Linguistics The seventh week

Revision  The phenomenon of the linking of words in speech, in particular when the second word begins with a vowel, is called______.  The loss of a sound or sounds in speech is called ______.

 Sounds of one word or syllable can cause changes in the sounds belonging to neighboring words or syllables. This is called ________.

Chapter 2 The Sounds of Language 2.3 Phonology

Key points  the definition of phonology  the definition of phoneme  the minimal pairs

Difficult points  the definition of phonology  the difference between phonetics and phonology  the definition of phoneme

the definition of phonology

 Phonology studies the system of speech sounds of a particular language; it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication. (source: 何兆熊，梅德明， 1999 ： 31 ）

 Phonology is concerned with the linguistic patterning of sounds in human languages, with its primary aim being to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur. (source: 胡壮麟， 2001 ： 54 ）

 Phonology is the scientific study of the sound system and patterns of a language. (source: 刘润清， 2006 ： 36 ）  This definition is widely accepted.

The study scope of phonology:  Phonology studies: 1. the ways in which the speech sounds of a language form patterns and systems; 2. and how they convey meaning in the system of the language.

Differences between phonetics and phonology They differ in two aspects:  study subject  study scope

In study subject:  Phonetics studies all the speech sounds used in all languages.  Phonology studies the sound system and patterns of a particular language.

In study scope:  Phonetics describes individual speech sounds and indicates their physical or phonetic properties.  Phonology studies the ways in which these sounds form patterns and systems and how they work to convey meaning in the system of language.

Extended exercises Exemplify the difference between Chinese and English phonology.

 a. sip zip  b. fine vine  c. chunk junk

the definition of phoneme  A phoneme is the minimal distinctive linguistic unit in a language. (source: 孙延弢， 2001 ： 37 ）

Key points of phoneme  Phoneme is the study focus of phonology.  A phoneme distinguishes meaning.  A phoneme is language-specific.

Minimal pairs  [b æn] and [bin]  [bet] and [b/\t]  [f æ n] and [v æ n]  [siŋk] and [ziŋk]  [sait] and [said]  [tſ/\ŋk and [d ƺ /\ŋk]

the definition of the minimal pairs  Minimal pairs are two words which are identical in every way except for one sound that occurs in the same place in the sound strings.

 In order to determine which are distinctive sounds phonemes, the customary practice is to set up minimal pairs.  This practice is also called commutation test( 替换法 / 测试）. (source: 刘润清, 2002 ： 93 ）

Some of the minimal pairs of English phonemes( source: Crystal, 1997:162)  beat---bit /i:/ --- /i/  bit---bet /i/ --- /e/  bet---bat /e/ --- / æ /  bat---but / æ / --- / /\ /  but---heart / /\ / --- /a:/

 heart---hot /a:/ --- / Ɔ /  pot---port / Ɔ / --- / Ɔ: /  port---put / Ɔ: / --- /u/  full---fool /u/ --- /u:/  cool---curl /u:/ --- / ∂: / 

 girl---gale / ∂: / --- /ei/  tale---tile /ei/ --- /ai/  toil---toll / Ɔi / --- / ∂ u/  tone---town / ∂ u /---/au/  how---here /au/ --- /i ∂ /  here---hair /i ∂ / ---/ε ∂ /  pair---poor /ε ∂ / --- /u ∂ /  poor---pea /u ∂ / ---/i:/

 pin---bin /p/ --- /b/  bin---tin /b/ --- /t/  tin---din /t/---/d/  din---kin /d/---/k/  coat---goat /k/---/g/  got---hot /g/---/h/  height---might /h/---/m/  might---night /m/---/n/  kin---king /n/---/ŋ/

 tin---till /ŋ/---/l/  led---red /l/---/r/  lad---wad /r/---/w/  wet---yet /w/---/j/  yolk---choke /j/---/tſ /  choke---joke / tſ /---/d ƺ /  jade---fade / d ƺ /---/f/  fail---veil /f/---/v/  heave---heath /v/---/θ/

 wreath---wreathe /θ/---/=/  though---sew /=/---/s/  bus---buzz /s/---/z/  zoo---shoe /z/---/ ſ /  Confucian---confusion / ſ /---/ ƺ /  beige---bait / ƺ /---/t/

Exercise of identifying minimal pairs 1. sun/son 2. tore/door 3. teach/cheat 4. pit/tip 5. fail/gale 6. impotent/important 7. Confucian/confusion 8. recent/decent 9. stop/atop

The function of the minimal pair  The minimal pair test or commutation test is an effective method to determine or identify the phonemes of a language.

Minimal set  A group of words are identical in every way except for one phoneme which occurs in the same place, they are called a minimal set.

Examples  A minimal set based on the vowel phonemes of English: [fi:t], [fit], [feit], [f æ t], [f Ɔ: t]  The one based on consonants: [big], [pig], [rig], [fig], [dig] and [wig].

The key points of this lecture:  the definition of phonology  the difference between phonology and phonetics  the definition of phoneme  the definition of the minimal pair and set

References: 1. Crystal, David The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press. 2. 戚雨村，《现代语言学的特点和发展趋势》，上海外语教 育出版社： 1997 年 11 月。 3. 刘润清，《西方语言学流派》，外语教学与研究出版社： 2002 年 11 月。 4. 胡壮麟，《语言学教程》（修订版），北京大学出版社： 2001 年 7 月。 5. 何兆熊，梅德明，《现代语言学》，外语教学与研究出版 社： 1999 年 1 月。 6. 孙延弢，《语言学概论》，吉林人民出版社： 2001 年 8 月。

Assignments  1. Definition: (1) phonology (2) phoneme  2. The following sets of minimal pairs show that English sounds [p] and [b] contrast in initial, medial and final positions. initial medial final pit/bit rapid/rabid cap/cab Find similar sets of minimal pairs for each pair of consonants given: (1) [k]-[g] (2) [m]-[n] (3) [b]-[v] (4) [b]-[m] (5) [p]-[f]