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

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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, CV, CVC, V Processes affecting sounds Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan Syllable Structure (2) Examples: V: “I” /aI/ CV: “do” /du/ VC:/æm/ CVC:/nAt/ /laIk/ VCC: “eggs”/Egs/ CCV: “glee” /gli/ CCVC: “green” /grin/ CCCVCCC(C): strengths /strENQs/ / strENkQs / Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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” (Nash 50) Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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

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 tE’, tE tC’, tC (Nash 45) Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan Transcription Transcription = the use of phonetic symbols to show sounds in written form Phonemic transcription shows phonemes in slashes: / / In dictionaries pin /pIn/ 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 /lItl/ vs. [lIDl], [lItl], [lI l] Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan Phonological Rule 1 Voiceless stops (when they’re at beginning of a syllable) before a stressed vowel  + aspirated Pit [phIt], cool, top Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 after it.” Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Yun-Pi YuanYun-Pi Yuan 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

Allowable Sequences of Phonemes “Tlaloc” Syllable structure CV: the most preferred syllable in all languages V, VC, CV, 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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan

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 YuanYun-Pi Yuan