phonology the idea of feature systems that we have been talking about in relation to phonetics also...
Post on 21-Dec-2015
215 views
TRANSCRIPT
PhonologyThe idea of feature systems that we
have been talking about in relation to phonetics also lends itself quite handily to the description of natural classes of sounds.
Phonetic natural classes are groups of sounds in a language which share some articulatory or auditory feature.
Phonology In order for a group of sounds to be a
natural class, it must include all of the sounds that share a particular feature or group of features, and not include sounds that don’t.
PhonologyWe have already talked about
several natural classes of sounds, such as stops, fricatives, nasals, affricates, etc.
To talk fully about phonetic natural classes, however, we need to clarify a few other features.
Phonology Some sound classes are based on
articulation or production: For example, both labio-dental and
bilabial involve the lips. Therefore, we can group them together
under the term labial.
Phonology In English, these sounds are [m, b, p,
f, v, w] In English, the sound [w] doesn’t
occur after any of these sounds. We can use the term labial to
simplify the description: [w] doesn’t occur after labial sounds.
Phonology Other natural classes are based on sound
quality, or auditory properties. One example of a natural class based on
auditory properties is Sibilants. Take a look at the pronunciation of the
plural suffix in English, which we will label -s
This suffix is pronounced in three different ways, depending on the last sound in the noun to which it is added.
Phonology If the noun ends with a voiced sound the
phonetic form is [z]. If the noun ends in a voiceless sound the
phonetic form is [s]. However, after such words as rich, bush,
kiss, garages, rouge, and maze, (in other words, [s, z, , , t, d,]) the form is [z].
Phonology This group of sounds all differ in respect
to voicing, place, and manner of articulation.
However, they do have an auditory property in common: a high pitched hissing sound.
These sounds, therefore, form a natural class called sibilants.
PhonologySo using this natural class, we can
state a generalization:+ plural [z] / after a sibilantThis rule states that the sound occurs
in a general context, rather than having to specify for each individual context.
Phonology Other classes include: Obstruents, which are sounds produced with
an ‘obstruction’ of air flow, namely stops, fricatives, affricates.
Sonorants, which are consonants produced with a relatively open passage for the air flow, including nasals, approximants and others (or nasals, liquids, glides, and others).
Distinctive Features In every language, certain sounds are
considered to be the “same” sound, even though they may be phonetically distinct.
For example, native speakers consider the [l] in lay to be the same sound as that in play, even though the former is voiced and the latter voiceless.
Distinctive Features Liquids and glides in English are
ordinarily voiced, but when they follow a voiceless obstruent in speech, they are pronounced as voiceless consonants.
proof [pruf] sleep quick [kwk]
Distinctive FeaturesNative speakers overlook the fact
that the [p] in pat and spat are phonetically different and just consider them both to be /p/.
Hindi speakers, however, can’t ignore the difference.
Distinctive Features Take the following data, for example: [kl] ‘wicked person’
[kl] ‘yesterday’ [kapi] ‘copy’
[kapi] ‘ample’ [pl] ‘fruit’
[pl] ‘moment’ [bl] ‘strength’
Distinctive Features In general, speakers will attend to
phonetic differences between two (or more) sounds only when the choice between the sounds can change the meaning of a word, - that is, can cause a distinction in meaning.
Such sounds are said to be distinctive with respect to one another.
Distinctive Features So, how do we determine when two
sounds are distinctive? One way to determine whether two
sounds are distinctive is to identify a minimal pair - a pair of words that differ only by a single sound in the same position - and which have different meanings - but which are otherwise identical.
Distinctive FeaturesSome examples from English are: tot vs. hot tap vs. top tap vs. tabLet’s take a second to go back and
look again at the examples from Hindi.
Distinctive Features [kl] ‘wicked person’
[kl] ‘yesterday’ [kapi] ‘copy’
[kapi] ‘ample’ [pl] ‘fruit’
[pl]‘moment’ [bl] ‘strength’
Distinctive FeaturesWhat must be considered minimal
pairs in Hindi?What sounds do Hindi speakers
consider distinctive?
Distinctive Features Before we proceed any further, we need
to discuss some definitions: The first definition we need to consider
is that of a Phone, which is simply an individual speech sound.
The second definition to consider is that of a Phoneme, which is a class of speech sounds which are identified by a speaker as the same sound.
Distinctive FeaturesThe members of these classes are
called Allophones. Thus, an allophone is a phone that
has been classified as belonging to some class (phoneme).
Distinctive Features In English, p in pat and spat are
allophones of the same phoneme in English.
In Hindi, these sounds are allophones of different phonemes.
Distinctive Features Symbols representing phonemes are
written with slash marks instead of brackets.
So, in English, we would have one phoneme labeled /p/, with allophones labeled [p] and [p]
But in Hindi, we would have two separate phonemes, labeled either /p/ or /p/
Distinctive Features By giving a description like this,
linguists are attempting to show that the phonological system of a language has two levels.
The more concrete level involves the physical reality of phonetic segments (which is what phonetics looks at).
Phonemes are more on the psychological level; they are more abstract.
Distinctive Features Allophones are physical units of
linguistic structure. Phonemes are psychological units of
linguistic structure.Phonemes are not directly
observable; allophones are.
Distinctive FeaturesWriting systems also reflect this
reality. In English, we don’t make the orthographic distinction between [p] and [p]. In Hindi, they do.
In general, alphabetic writing systems tend to be phonemic rather than phonetic.
Distinctive Features To find out which sounds are thought of
by a native speaker as the same sound, and which sounds are distinctive to one another, it is important to look at where these sounds occur in a language.
In other words, linguists try to discover what the phonemes of a language are by examining the distribution of that language’s phones.
Distinctive Features The Distribution of a phone is ‘the set
of phonetic environments in which it occurs.’
Two speech sounds in a language will either be in overlapping distribution or complementary distribution with respect to one another.
Distinctive Features Overlapping distribution occurs when
the sets of phonetic environments in which the sounds occur are partially or completely identical.
For example, consider [p] and [b]: ‘bait’ [bet] ‘date’ [det] ‘lobe’ [lob] ‘load’ [lod] ‘knobs’ [nabz] ‘nods’ [nadz]
Distinctive Features Since the sets of possible phonetic
environments overlap, we say that [b] and [d] are in overlapping distribution in English.
Distinctive Features Most sounds that are in overlapping
distribution are contrastive with respect to one another, which is another way of saying they are distinctive sounds.
Consider [b] and [d] above: they form minimal pairs.
Since the difference between [b] and [d] can result in contrastive meaning, we say that [b] and [d] are in contrastive distribution.
Distinctive FeaturesThese two distinctive phones are
classified as being allophones of two separate phonemes.
Thus, [b] is an allophone of /b/ and [d] is an allophone of /d/.
Distinctive FeaturesSome other phones that are in
overlapping distribution are in free variation. As an example:
Leap [lip] leap [lip ] Soap [sop] soap [sop ] Troop [trup] troop [trup ] Happy [haepi] *[haep i]
Distinctive Features These sounds are in overlapping
distribution, because they share some of the same environments: they both appear at the end of words.
Unlike [b] and [p], however, there are no minimal pairs.
In other words, although they contain the same sounds but one, these words do not contrast in meaning.
Distinctive FeaturesThese sounds are interchangeable in
word-final position. So we say that they are allophones of
the same phoneme.For example, [p] and [p ] are
allophones of /p/
Distinctive Features Complementary Distribution is just the
opposite of overlapping distribution. To understand this, think of the term
‘complementary.’ Two complementary parts make up a whole.
People in this class, for example, may be divided up into those who wear glasses and those who don’t.
Distinctive FeaturesThese two sets of people
complement each other. They are mutually exclusive. That is,
they are non-overlapping, but together they make up the whole class.
Distinctive FeaturesAs an example, consider the sounds
[p] and [p] Spat [spt] pat [pt] Spool [spul] pool [pul] Speak [spik] peek [pik]
Distinctive FeaturesAs you can see, [p] and [p] are not
in overlapping distribution. In other words, they do not occur in
the same phonetic environment. In fact, they are in complementary
distribution.
Distinctive Features First: There are no minimal pairs
involving the [p] vs. [p. Second: [p] occurs after [s] but not word
initially. [p] occurs word initially, but not after [s].
Since these sounds appear in different phonetic environments there can be no pair of words composed of identical strings of sounds except for [p] in one and [p] in the other.
Distinctive Features Phones that are in complementary
distribution are allophones of a single phoneme.
In this case, [p] and [p] are allophones of the phoneme /p/.
The appearance of one allophone or the other is predictable when those allophones are in complementary distribution.
Distinctive Features Recall that phonemes and allophones
belong to different levels of structure in language.
Phonemes are mental entities. Allophones/phones are physical events. So what is the connection between the two
levels? The mapping between phonemic and
phonetic elements is accomplished using phonological rules.
Phonological RulesA speaker’s knowledge of
phonological rules allows him or her to “translate” phonemes into actual sounds.
Knowledge of these rules forms part of a speaker’s linguistic competence.
Phonological RulesThe following is a representation of
the process:Phonemic form
rules
phonetic form
Phonological Rules In other words, phonological rules apply
to the phonemic form to produce the phonetic form.
To accept this is to accept the notion that there is something called an underlying form.
In the linguistic literature, this underlying form is called the Underlying Representation or UR.
Phonological Rules There are several different ways that we
can classify phonological rules. One of the most common types of
phonological rules is called Assimilation.
Rules involving assimilation cause a sound to become more like a neighboring sound with respect to some feature.
Phonological Rules In other words, the segment affected by
the rule assimilates or takes on a feature from a nearby (usually adjacent) sound.
For example:. I can ask [ay kæn æsk] I can bake [ay kæm bek] I can go [ay kæŋ go]
Phonological RulesAnother type of assimilation is
dental assimilation, as in the following examples:
width [wdθ]health [hεlθ]unthinkable [nθŋkbl] in this [ns]
Phonological RulesOther phonological rules involve
dissimilation. Rules involving dissimilation cause two neighboring sounds to become less alike with respect to some feature.
Dissimilation rules are less common than assimilation rules, at least in English.
Phonological Rules One example of a dissimilation rule is
fricative dissimilation: /θ/ changes to [t] following another
fricative: fifth phonemically [ffθ] phonetically often realized as [fft] sixthphonemically [sksθ] but often realized as [skst]
Phonological RulesAnother classification is insertion
(also called epenthesis).Rules of insertion cause a segment
not present at the phonemic level to be added to the phonetic realization of a word.
Phonological Rules One example of an insertion rule is
voiceless stop insertion. Between a nasal and a voiceless fricative, a voiceless stop with the same place of articulation as the nasal is inserted.
strength /strεŋθ/ → [strεŋkθ] hampster /hæmster/→ [hæmpster]
Phonological Rules Another classification is Deletion.
Deletion rules eliminate a sound. Such rules apply more frequently to unstressed syllables and in casual speech.
/h/ - deletion: /h/ may be deleted in unstressed syllables.
In the sentence, ‘He handed her his hat,’ the UR is:
/hi hændd hz ht/
Phonological RulesThe final type of rule that we will
concern ourselves with is called metathesis
These rules change the order of sounds
Phonological RulesFor example, for many children, the
word that is normally pronounced [spgi] ([spki])gets pronounced as [psgi] ([pski])How about animal?
Phonological RulesThe Format for representing
Phonological RulesThe basic format for specifying
phonological rules is as follows: A → B/ C __ DThis format is meant to be read as
“A becomes B in the environment following C and preceding D.”