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? 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.