Phonology v Definition v Processes affecting sounds v

Phonology v Definition v Processes affecting sounds v Syllables, Syllable structure v Mandarin syllable structure v Suprasegmentals v Phonemes, Allophones v Phonetic difference vs. phonemic difference v Transcription v Phonological rules, Morphophonemic rules v Allowable sequences of phonemes v Interaction between phonology and other aspects of language Yun-Pi Yuan 1

Phonology ¨ Describes and explains sound patterns (systems); the abstract (or mental) aspect of sounds ¨ Sound patterns: – Sets of sounds • List of sounds that belong to one lang. ; sets of phonemes; possible speech sounds in all languages – Arrangements of sounds • Order: e. g, CVC, V – Processes affecting sounds Yun-Pi Yuan 2

Processes Affecting Sounds ¨ Addition – Adding a sound which wasn’t there before – e. g. , gamle gamble ¨ Deletion – contraction in fast speech, e. g. , “I’ll” – friendship ¨ Substitution (or changing) – Assimilation ¨ Rearrangement – E. g, comfortable comftorble Yun-Pi Yuan 3

Syllables (1) ¨ Definition: a unit more “natural” (i. e. , psychologically real) for most people than individual sounds ¨ When dividing words into smaller units usually syllables; e. g. , “im-por-tant” ¨ The importance of syllables in poetry/song: – Meter – Rhyme ¨ Recite alphabet in syllables ¨ Many forms of writing (began or) based on the syllable Yun-Pi Yuan 4

Syllables (2) ¨ Alphabet vs. Letter – The alphabets: the set of letters – How many alphabets are there in Eng. ? In Japanese? – 26 letters of the alphabet ¨ Syllabic alphabet: one symbol represents one syllable. Ex: Japanese ¨ Syllable structure: a syllable always contains a vowel or a vowel-like sound. Yun-Pi Yuan 5

Syllable Structure(1) Syllable (onset) rime nucleus F (consonant(s)) (coda) F vowel (consonant(s)) (or syllabic consonant) (A structure basically fit into any language. ) Yun-Pi Yuan 6

Syllable Structure (2) ¨ Examples: V: “I” /a. I/ CV: “do” /du/ VC: /æm/ CVC: /n. At/ /la. Ik/ VCC: “eggs”/Egs/ CCV: “glee” /gli/ CCVC: “green” /grin/ CCCVCCC(C): strengths /str. ENQs/ / str. ENk. Qs / Yun-Pi Yuan 7

Mandarin Syllable Structure Tone 聲調 (Initial) Final 聲母 韻母 (Medial) 介音 Rime 韻 Nucleus (Ending) 主要元音 韻尾 Yun-Pi Yuan 8

Suprasegmentals (1) ¨ Definition: elements of sound which interact with syllables and longer units. ¨ Why called “suprasegmentals”? – “supra” = “above” or “over” – “segment” = piece; individual sound ¨ Not only individual sounds and their combinations in syllables are important, but also other sound elements that go with them. Yun-Pi Yuan 9

Suprasegmentals (2) ¨ Pitch: high/low of the voice – High/low of the voice, controlled by vocal cords ¨ Stress: the combination of pitch, length/clarity of vowel, volume – For emphasis – N/V pairs ¨ Tone: pitch variation ¨ Intonation: pitch over a phrase, clause or sentence Yun-Pi Yuan 10

Phonemes (1) ¨ Phonemes are sounds which make a difference to meaning – A speech sound which speakers of a language can recognize as a distinctive sound (in their language) which affects meaning – A psychological real speech sound, recognized as different from other speech sounds – An abstract mental representation of a set of sounds Yun-Pi Yuan 11

Phonemes (2) ¨ pot and spot: /ph/ vs. /p/ – Physically different but psychologically the same to speakers – So /p/ is a phoneme – /p/ = {p, ph} or /p/ = [p], [ph] ¨ Notation: – / / = phoneme – [ ] = allophone – { } = set of allophones Yun-Pi Yuan 12

Allophones ¨ Different actual (physical) pronunciation of a phoneme ¨ It makes no difference to meaning. ¨ It is phonemically/mentally the same, but physically different. ¨ /l/, /r/ are phonemes in Eng. , but /l/ = {l, ł} allophones – [l]: “late” (regular alveolar l) • Occurs before + high V or + mid, front V – [ł]: “law, “ “real” (velarized l) • Occurs before + backk V, + low V, or at the end of syllable ¨ Nasality on vowels: /i/ = {i, ĩ } – tea vs. team Yun-Pi Yuan 13

Phonemic & Phonetic Difference ¨ Phonemic difference in one language may be phonetic difference in another, and vice versa (i. e. , allophones in one lang. may be phonemes in another). ¨ Nasality on vowels – Eng. • /i/ = {i, ĩ } – Twi (Ghana) • /ka/ = “bite”; /kã/ = “speak” – Taiwanese • “pig” vs. “sweet”; “west” vs. “give birth” Yun-Pi Yuan (Nash 50) 14

Phonemic & Phonetic Difference ¨ Compare English and Taiwanese vowels – pig (in Taiwanese) [di] –nasal sweet (in Taiwanese) [dĩ] +nasal make phonemic difference in Taiwanese – west (in Taiwanese) [se] give birth (in Taiwanese ) [se] Yun-Pi Yuan 15

Phonemic & Phonetic Difference § Aspiration – English: /p/ = {p, ph} – Hindi, Thai, Taiwanese: /p/, / ph / • Hindi: /p∧l/ = “moment”; / ph ∧l/ = “fruit” (Nash 49) ¨ Mandarin consonants distinguished by +aspirated or –aspirated – p’, p t’, t k’, k ts’, ts t. E’, t. E t. C’, t. C (Nash 45) Yun-Pi Yuan 16

Phonemic and Phonetic Difference Thai phonemes Phonetic segments /p/ English phonemes [p] Taiwanese phonemes /p/杯 /p/ /ph/ /b/ [b] /ph/信 [ph] /b/ Yun-Pi Yuan /b/買 17

Transcription ¨ Transcription = the use of phonetic symbols to show sounds in written form ¨ Phonemic transcription shows phonemes in slashes: // – In dictionaries – pin /p. In/ ¨ Phonetic transcription shows allophones in square brackeets: [ ]; it gives more details of the physical pronunciation – For speech therapy; for phonological study of sound processes; ; for linguistic description, etc. – little /l. Itl/ vs. [l. IDl], [l. Itl], [l. I l] Yun-Pi Yuan 18

Phonological Rules ¨ General principles determining the occurrence of allophones (i. e. , determining how a phoneme is actually pronounced under specific conditions). ¨ State (three things about) what is required for a certain process to operate: – The type of sound involved (with distinctive feature) – The environment (the linguistic context; the surrounding sounds, syllable structure) – What happens to this type of sound Yun-Pi Yuan 19

Phonological Rule 1 ¨ Voiceless stops (when they’re at beginning of a syllable) before a stressed vowel + aspirated – Pit [ph. It], cool, top Yun-Pi Yuan 20

Phonological Rule 2 ¨ Vowels (when before nasal consonants) + nasal – Team [t ĩm] – Tune [tũn] ¨ The nasalization of vowels is a case of assimilation (under the pressure of “be quick and easy”). Yun-Pi Yuan 21

Assimilation ¨ When two phonemes occur in sequence and some aspect of one phoneme is taken or “copied” by the other, the process is known as assimilation. (Yule 59) Yun-Pi Yuan 22

Phonological Rule 3 ¨ Velarization of /l/: ¨ /l/ (before + back or + low vowel, or at the end of syllable) velarized – Law [ O], real [rił] Yun-Pi Yuan 23

Morphophonemic Rules ¨ A morpheme, with different pronunciations determined by phonology ¨ Morphophonemic = morphology + phoneme ¨ Example: negative prefix – Even though written in 2 ways: in-, im-, actually with 3 different pronunciations: [In], [Iŋ], [Im] – “In words a nasal consonant is formed at the same place as a consonant that comes Yun-Pi Yuan 24 after it. ”

Negative Prefix ¨ A velar nasal [ŋ ] is formed, if followed by a velar consonant – E. g. , incomplete, ingratitude [Iŋ] ¨ An alveolar nasal [n] is formed, when followed by an alveolar consonant – E. g. , indefinite, insecure [In] ¨ A bilabial nasal [m] is formed, when followed by a bilabial consonant – E. g. , impossible, immature [Im] Yun-Pi Yuan 25

Formal Versions of Rules ¨ [+ stop, - voice] [+ aspiration]/# --- [- consonantal, + vocalic, + stress] ¨ “voiceless stops are/become aspirated [in the environment of ][at] the beginning of a syllable before a stressed vowel” ¨ [-consonantal, + vocalic] [+ nasal] --- [ + consonantal, - vocalic, + nasal] Yun-Pi Yuan 26

Allowable Sequences of Phonemes ¨ “Tlaloc” ¨ Syllable structure – CV: the most preferred syllable in all languages – V, VC, CVC all possible in Eng. ? In Mandarin? –C – CCCVCCCC “strengths” • Probably the longest syllable in English • But the beginning CCC cannot be just any C • [s/p, t, or k/l, r, y, or w/], plus limits on combos of the three groups Yun-Pi Yuan 27

Interaction Between Phonology and Other Aspects of Language ¨ Phonology with morphology – Stress placement is predictable (in some cases) given knowledge of the word class – The pronunciation of a morpheme determined by phonology ¨ Phonology with syntax ¨ Phonology with semantics Yun-Pi Yuan 28

Interaction Between Phonology & Morphology (1) ¨ Word class stress ¨ N/V pair: – conflict, conflict – convert, convert – conscript, conscript – pervert, pervert – record, record Yun-Pi Yuan 29

Interaction Between Phonology & Syntax ¨ Noun compounds vs. adj. + noun phrase – blackboard, black board – blue bird, blue bird – hot dog, hot dog – the White House, a white house Yun-Pi Yuan 30

Interaction Between Phonology & Morphology (2) ¨ Negative prefix: /In/ (see slide 25) ¨ Regular plural: /z/ – teachers, books, churches ¨ Regular past tense: /d/ – begged, tripped, needed Yun-Pi Yuan 31

Interaction Between Phonology & Semantics ¨ Intonation: change meaning of a phrase, clause, sentence – You like this class. (statement) – You like this class. (question). ¨ Tone: change meaning of a (morpheme or) word –媽 –麻 –馬 –罵 Yun-Pi Yuan 32