Transcript Example

Introduction to Linguistics
Unit Three
Phonology
Dr. Judith Yoel
Phonology : Introduction
• Phonology: is the study of sound patterns (as
opposed to just sounds, as in phonetics). It
examines the patterns that occur across
human languages. It examines how sound
interact and influence one another.
• A phonologist: is a linguist who studies the
speech sounds of human beings.
An Example of a Phonological Feature
Example of phonological features of English
• aspiration
• /t/ - tar
• What happens to the /t/ in star?
• What is the difference between the /t/ sounds in
, tar table, and tool and the /t/ sounds in star,
start, still?
*Note: In phonetics to discuss sounds, we use
square brackets [ ], but in phonology, we use
slashes. These are a must.
An Example of a Phonological Feature
(cont.)
Example of phonological features of English:
Answer
• the /t/ sound is aspirated; that means there is
a small puff of air following the sound, one
not experienced in the word star.
• This only occurs with sounds in initial position.
• This can also be seen in pill and spill and kill
and skill.
Phonology: Basic Terminology
A phone – is a sound – the smallest unit of sound
Example: [t]
A phoneme – is a sound that has abstract
properties. That means that it can and does take
on different forms. Phonemes can be divided into
allophones – different variations of the same
sound.
Example: /t/, /D/ (a flapped /t/, as in writer), and
the aspirated /t/
Phonology: Basic Terminology (cont.)
Allophones are different phones that are derived from
the same single phoneme, BUT they are variations of
that sound, such as the aspiration we just talked about
and the /D/ flapped sound, a kind of /t/ sound.
- Allophones are rule-governed. They are not considered
to be a different sound entirely – just a slightly
different sound.
- What is the difference? A different sound changes the
meaning of the word – pat and bat,
- but only a slightly different sound does not change the
meaning, thus allophones do not change meaning.
Allophones (cont.)
Q. How do we know which is which is a phone and which is an
allophone?
A.
If we can substitute one sound for another and we can change the
meaning of the word, it is a phone, and if it does not change the
meaning of a word, (it just sounds different or odd), it is an
allophone (a phoneme).
Example:
- car (Am. Eng.), car (Br. Eng.) allophones of vowel and the /r/
consonant
- bat and pat – 2 different meanings, therefore /p / and /b/ are 2
different phonemes.
Minimal Pairs and Sets
In order to test for phonemes, we must
determine whether or not words are minimal
pairs – 2 items (or minimal sets – more than 2
items); in other words, whether or not the
different sound makes another word or not.
Minimal pairs: pairs with variation in the initial
position
Example: tin & bin / keel & kill / weep & weed
(consonant variation in initial, mid and final pos.)
Minimal Sets
• A set has more than 2 items and the difference can be in the vowel
or the consonant and in the initial, mid or final position.
Example: weep, weak, weed, wean, wheel
*Note: week and weak cannot be 2 items because they have the same
phonetic transcription /wik/
When a word has no such form in English but the combination of
sounds is permissible, this is called an accidental gap.
Minimal Pairs and Sets: Exercise
a. Add additional items to the sets below:
1. tin, tan,
2. bin, ban
3. weak, wake
4. feel, fill,
b. Are the following minimal sets, yes or no? Where is the
variation and of what is there variation?
1. seek, sake, sock, suck
2. sea, so, sew, see, saw
3. send, sand, sent, sense
4. young, yang, ying,
Minimal Pairs and Sets: Exercise,
Answers
a. Add additional items to the sets below:
1. tin, tan, ten, tone, tune,
2. bin, ban, been, bun,
3. weak, wake, woke,
4. feel, fill, fail, fell,
b. Are the following minimal sets, yes or no? Where is the variation and
of what is there variation?
1. seek, sake, sock, suck YES, v., mid pos.
2. sea, so, sew, see, saw YES, v., final pos.
3. send, sand, sent, sense NO
4. young, yang, ying, YES , v., mid pos.
After looking at these examples, what can you say about minimal sets
and spelling?
Phonological Rules
Phonological Rules
1. Past tense rule
2. Pluralization rule
3. Elision
4. Reduction to schwa
5. Assimilation
Phonological Rules: Past Tense
• Some words end in a /d/ sound and other words end in a /t/ sound in the
past tense.
Example: rub - /d/, pack - /t/, listen - /d/, watch /- /t/, etc.
• If a word ends a voiceless sound, it takes a /t/ sound, and if it ends in a
voiced sound, it takes a /d/ sound.
• There is also a /əd/ ending which follows words ending in a /t/ or /d/
sound.
Example: sighted
• What other words have this same ending - /əd/? What pattern do you see
here?
Phonology: Practice
• Put the following verbs in past tense and
divide them into two groups, those that end
with a /d/ sound and those that end with a /t/
sound.
start
glue
comb
wait
fix
brush
paint
pass
file
• Are there any patterns that you notice?
Phonology: Pluralization
• Some words in the plural form end in an /s/ sound
while others end in a /z/ sound.
Example dogs – z, cats – s
• If a words ends in an unvoiced consonant sound,
then it takes an /s/ sound.
Example caps – s
• If a word ends in a voiced consonant sound, then it
takes a /z/ sound.
Example: church – z
Pluralization: Practice
What happens to the following words?
goes
faxes
matches dresses
• What observations can you make here? How
are these related to sound and how are they
related to spelling? How does this relate to
your teaching?
Elision
• There are some letters which appear in the
orthography (written form of the word), but are
not pronounced by speakers of the language,
therefore, elision is the omission of one or more
sounds from the orthographical form.
• It is basically loosing a sound from the word.
(This does not include patterns like a silent -e on
the end of the word). This is quite common in
English.
Example: every
Elision: Exercise
Mark the sound/s that is/are lost in the
following words.
grandpa, comfortable, fifth, temperature,
vegetable
• What other words can you think of? Why is
there elision in these words? (There is a reason
and it has to do with phonetics). Can you
relate the reason to what we studied in
phonetics?
Elision: Exercise, Answers
Mark the sound/s that is/are lost in the
following words.
grandpa, comfortable, fifth, temperature,
vegetable
Reduction to Schwa
• The schwa vowel, an unstressed vowel, has a special
status in English and it plays an important role in the
interaction between segments of words and plays a
role in the stress of a word as well.
• A vowel can alternate between a full vowel and a
schwa depending on the word and on the
circumstances.
• In some cases, when we change the form of a word, a
stressed vowel becomes unstressed and is uttered as a
schwa.
Examples: phonetics – phonology, compete –
competition
Reduction to Schwa: Practice
All of these begin with a schwa. Add additional
examples. What pattern do you see in these words?
asleep, alive, about
Look at the following words that have a reduced
schwa. Add a related word with a different vowel.
• synthesize – synthesis
• harmony
• medium
Assimilation
- This is a common practice where, due to the ease of
articulation, a phoneme is taken or copied from another
phoneme that occurs in sequence.
- It is basically changing a sound (as it exists in the
orthographic form). One segment is influenced by another,
either that before it or that after it. In other words, the way
the word is written and the way it is produced are two
different things.
- This is not wrong and it is not slang, nor is it incorrect or
careless speech; it is what native speakers of a language do
when they speak.
Example: I can go? Yes, you can
/Ikən ay go? yɛs yə kæn/
Homework
• Go the book The Study of Language by George
Yule and read the chapter titled Phonology.
• You are responsible for this material.
• Material from this chapter will appear on the
final exam.