Lecture 1 Preliminaries

Phonology Phonology is the study of linguistically significant sound patterns, that is, of the organization of the sounds of speech.

Producing Speech Sounds Studying the physical properties of speech sounds contributes to understanding the process of producing them. - Manner of Articulation - Place of Articulation - Voicing

Manner of Articulation When producing obstruents, for example, articulators either: - totally stop the airflow then release it (stops), - create a partial closure leading to turbulence of the air particles (fricatives), - or combine these two types of closure (affricates).

Place of Articulation The number and variety of obstruents result directly from the fact that manners of articulation can be exercised at various points in the vocal tract. These point, places of articulation, are generally described in terms of where in the vocal tract contact is made, rather than in terms of the identity of the active articulator involved.

Voicing Each combination of manner and place of articulation may also be accompanied by vocal cord (fold) vibration or voicing.

Descriptive Phonetic Parameters Voice Voiced Articulated with vibration of the vocal folds. //, //, //, … Voiceless Articulated without vibration of the vocal folds. //, //, //, …

Descriptive Phonetic Parameters Place of Articulation Bilabial: //, // Labiodental: //, // Dental: //, // Alveolar: //, // Palatoalveolar: //, // Velar: //, // Glottal: //, //

Descriptive Phonetic Parameters Manner of Articulation Stops: // Affricates: // Fricatives: // Nasals: // Liquids, Laterals: // Rhotics: //

Descriptive Phonetic Parameters Obstruction Obstruents: Stops, Affricates, and Fricatives Sonorants Nasals, Liquids

Advantages A system based on parameters: 1 enables us to describe each of the sounds of any language in a reasonably economic and uniform manner: // = voiceless bilabial obstruent stop 2 allows us to see at a glance what the significant differences between any two sounds are: // = voiceless labiodental obstruent fricative // = voiced labiodental obstruent fricative 3 assumes characteristics of phonetic realization in the defining labels

Phonetics & Phonology Phonetics describes sounds: - articulatorily positions and movements of the speech organs - acoustically patterns in the air, detectable with the appropriate technology - perceptually impact of the sound on the ear and subsequent transmission of the signal to the brain This limitation in the scope of phonetics (surface level) obviously leave both the lexical (or underlying) level and the rules uncatered for. The discipline that considers after these aspects of the modal is Phonology.

Simplification We are likely to have an enormous number of labels if we are going to add one for each phonetic detail. This runs against the grain of Economy, favoring simplicity in scientific modeling. Some distinct labels are complementary, oral - nasal, obstruent - sonorant, ….

Distinctive Features Only one of the complementary labels is adopted. The terminological gap will be filled by the negated term: [-sonorant] = obstruents [+sonorant] = sonorants

Distinctive Features They keep sounds distinct by expressing their properties. The list of distinctive features is provided once and for all languages. This list is assumed to be part of UG. The system reveals the criteria for classification and the position of any given element.

Distinctive Features The system is: Maximally simple It only contains the features necessary to implement classification, Clear Each value is transparent where [-voice], for example, refers to voiceless sounds. Unambiguous There is no chance of missing the complementarity between [+sonorant] and [-sonorant], as there would be if the labels ‘sonorant’ and ‘obstruent’ were used.

Assignment: Key Questions (pages 140 and 167) Next Week Chapters 5 and 6 Assignment: Key Questions (pages 140 and 167)

Textbook Roca, I. and W. Johnson (1999), A Course in Phonology. Oxford UK, Malden, Massachusetts USA: Blackwell

Assessment 40% Course Work: 10% Weekly Assignments (to be submitted in hard copies) 15% Mid-term Exam 15% Term Paper (Develop one of the ten sections in chapter 20 into a full 5000-word paper.) 60% Final Exam

Lectures 1 Preliminaries (11/02/1427) 2 Chapters 5 and 6 (18/02/1427) 6 Mid-term (17/03/1427) 7 Chapters 13 and 14 (24/03/1427) 8 Chapters 15 and 16 (01/04/1427) 9 Chapters 17 and 18 (08/04/1427) 10 Chapter 19 (15/04/1427)