Phonology: contrast, complementary distribution LING 200 Spring 2003 Reading: Files

Some acoustic phonetics b  y  waveform  spectrogram energy frequency time

dark bands in spectrogram are ‘formants’ (F1, F2, etc.), characteristic frequencies of resonator (vocal tract shape) frequency time F1 F2 F3 b  y voicing

English vowels—an acoustic plot F2 F1

English vowels—an acoustic plot F2 F1

Aspiration in English p h  y aspiration

Aspiration in English The sequence of events in [p h  ]: [p][h][h] [][] lipslabial closureapart vocal cords apart (voiceless) vibrating (voiced)

Broad vs. narrow transcription When should aspiration be included in a transcription of English? How much detail should a transcription contain? –Relatively a lot of detail: narrow e.g. [k h  ] ‘cot’[g  t] ‘got’ –Relatively less detail: broad e.g. [k  t] ‘cot’[g  t] ‘got’

Predictable vs. unpredictable information List-like information –unpredictable e.g. In English, [kæt]  –represented in dictionary Rule-like information –predictable e.g. In English, voiceless stops are aspirated (in one context) –represented in grammar e.g. phonological rule of Aspiration

Broadest transcription Represents only unpredictable information Phonemic representation: /kæt/ phonological rules e.g. assign aspiration k h phonetic representation [k h æt] Phonemes: the elements of a phonemic representation

When to use broad vs. narrow transcription? Typically, transcription is as broad as possible –Symbols in consonant, vowel charts are phonemes In English, transcribe aspiration only in a phonetic study of aspiration

Phonemic vs. phonetic representations Phonetic representation –directly observable –contains measurable properties Phonemic representation –inferred, not observed –abstract, streamlined representation of sound

Inferring the phonemic representation Evidence from: –Minimal pairs/sets (‘contrast’) –Distributional properties of sounds When aspects of pronunciation are predictable, due to influence of –Neighboring sound –Position of sound

Minimal pairs Two words which differ in meaning and along only one phonetic parameter –A minimal pair for voicing [kræ  bi] vs. [kræ  pi] therefore, /p b/ in English –A minimal pair for labio-dental vs. interdental place [  n] vs. [f  n] therefore, /  f/ in English Minimal pairs –contain phonemes –are a guide to the phoneme inventory

Minimal sets A minimal set for vowel height –[hid] –[h  d] –[hed] –[h  d] –[hæd]

A near-minimal set [t  yd] [h  yd] [h  wd]

Distributional properties of sounds Aspiration in more detail /p//t//k/ aspirated [p  t][t  t][k  t] [yu  p  k][yu  t  ][yu  k  n] unaspirated [sp  y][st  y][sk  y] [s  p][r  t][s  k] [s  ps][r  ts][s  ks] ( [  ] = primary stress; [  ] = secondary stress )

Distribution of [p h ], [p] [b  y] [p h  y] [sp  y] ? =[p  y]

Distribution of [p h ], [p] [p h ][p] [p  t][sp  t] [yu.p  k][s  p] [s  ps]  Observation: [p h ] occurs at the beginning of a syllable; [p] occurs everywhere else voiceless stops can occur in English Syllable: grouping of consonants and vowels. 1 syllable words: [r  k], [br  k], [br  ks]; 2 syllable word: [  kn  ]. [.] = syllable boundary

Distribution of [p h ], [p] All the places /p/ can occur in English  [p h e] [p h le] [ræpt] [p h re] [ræsp] [spe] [ræps] [sple] [ræp] [spre]

Distribution of aspiration [p  t  k  ] and [p t k] do not contrast –there are no minimal pairs for aspiration [p  t  k  ] and [p t k] are in complementary distribution; i.e. –the distribution of [p h ] complements that of [p] –i.e. [p h ] and [p] don’t occur in the same place the distribution of aspiration is predictable and can be stated in a rule: –Voiceless stops are aspirated when syllable initial In English,

Allophones The pronunciations of phonemes which contain predictable properties –E.g., [p h ] and [p] are allophones of /p/ in English. Phonemic vs. phonetic transcription phonemicphonetic (aspiration transcribed) /p  t/[p  t] /yup  k/[yup  k] /sp  t/[sp  t] /s  p/[s  p] /s  ps/[s  ps]

Cross-linguistic similarities and differences Spoken languages differ –in phoneme inventories –in rules for the pronunciation of phonemes Phonological rules usually apply to, are conditioned by –natural classes of sounds e.g. Aspiration applies to /p t k/ (all voiceless stops) not /p r  /

State of glottis in Hindi –[   ] = voiced aspirated palatal affricate –[c  h ] = voiceless aspirated palatal affricate –[  ] = voiced palatal affricate –[c  ] = voiceless palatal affricate Aspiration in Hindi

[c  l] ‘turn’ [c  h  l] ‘bark’ [  l] ‘net’ [    l] ‘cymbals’ [c  l] ‘turn’, [  l] ‘net’ are a minimal pair for voicing [c  l] ‘turn’, [c  h  l] ‘bark’ are a minimal pair for aspiration  /    c  c  h / are all phonemes in Hindi

Voicing in Mohawk Iroquoian family; spoken in Quebec, Ontario, New York Observation: [p t k b d g] are all sounds of Mohawk Suspicion: there are no minimal or near- minimal pairs for voicing Question: Is stop voicing phonemic or predictable?

Mohawk phonetic data [oli:de  ] ‘pigeon’ [oy  :g  l  ] ‘shirt’ [z  hset] ‘hide it!’ (sg.) [ohyots  h] ‘chin’ [g  :lis] ‘stocking’ [l  b  hbet] ‘catfish’ [od  hs  ] ‘tail’ [sdu:h  ] ‘a little bit’ [wisk]‘five’ [  iks] ‘fly’ [degeni]‘two’ [desd  n  ] ‘stand up!’ (sg.) [  pl  m] ‘Abram, Abraham’ [de:zekw  ] ‘pick it up!’ (sg.) [V:] = long vowel, [C  ] = voiceless consonant of interest: [p t k b d g]

Stop distribution [p][b]  ___l  ___  h___e [t][d] e___#i:___e o___s o___  s___u: #___e #___e: s___  [k][g] s___# #___  : i___se___e e___w  :___  # = word edge

Summarized contexts [p t k][b d g] ___ C___ V ___ #  [p t k] and [b d g] are in complementary distribution in Mohawk.

Writing the phonological rule Which rule? –Mohawk has /p t k/. Voicing: Stops are voiced before vowels. or? –Mohawk has /b d g/. Devoicing: Stops are voiceless word finally or before a consonant.

Writing the phonological rule Choose Voicing. Why? –Voicing rule is simpler than Devoicing rule Voicing: “...before vowels.” Devoicing: “...word finally or before a consonant.” –If Voicing, then Mohawk consonant inventory contains /p t k/. If Devoicing, then /b d g/. But there are no languages with /b d g/ which lack /p t k/. i.e. voiced stops  voiceless stops (an implicational universal)

Mohawk consonant inventory labialalveolarpalatalvelarglottal stopptk  affricate cc fricativesh nasaln liquidr glidewy Voicing applies to all of the voiceless stops in Mohawk.

Writing the rule In Mohawk, Stops are voiced before vowels. (sentence formulation) /p t k/  [b d g] / ___ V (‘arrow’ notation)