1. 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
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2. 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
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3. 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
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4. 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
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5. 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.
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6. 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.)
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7. 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 /
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8. 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
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9. 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.
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10. 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
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11. 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
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12. 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
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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
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14. 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)
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15. 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]
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16. 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)
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17. Phonemic and Phonetic Difference
Thai phonemes
Phonetic segments
English phonemes
Taiwanese phonemes
/p/
[p]
/p/杯
/ph/
[ph]
/ph/信
/b/
[b]
/b/買
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18. 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]
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19. 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
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20. 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
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21. 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”).
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22. 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)
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23. 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]
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24. 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.”
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25. 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]
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26. 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]
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27. 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
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28. 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
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29. Interaction Between Phonology & Morphology (1)
Word class  stress
N/V pair:
conflict, conflict
convert, convert
conscript, conscript
pervert, pervert
record, record
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30. 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
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31. Interaction Between Phonology & Morphology (2)
Negative prefix: /In/ (see slide 25)
Regular plural: /z/
teachers, books, churches
Regular past tense: /d/
begged, tripped, needed
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32. 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
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