Linguistics week 9

1. Linguistics week 9 Phonology 2

3. This is a stylized representation of the inside of the mouth It shows the cardinal vowels marked by black dots and the approximate position of vowels common in many languages The next slide shows the position of English vowels on the same kind of chart The IPA vowel chart

4. Phonemes • There are meaning related differences between • English /b/ and /p/ (voiced and voiceless) • Mandarin /p/ and /pʰ/ (aspirated & unaspirated) • French /o/ and /õ/ (oral & nasal vowels) • These pairs of sounds are phonemes of English, Mandarin, French • You should read the introduction to minimal pairs and phonemes, Fromkin 283-287

5. Allophones 1 • [pʰ] is not a phoneme of English, because the difference between [p] and [pʰ] never distinguishes meaning • They each occur in different contexts • [p] after a consonant, or before a pause • [pʰ] at the beginning of a syllable. • They both represent the phoneme /p/ • We can say they are allophones of the phoneme /p/

6. Allophones 2 • [õ] is not a phoneme of English, because the difference between [o] and [õ] never distinguishes meaning • They each occur in different contexts • [õ] before a nasal consonant. • [o] everywhere else • They both represent the phoneme /o/ • We can say they are allophones of the phoneme /o/

7. Complementary distribution 1 • Where x occurs, y does not occur; where y occurs, x does not occur • Where [o] occurs, [õ] does not occur; where [õ] occurs, [o] does not occur • Where [p] occurs, [pʰ] does not occur; where [pʰ] occurs, [p] does not occur • The allophones [o] and [õ] are in complementary distribution • The allophones [p] and [pʰ] are in complementary distribution

8. Complementary distribution 2 • Consider ㄢ (not after ㄧ!) and ㄤ • We could transcribe these as /an/ and /ɑŋ/ • But are [a] and [ɑ] really phonemes? • Are there any minimal pairs? • If there were any minimal pairs, we would need more than one symbol ㄚ to represent them • So we could say that /a/ has two allophones • [ɑ] before a velar nasal, [a] everywhere else • i.e. [ɑ] in ㄤ, [a] inㄢ andㄚ

9. Complementary distribution 2 • The alveolar lateral approximant (Fromkin: liquid) /l/ has two allophones in English • [l] and [ɫ] • The first, like ㄌ, is called a clear l • The second has a diacritic ~ to show pharyngealization (contact between the tongue and the pharynx: the back of the throat) • It is called a dark l • Do you know when each is used?

10. Allophones not in complementary distribution • I pronounce “bottle” in two different ways, depending (I think) on who I’m talking to, or my mood! • The [t] and [ʔ] are not in complementary distribution, because they can occur in the same context. • They are still allophones of /t/, though • The same applies to the velar [x] or glottal [h] fricative in 好 • It depends who’s talking • The same probably applies to [ʐ] (voiced retroflex fricative) and [ɻ] (retroflex approximant) in 人 (peng)

11. So what is a phoneme? • A phoneme is a member of the set of sounds of a particular language • A phoneme can be spoken in different ways, depending on • the other sounds near it, in the utterance (context) • the local accent or dialect • the person speaking • These different realizations (different ways) are the allophones of the phoneme • A phoneme can be distinguished from every other phoneme • You do this by checking that a minimal pair exists

12. Transcription (IPA, KK etc) • A phonemic transcription • Write only the symbols for the phonemes, even though the same phoneme can be pronounced in a slightly different way • A phonetic transcription • Write symbols, maybe with diacritics, to explain the exact details of every sound in the utterance.

13. Reading • Phonology in general • pp 273, 274 • Phonemes • pp 283 – 287 • Complementary distribution • pp 287 – 290 • Cursive and caps analogies

14. Economy of effort: allophonic differences within one syllable • The vowels in ㄢ and ㄤ are different (front and back) because the speaker is preparing for the following consonant • The consonants /k/ in kit and cat differ slightly because the speaker is preparing for the following vowel. Tongue position for the first is further forward • Why do these allophonic differences exist? • In language, as in life, people are lazy! • It is logical that tongue movement should be minimized • As long as people can understand what we are saying!

15. Economy of effort: assimilation • Another syllable or word influences pronunciation, in rapid speech • How do you pronounce 根本? • This is an example of progressive assimilation • What about 多少錢 • This is an example of elision

16. Assimilation in English and French • Usually it’s regressive • A phoneme is changed to accommodate (match) the next phoneme. • Voicing • Newspaper, of course, have to • News has /z/; newspaper has [s] to accommodate the following /p/ • French avec /avek/ in avec vous /aveg vu/ “with you”

17. Assimilation of place of articulation • /tem/ in ten minutes • /iƷ/ in is she? • http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/assimilation.html • For more examples • The first sections of http://www.traininglinkonline-ireland.ie/courses/c3p2/pp8.pdf are a good tutorial on assimilation and elision • We’ll work through them in class

18. Homework • Read about assimilation at http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~llsroach/phon2/asscoareli-into.htm • But do this after the midterm exam!