Chapter 2 Phonology

1. Chapter 2 Phonology Language is primarily vocal. The primary medium of human language is sound. Linguists are not interested in all sounds, but in speech sounds----sounds that convey meaning in human communication.

2. phonetics 2.1 Definition to phonetics Phonetics is the scientific study of the characteristics of human speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription or notation .

3. Questions: 1. How do we produce speech sounds? 2.Can you describe these speech sounds? 3.Are there any similarities and differences among the sounds? 4.Can you transcribe the speech sounds? Phonetics is meant to help us (to) answer such questions.

4. Three branches of phonetics: The speech sound can be studied in three different ways, thus in phonetics there are three main branches: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics and auditory phonetics. Articulatory phonetics (发音语音学): a branch of phonetics which studies the speech organs and their production of speech sounds.

5. Acoustic phonetics (声学语音学): a branch of phonetics which studies the physical properties of speech sounds and how the sound waves are transmitted in the air from the speaker to the hearer.

6. Auditory phonetics(听觉语音学): a branch of phonetics which studies how speech sounds are perceived and identified by the hearer’s ear and brain.

7. 语言学的研究领域 • 发音语音学：研究语音的发音过程。 • 声学语音学：研究语音的传递过程。 • 听觉语音学：研究语音的被感知过程。 3 2 1

8. Of these three branches， the articulatory phonetics is by far the most highly developed and the most widely discussed and applied, which is also the focus of this chapter.

9. 2.2 organs of speech Speech sounds are produced by the organs of speech. The speech organs are contained in three areas of the body, the throat(the pharyngeal cavity) , the mouth (the oral cavity) and the nose (the nasal cavity).the air stream from lungs may be modified in these areas in various ways. The modification results in various sounds.

10. the pharyngeal cavity( the throat) • air—from lungs—through windpipe---pass through glottis— • cause vocal cords vibrate---produce voicing---vowels and some consonants • don’t cause vocal cords vibrate---produce voiceless—consonants • the speed of the vibration—determine the pitch of the sounds • the oral cavity • ---tongue( the main source of modification to air stream), uvula, the soft palate(velum), the hard palate, the teeth ridge(alveolus), the teeth and the lips • e.g. /k/ and /g/: • the obstruction between the back of the tongue and the velar area • /t/ and /d/: • the obstruction between the tips of the tongue and the teeth ridge • /f/ and /v/: • the obsttuction between upper teeth and lower lip • /p/ and /b/: • the obstruction between the lips • the nasal cavity: • is connected with the oral cavity. When the passage between is open to let the air pass through the nose, the sounds pronounced are nasalized. When the passage between is closed so that the air can only pass through the mouth, the sounds produced are not nasalized.

11. The diagram of speech organs • Lips • Teeth • Teeth ridge (alveolar) • Hard palate • Soft palate (velum) • Uvula • Tip of tongue • Blade of tongue • Back of tongue • Vocal cords • Pharyngeal cavity • Nasal cavity

12. 2.3 Orthographic representation of speech sounds Phonetic transcription (语音标音): is a method of writing down speech sounds in a systematic and consistent way. The best known of these is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)(A standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription), which was developed by the International Phonetic Association in 1886, and is now most widely used in the field of linguistics The principle was to use one letter to represent one sound. As some sounds differ only slightly, a set of symbols called diacritics (小符号) were used to show detailed articulatory features of sounds, for instance, a curve line (～) used to indicate nasalization, a small h (h) used to indicate aspiration, small equality (=) sign used to indicate unaspiratedness, etc..

13. Broad transcription vs. narrow transcription Narrow transcription (严氏标音法): the phonetic transcription with diacritics. Broad transcription (宽氏标音法): the phonetic transcription without diacritics, e.g. which is used generally in dictionaries and language textbooks.

14. e.g. leave feel spit pit BT: [li:v] [fi:l] [spit] [pit] Question: what about the narrow transcription? NT: [li:v] [fi:l] [sp=it] [phit] clear [l], dark [l], unaspirated [p] ,aspirated [p] ～

15. However, it is not always necessary to represent the speech sounds to such a delicate degree. Narrow transcription is often employed in phonetics study and academic writing. In many circumstances, the broad transcription is perfectly adequate

16. 2.4 English speech sounds English speech sounds include two categories: vowels and consonants. Vowels (元音) are the speech sounds produced without any obstruction of the airstreams. The passage of air is continuous and frictionless. There are 21 English vowels, 13 monophthongs (pure vowels) and 8 diphthongs (combined vowels), such as…

17. Consonants (辅音) are speech sounds with some obstruction of the airstreams There are 24consonants in all, which can be classified into voiced sounds and voiceless sounds. When the vocal cords vibrate, the sound produced is a voiced sound (浊辅音). When the vocal cords do not vibrate, the sound produced is a voiceless sound (清辅音) Q: How to describe English consonants?

18. 2.4.1 Descriptive dimensions for consonants: Place of articulation (发音部位): bilabial: [p], [b], [m], [w]; • labiodental: [ f], [v]; • dental: [θ],[ð]; • alveolar: [t], [d], [s], [z], [n], [l], [r]; • palatal: [∫], [ӡ], [t ∫], [d ӡ], [ j]; • velar: [k], [g], [ŋ]; • glottal: [h].

19. Manner of articulation(发音方式): • stops/plosives: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g]; • fricatives: [f], [v], [s], [z], [∫],[ӡ], [θ], [ð], [h]; • affricates: [t ∫], [d ӡ]; • liquids: [l](lateral), [r](retroflex); • nasals: [m], [n], [ŋ]; • glides/semivowels: [w], [j].

20. Voicing (浊音化): in the production of speech sounds, whether the vocal cords vibrate or not, if they do it’s referred to as a voiced sound ; if they don’t it’s referred to as a voiceless sound. (+voiced vs.-voiced) For instance, [p]: voiceless, bilabial, stop; [z]: voiced, alveolar, fricative; [f]: voiceless, labio-dental, fricative, etc.

21. The description of English consonants

22. 2.4.2 Classification of vowels ---- English vowels can be divided into two large categories: • Monophthongs or pure/single vowels • Diphthongs or gliding vowels

23. Monophthongs or pure/single vowels ----According to the position of the tongue(which part of the tongue is held highest )in the process of production, the vowels can be distinguished as: • front vowels: [i:], [i], [e], [æ], [a], • central vowels: [ә:], [ә], [Λ]; • back vowels: [u:], [u], [ɔ:], [ɔ ], [a:].

24. According to the openness of the mouth • Close: [i:],[i],[u:],[u]. • Semi-close: [e],[ә:]; • Semi-open: [ә], [ɔ:]; • Open: [æ], [a], [Λ], [ɔ],[a:];

25. The diagram of single vowel classification by applying the two criteria so far mentioned:

26. According to the shape of the lips orthe degree of lip rounding • rounded: [u:],[u],[ɔ:],[ɔ]; • unrounded: [i:],[i],[e], [æ], [a],[ә:],[ә], [Λ], [a:].

27. According to the length of the vowels • long:[i:], [ә:], [ɔ:],[u:],[a:] • short: [i],[e],[æ],[a], [ә], [Λ],[ɔ],[u]. • Question: how to describe [i:], [ә:], [æ]?

28. Diphthongs/gliding vowels • [ei], [әu], [ai], [au], [ɔi], [i ә], [εә], [uә]

29. A bilabial consonant: mad sad bad cad pad had lad A velar consonant: nod god cod pod rod Labiodental consonant: rat fat sat mat chat vat pat An alveolar consonant: nick lick sick tick kick quick A palato-alveolar consonant: sip ship tip chip lip zip A dental consonant: lie buy thigh thy tie rye A glide: one war yolk rush Exercises: underline the words that begin with a sound as required.

30. Underline the words that end with a sound as required: • A fricative pay horse tough rice breath push sing wreathe hang cave message • A nasal train bang leaf limb • A stop drill pipe fit crab fog ride laugh rack through tip • An affricate: rack such ridge booze

31. Underline the words that contain the sound as required: • A central vowel: mad lot but boot word • A front vowel: reed pad load fate bit bed cook • A rounded vowel: who he bus her hit true boss bar walk • A back vowel: paid reap fool top good father

32. Describe the underlined consonants according to three dimensions: vd/vl place manner Letter Brother Sunny Hopper Itching Lodger Calling Singing Robber either

33. Phonology Phonology studies the patterning of speech sounds, that is, the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in human languages.

34. 3.1 Phonetics and phonology Both phonetics and phonology are concerned with the same aspect of language – the speech sounds. But they approach the subject from two different angles. Phonetics is general, descriptive and classificatory, which studies speech sounds as they are.; it aims to answer questions like: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they have, how they can be classified, etc. • Phonology studies the sound systems (patterns) of language, it is particular, abstract and distinctive, revealing the functioning of the speech sounds; aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.

35. 3.2 Phone, phoneme and allophone A phone (音素): is a minimal sound unit or segment that human speech organs can produce. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phone is (1) a phonetic unit, (2) not distinctive of meaning (3) physical as perceived (4) marked with [ ].

36. A phoneme(音位):is a phonological unit; it is a unit of distinctive value; an abstract unit, not a particular sound, but it is represented by a certain phone in certain phonetic context. e.g. the phoneme /p/ can be represented differently in [phit], [tip7] and [sp=it]. A phoneme is • A phonological unit • Distinctive of meaning • Abstract,not physical • Marked with / /.

37. With phonemes,we establish the systems of sounds in a language.each language can be shown to operate with a relatively small number of phonemes (15-80).virtually no two languages seem to have exactly the same phonemic system. English phonomic system: 24 consonants, 23 vowels Consonants: /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /m/ /n/ / ŋ / /l/ /r/ /f/ /v/ /θ / / ð / /s/ /z/ / ∫ / / ӡ / /h / /t ∫ / /d ӡ / w/ /j/ Vowels: /i:/ /i/ /e/ / æ / /a:/ / ɔ / / ɔ: / /u/ /u:/ / Λ / / ә: / /ә/ /ei/ /ai/ / ɔ i/ /au/ / ә u/ /i ә / /e ә / / uә /ai ә / / ei ә / /au ә /

38. Allophones (音位变体): the phones that can represent a phoneme are called its allophones. E.G [p=]. [ph] and [p7] are the allophones of the same phoneme /p/. [th] and [t=] ,[kh] and [k=]are the allophones of the phonemes /t/, /k/ respectively. In short, allophones are realizations of a phoneme, and are in complementary distribution. What is complementary distribution?

39. 3.3 Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution and minimal pair Phonemic contrast (音位对立): if two similar sounds occurring in the same place are two distinctive ones in a minimal pair and can distinguish meanings, they are said to be in a phonemic contrast. e.g. /p/ and /b/ in “pit& bit”.

40. Complementary distribution: refers to when two or more than two sounds never occur in the same phonetic environment, and they are members of the same phoneme, they are said to be in complementary contribution. For instance, in English the clear [l] occurs before a vowel ,and dark [l] occurs after a vowel , “clear” [l] as in “light、love”; “dark” [l] as in “feel, felt”; etc.

41. Two conditions of Complementary Distribution: They never occur in identical phonetic environments. In short, where one realization occurs, the others necessarily do not, each of the allophones is responsible for one particular phonetic environment. It is in this sense that the allophones are said to complement each other or to be in complementary distribution. So, CD requires two conditions, realizations of the same phoneme and non-identical environment, otherwise they are not, e.g. [ph] and [th] as in ton/pun, shot/shop, and sitting/sipping. Because although they occur in identical environment, yet not belonging to the same phoneme.

42. Minimal pair (最小对立体/对): when two different forms are identical in every way except for the sound segment which occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are said to have formed a minimal pair. e.g. “pill and bill” ， “pill and till”, “till and dill”, “till and kill”, “kill and gill”, etc.

43. question: are the following pairs of words minimal pairs? lob and lead veal and leaf veal and feel There are many minimal pairs in English, which makes it relatively easy to know what the English phonemes are. It is of great importance to find the minimal pairs when a phonologist is dealing with the sound system of an unknown language.

44. 3.4 Some rules of phonology 3.4.1 Sequential rules （序列规则） To identify the phonemes of a language is only part of the task of a phonologist. He also has to find out in what way the phonemes can be combined. Phonological patterning is rule-governed， e.g. [blik] & [kilb] both sound like possible English words to us, but *[lbki] and *[ilbk] are not.

45. So, The rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules. In English, if a word begins with a [l] or a [v], then the next must be a vowel. That is why *[lbik] is an impossible combination. It violates the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes.

46. Sequential rules in English（英语序列规则） Also, if three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word. The combination, should obey the following there rules: ① the first phoneme must be /s/ ② the second phoneme must be /p/ or /k/ or /t/ ③ the third phoneme must be /i/ or /r/ or /w/ For example, spring. string. squeal, splendid. Question: What about the consonant clusters in the final position? What about the consonant clusters in the middle position? Such rules as governing. the sequencing of phonemes are language-specific, i.e. what is a permissible sequence in one language may not be so in another language.

47. 3.4.2 Assimilation rule （同化规则） Assimilation is a process in which a sound “copy” a feature or features from a neighboring sound, thus making the two sounds more similar. E.g. [in]is realized as [im], [ir], [il] respectively in “impossible”, “irresistible”, “illegal”. Question: can you give more examples of assimilation? In English, for example, the endings for the plural, the third person singular, and the past tense take the voicing feature from a preceding consonant. Thus, we find /s/ and /t/ after voiceless consonants, /z/ and /d/ after voiced ones, as in the following examples: e.g. books [s], bags [z], baked [t], subscribed [d], etc.

48. This phenomenon may be accounted for by the rule that within a word a nasal consonant assumes the place of articulation as the following consonant, e.g. indiscreet, incorrect ,etc. If a segment changes to become like the segment following it in some way, the assimilation is called regressiveassimilation (逆同化) as in “indiscreet, incorrect”. If a segment changes to become like the segment preceding it, the assimilation is called progressive one (顺同化), as in “bags, baked”. Question: what other examples?

49. 3.4.3 Deletion （省略） Deletion is a process which involves the complete disappearance of a segment. In some cases, a segment is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. e.g. the letter “g” mute in “sign , design, paradigm” but pronounced in “signature, designation, and paradigmatic”. This may be accounted for by the rule: delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. Question: can you offer other examples of deletion?

50. 3.5 Suprasegmental features – stress, tone, intonation (超切分特征——重音、声调、语调) So far we have been talking about phonemes — sound segments that distinguish meaning. But distinctive features can also be found running over a sequence of two or more phonemic segments. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the phoneme are called suprasegmental features . Suprsegmental features include stress, tone (pitch) and intonation.