The Sound Patterns of Language

Chapter 5:

The Sound Patterns of Language

Lecturer: Haifa Alroqi

Introduction to Linguistics - LANE 321

Phonetics vs. Phonology

Phonetics

 The study of how speech sounds are made, transmitted, and received.

 It requires as its source of data a human being with vocal organs.

 The person's particular language background is not strictly relevant.

Phonology

 Its primary aim is to:

• discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in a language

• explain the variations that occur

Phonology

 A common methodology is to begin by analyzing an individual language, to determine:

• which sound units are used

• how they pattern

 The language's phonological structures

Phonetics vs. Phonology

 The human vocal organs can produce a very wide range of sounds; but only a small number of these are used in a language to construct all of its words and sentences.

Phonetics vs. Phonology

 Phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds.

 Phonologystudies the way in which a language's speakers (e.g. Arabic) systematically use a

selection of these sounds in order to express meaning.

Phonetics vs. Phonology

 No two speakers have anatomically identical vocal tracts, and thus no-one pronounces sounds in exactly the same way as anyone else.

 There is even a considerable amount of variation in the sounds of a single speaker.

 Yet, when using our language we are able to discount much of this variation, and focus on only those sounds, or

properties of sounds, that are important to the communication of meaning.

Phonology

What knowledge do we have about the phonological rules in our language?

 We can identify sound sequences that might or might not be a word in our language.

Example: gdit/ rpukn thrim/ blamp

 We can pronounce words we never heard before.

 Change foreign words to match patterns like the words in our language.

 We can apply rules to words we never heard before.

Key Concepts: The Phoneme

 The Phoneme:The smallest speech sound that distinguishes meaning.

 It serves to create meaning differences, Example: /t/  /d/

Phonemes

 An essential property of a phoneme is that it functions contrastively.

• In English, 2 phonemes /f/ &/v/

• Contrast:

• fat vat

• fine vine

Rule:If we substitute onesound for another in a word and there is a change of meaning, then the two sounds

represent different phonemes.

Phonemes

 Consonant chart lists phonemes in English

 The technical terms used in creating the chart are called

‘features’.

 Features are marked with the sign +& –

• + feature is present

• – feature is not present Examples:

• /p/ [– voice, +bilabial, +stop]

• /k/ [– voice, +velar, +stop]

Phonemes

 Sounds which have features in common

behave phonologically in some similar ways.

 A sound which does not share those features is expected to behave differently.

Phonemes vs. Phones

In the Mind In the Mouth

The phonemeis the abstract unit (sound type) e.g. /t/

In actual speech,

many different versions of /t/

e.g. tar, star, writer, eighth

each version = phone

Phones

 Phones are phonetic units.

 They appear in [ ].

Phones and Allophones

 A group of several phones (versions of one phoneme) = allophones(of the phoneme).

Example:

• /t/ = phoneme

• [t^h] (tar) = 1 phone

• [D] (writer) = 1 phone

• [t̪ ] (eighth) = 1 phone

• [t^h] & [D] &[t̪ ] =allophones

Allophones of /t/

 There are more [t]’s than you know

 The [t] in timeis aspirated, but that in stopis not.

 All these are allophones of the phoneme /t/.

 These differences are usually expressed using phonological rules.

Word Transcription Context

1 stop [stap] After [s]

2 time [t^hajm] Syllable initial

3 butter [bʌɾər] Between vowels

Phonemes and allophones

These differences are usually expressed using phonological rules.

Phones and Allophones

 Each phoneme may have different versions depending on the context in which it is found.

Examples:

Consider the different articulations of /s/:

(seen soon)

• seen the phoneme /s/ is produced with spread lips, as /i/

follows.

• soon the phoneme /s/ is produced with rounded lips, to prepare for the following rounded vowel, /u/.

Phoneme vs. Allophones

 Substituting one phonemefor another different meaning.

 Substituting one allophonefor another same meaning (same word) BUT different (or ununsual) pronounciation.

results in result in

Phoneme vs. Allophones

 Substituting one phonemefor another different meaning.

 Substituting one allophonefor another same meaning (same word) BUT different (or ununsual) pronounciation.

 If one phonemeis swapped with another, e.g. seenis produced with a /b/, instead of a /s/, the meaning of the word changes-they function contrastively.

 If one allophoneis exchanged with another, e.g. if seen is produced with lip rounding, the word, while perhaps sounding a bit strange, is still comprehensible.

results in result in

One More Example!

^{P. 46}

 /i/ seen & seed

 seen = nasalization = ~

 seed = normal [i]

 2 phones for one phoneme /i/

 Both are allophones of /i/

 In English, the nasalized version is not meaningfully contrastive.

Minimal Pairs

 A minimal pair is a pair of words that have different meaningsand which differ in only onephoneme.

Examplein English:

• sip [sɪp] / zip [zɪp]

• pat [pæt] / bat [bæt]

• Other examples: bet/bat – site/ side

Examplein Arabic:

• لاق [qæl]/ لاق [^gæl] = same meaning = allophones of /q/

• لاق [qæl]/ لام [mæl] = different meaning = minimal pairs

Minimal Sets

• When a group of wordscan be differentiated, each one from the other, by changing one

phoneme(in the same positionin the word), we can have a minimal set.

Example:

• feat/ fit/ fat/ fate/ fought/ foot (vowel phonemes)

• big/ pig/ rig/ fig/ dig/ wig (consonant phonemes)

Minimal Pairs and Sets

Four Golden Rules:

1. They must have the same number of sounds

2. They must be identical in every sound except for one 3. The sound that is different must be in the same position

in each word

4. The words must have different meanings

Phonotactics

big/ pig/ rig/ fig/ dig/ wig

 The above minimal set doesn’t include (lig/ vig) because they are not English words. But they could be!

 Our phonological knowledge of the pattern of sounds in English would allow us to consider them acceptable.

 In the future! (I think Joe is one very ignorant guy.

Phonotactics

[fs^Ig] / [rn^Ig]

 These two words do not exist and could never exist.

 They are formed without obeying some constraints on the sequence or position of English phonemes.

 Such constraints/ rules = Phonotactics

Phonotactics: The permitted arrangements of sounds in a language.

Syllables

 A syllable: A phonological unit that contains more than one phoneme.

 A syllable must contain a vowel or a vowel like sound.



Example:[w] and [j]

Syllables

The basic elements of the syllableare: Onset + Rhyme Onset= one or more consonants

Rhyme = Nucleus + Coda Nucleus= a vowel

Coda= one or more consonants

coda Syllable

Rhyme

Consonant(s) Onset

nucleus

Vowel Consonant(s)

Open vs. Closed Syllables

 Open syllables = an onset + a nucleus (but no coda) e.g. me, to, no

 Closed syllables= the coda is present e.g. up, at,

cup, hat, Sam, dip

Syllable

Rhyme Onset

Consonant cluster

 Both the onset & the coda can consist of more than one consonant.

Example:/st/ = consonant cluster (CC)

 /st/ = CC = a onsetin stop

 /st/ = CC = a codain post

coda Syllable

Rhyme

Consonant(s) Onset

nucleus

Vowel Consonant(s)

Consonant cluster

 There are many CC onset combinations permitted in English Phonotactics:

Example:black, flat, bread, trick, throw, twin Note:liquids (/l/, /r/) & a glide (/w/) are in 2^nd position

Consonant cluster

 English can have larger onset clusters.

Example: stress, splat(3 initial consonants = CCC)

 The phonotactics here are not difficult to describe!

1. 1st consonant = /s/

2. +v stop = (/p/, /t/, /k/)

3. One of these liquids or glides = (/l/, /r/, /w/)

Consonant cluster

 splash, spring, strong, scream, square

 exclaim = /ɛk-sklejm/

Remember: It is the onset of the syllable that is being described (not the beginning of the word).

Co-articulation effects

 Our talk is often fast and spontaneous.

 Our articulators move from one sound to another without stopping.

Co-articulation: The process of making one sound almost at the same time as the next sound

 There are two well-know co-articulation effects:

assimilation& elision.

Assimilation

Assimilationis a common phonological process by which the phonetics of a speech segment (a sound) becomes more like that of an adjacent sound.

Assimilation

 articulation = easier, quicker

Phonological Rule: Any vowel becomes nasal whenever it immediately precedes a nasal.

Example: lap [læp]vs. fan [fæn]

Assimilation

Example:

 can[kæn]

 I can go.

Because of the velar stop[g]ingo, the alveolar nasal[n]

in canwill be the velar nasal[ŋ]

 [ajkəŋgo]

Elision

 you and me [yuənmi]

 Where is the [d]?

 The stop [d] between two nasals [n] & [m]

 friendship[frɛnʃIp]

Elision:The process of not pronouncing a sound segment that might be present in the deliberately careful

pronunciation of a word in isolation.

• More examples: p. 49

Normal Speech

 Constantly avoiding the regular patterns of assimilation and elision would result in extremely artificial-sounding talk.

Key terms

 Phonology

 Phonemes & Allophones

 Minimal Pairs and Sets

 Phonotactics

 Syllables

 Co-articulation Effects

 Thank You 

Homework: p. 50 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6)