi?

[t] and [th] in Hindi

[tal] “beat”

[thal] “plate”

Allophones of separate phonemes

/t/ /th/

[t] [th]

Different Mappings

English

/t/

[t] [th] Hindi

/t/ /th/

[t] [th]

How to do a phonology problem

Examine your data– The question will ask about certain sounds; pay special

attention to those sounds. Don’t get confused by extra data.

Look for minimal pairs involving those sounds– If you find one, you can conclude that the sounds are

allophones of separate phonemes If there are no minimal pairs, list the environments

in which each sound occurs– If they never occur in the same environment, you can

conclude that they are allophones of the same phoneme

Examine your data (Greek)

Are [k] and [x] allophones of the same phoneme or allophones of separate phonemes?

[kano] “do” [kori] “daughter”[xori] “dances” [xrima] “money”[xano] “lose” [xufta] “handful”[krima] “shame” [kufeta] “bonbons”[ceri] “candle” [kali] “charms”

Look for minimal pairs

[kano] “do” [kori] “daughter”[xori] “dances” [xrima] “money”[xano] “lose” [xufta] “handful”[krima] “shame” [kufeta] “bonbons”[ceri] “candle” [kali] “charms”

[xori] and [kori] form a minimal pair! Our job is done…

Conclusion

[k] and [x] are allophones of separate phonemes

/k/ /x/

[k] [k]

Examine your data (Sango)

Are [®] and [l] allophones of the same phoneme or allophones of separate phonemes?

[te®e] “body” [ki®i] “return”[wali] “woman” [wa®a] “like”[koli] “man” [nila] “then”[ge®e] “leg” [doli]

“elephant”

Look for minimal pairs

[te®e] “body” [ki®i] “return”[wali] “woman” [wa®a] “like”[koli] “man” [nila] “then”[ge®e] “leg” [doli]

“elephant”

NO MINIMAL PAIRS!!

List the environments

[®] [l]

e___e a___i

e___e o___i

i___i o___i

a___a i___a

These two phones are in complementary distribution. Each allophone belongs to its own environment

Conclusion

[®] and [l] are allophones of the same phoneme

/l/

[®] [l]