PHONOLOGY
LI 2023
NATHALIE F. MARTIN
Introduction: Phonology
 No human language exploits all
phonetic possibilities
 Every language makes its own
particular selection from the range of
all possible ___________
Introduction
Phonological Representation
Phonology /fənɒlədʒi/ :
 The components of grammar that
determines the _______of speech sounds
and that ______both the sound ______
and the systematic phonetic variation found
in language.
Introduction
Phonological Representation
 The task of phonologists:
 To
________and ________the
systematic phonetic patterns found in individual
languages
discover the ___________ ____that
underlie the patterning of sounds across human
languages.
 To
Introduction
Phonological Representation
 Three major phonological units:
___________
___________
___________
Introduction
Phonological Representation
Wd
Word level
σ
s
è
σ
g
m
F
[ ]
- syllabic
+ sonorant
…
n
Syllable
level
t
Segment
level
Feature
level
Introduction
Phonological Representation
 Segment:
 ___________
___________
 Feature:
Features correspond to articulatory or acoustic
___________such as [voice] or [strident]
 Smallest building block of phonological structure

 Syllable:

A syllabic element – usually a vowel- and any preceding
or following segments that are associated with it
Segments in Contrast
Contrast
 All speakers knows which segments
contrast and which ones don’t …
 Segments are said to _______when:
 Their
presence alone may distinguish
forms with different meaning from each
other
Ex: sip [sɪp] and zip [zɪp]
Ex: hit [hɪt], hat [hæt] & hot [hɒt]
Segments in Contrast
Minimal Pairs
 The first step in the analysis of the
phonology of language is to establish which
sounds in that language are in ______with
each other
 In order to establish contrast, it is necessary
to examine the ___________ of sounds
in words and to compare word meanings.
 This
can be accomplished through the
______________
Segments in Contrast
Minimal Pairs
 Minimal pair: Consists of _______with
___________ that differ by ______
____ ______found in the same
position in each form.
 Example:
[sɪp] and zip [zɪp]
 Therefore the segments [s] and [z] contrast
 sip
Segments in Contrast
Minimal Pairs – English Consonant
 Example:
Segments in Contrast
Minimal Pairs – Definitions
 Environment:
phonetic _________in which a
sound occurs.
 The
 Near minimal pairs:
 Pairs
of words that have segments in
nearly identical environments (ex: assure
& azure)
Segments in Contrast
Minimal Pairs – Definitions
 Phoneme:
that _______with each other
___________ _______are said to
belong to separate phonemes of that
language
 Segments
• Contrastive phonological units
Not to be confused with ________
Segments in Contrast
Vowel Contrast in English
Segments in Contrast
Vowel Contrast in English
Segments in Contrast
Language-Specific Contrasts
 Important:
-
Two sounds can be phonetically distinct
without necessarily being phonologically
distinct or contrastive.
 - Sounds that are contrastive in one
language may not necessarily be
contrastive in another.
Segments in Contrast
Language-Specific Contrasts
o Example:
In
English [ɛ] & [æ] are contrastive
(ex: Ben & ban)
In
Turkish (ex: the word “I” can
be said [bɛn] & [bæn])
Segments in Contrast
Practice & Homework
 Find minimal pairs to show contrast
between all English consonants
(15 phonemes)
Exceptions
which are hard to find:
[ŋ]
[h]
[ʔ]
[ʒ]
Complementary
distribution
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Introduction
 Phonetic variation is systematic
 Occurs
most often in phonetically similar
segments
by the ___________
or environment in which the segments are
found
 Conditioned
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Introduction - Variation
 Variation occurs because segments are
affected and altered by phonetic
characteristics of neighboring elements or
by the larger phonological context in which
they occur
 Speakers and listeners of any language tend
to factor out this type of variation in order to
focus on contrast that affect
meaning
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Complementary Distribution
 In English, all Ls are not identical
 Different
sounds:
[l̥̥̥̥ ] (voiceless l)& [l] (voiced l)
 Yet they do not contrast
 There
are no minimal pairs in which the
phonetic difference [l̥̥̥̥ ] & [l] functions to
indicate difference
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Complementary Distribution
 Examine the distribution of the two Ls
 All of the voiceless [l̥̥̥̥ ] occurs after the class of
___________ ___________
 Voiced [l] never occurs after voiceless stops
 Predictable property of phonology in English
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Complementary Distribution
 Therefore:
 Since
no voiced [l] ever occurs in the same phonetic
environment as a voiceless [l̥̥] (and vice versa), we
say that that the two variants of L are in
___________ ___________
Table 3.6
Complementary distribution of [l] and [l̥] in English
[l]
[l̥̥]
After voiceless stops
no
yes
Elsewhere
yes
no
Phonemes and
allophones
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Phonemes and allophones
 Allophones:
 When
segments are phonetically distinct,
but not phonologically the same they are
considered _________(predictable
variants) of one _________(contrastive
phonological unit).
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Phonemes and allophones
 Phonetic representation:
 Consists of predictable variants or allophones
Symbols for
 Phonemic (or phonological) representation:
allophones
phonemes are
are
placed
enclosed
between
in
 Consists of the phonemes to which the
allophones
belong.
square
slashes
bracket
// []
Phonemic representation (phoneme)
/l/
Phonetic representation (allophones)
[l̥̥̥̥ ]
[l]
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Phonemes and allophones
 Phonemes:
 Are
_________representations: the way
in which sounds are stored in the mind.
 Are in your ________
 Allophones:
 Are
not part of what you remember when
you store a word in your mind
 Come out of your mouth
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Phonemes and allophones
An important part of phonological
analysis thus deals with discovering
___________ of the phonemes of
language and accounting for
___________ ___________.
Classes and
generalization
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Free Variation
 Free variation:
 Various
forms that do not change the meaning
since they are phonetically similar.
 They are therefore allophones of a phoneme
Ex: [stɒp!], [stɒp̚] & [stɒpʔ]
[p!], [p̚] & [pʔ] are different allophones of the
phoneme /p/
Notice that the narrow
Forceful
articulation
(Feature rep. only
used in the book)
Extended
closure
Coarticulation
with glottal
stop
transcription of these words
and the different allophones are
in square brackets and that the
phoneme is in between slashes.
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Classes & Systematic Variation
 Everyday speech usually _______
systematically according to phonetic
classes
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Classes & Systematic Variation
In English, liquids have _______
__ __ _____after voiceless stops
and ___________ __elsewhere.
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Classes & Systematic Variation
In English, liquids and glides have
___________ ________after
voiceless stops, and _________
__ ___________ elsewhere.
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Classes & Systematic Variation
 One of the major goals of phonological
description is the discovery of such ____
__ ________, and the formulation of
the most ___________ ____possible
to describe them.
Phonetically
Conditioned Variation
CANADIAN RAISING
ENGLISH MID VOWELS AND GLIDES
LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC PATTERNS
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Canadian Rising
 Canadian rising is another example of allophonic
variation in English
[aj] before the class of
____________________
or in _________________
[ʌ j] before the class of
____________________
____________________
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Canadian Rising
• [aj] before the class of ___________ or in
___________
• [ʌ j] before the class of ___________
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
English Mid Vowels and glides
 In most dialects of English, the mid tense vowels [e] & [o]
are always diphthongized
 [ej]
& [ow]
[e] and [o] are both mid
tense vowels
[e] and [j] are both back and
unrounded
[o] and [w] are both back
and unrounded
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
English Mid Vowels and glides
The ___________
___________ are predictably
followed by a ___________
that has the same
___________ and
___________ as the vowels
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Language-specific patterns
 Important:
 The
phenomenon of allophonic variation is
universal.
 However, just as the phonemic contrast found in
each language are specific to that language, the
actual ___________ of phonemes and
allophones is also language-specific.
 Thus, whatever we discover for one language may
not hold true for another.
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Language-specific patterns
 Nasals in Scots Gaelic:
 Vowels are nasal in Scot Gaelic when preceded or
followed by a nasal consonant
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Language-specific patterns
 Nasals in Malay:
 In Malay, all vowels and glides following a nasal
and not separated from it by a non-nasal
consonant are nasalized (until an obstruent, liquid,
or glottal is reached)
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Language-specific patterns
 English and Khmer (Cambodian) stops:
Phonetically Conditioned Variation
Language-specific patterns
 English and Khmer (Cambodian) stops:
Phonetic and Phonemic
Transcription
Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription
Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription
Inventory of Vowels
Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription
Inventory of Consonants
Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription
Let’s Practice!
 Transcribe the following words
 Phonemically
 Phonetically
 Don’t forget the predictable properties
mentioned on the previous slides
Review
Contrast, phonemes and allophones
Each language has a set of contrastive
phonemes
Phonemes themselves can have predictable
variants or allophones
There are two distinct levels of
representation: phonemic level and phonetic
level
Syllable
DEFINING THE SYLLABLE
ONSET CONSTRAINTS AND PHONOTACTICS
ACCIDENTAL AND SYSTEMATIC GAPS
Syllables
Introduction
 Definition:
syllable consists of a ___________ _
and its associated non-syllabic (less sonorous)
segments.
A
 What
speech sounds are more sonorous?
Syllables
Introduction
 Vowels are the most sonorous sound
 Therefore, syllables usually have a vowel
nucleus as their core
 Less sonorous sounds may appear
___________ ___________
Syllables
Introduction
 Native speakers of a language demonstrate
their awareness of the sonority values of
segments and of the syllable
 Examples:
 Telegraph
 Accident
 Sprint
Onset Constraints
and Phonotactics
Syllables
Onset
 Syllable: σ
 Onset (O): Within a syllable, the longest
segment of consonant to the ___of each nucleus
Syllables
Rhyme: Nucleus & Coda
 Rhyme (R): The ______and the ____of a
syllable (e.g., [ɪnt] in Sprint)
Syllables
Nucleus & Coda
 Nucleus (N): a vocalic element that forms the
_______of a syllable (e.g., [q])
 Coda (Co): The elements that _______the
nucleus in the same syllable (e.g., [nt])
Syllables
Constraints
 Syllables comply with certain constraints
that prohibit them from beginning with a
sequence like [kstr] and thus results in the
actual syllabification / ək.strim /
(“extreme”)
Syllables
English Syllables
Syllables
Universal Tendencies
 All languages have syllables
 The shapes or syllables are governed by
various kinds of constraints
 But certain universal tendencies are
observable
Syllables
Universal Tendencies
4.
Syllable nuclei usually consists of _________;
Syllables usually begin with onsets;
Syllables often end with codas;
Onsets and codas usually consist of one consonant.

Syllables usually take the shape ___________
1.
2.
3.
Syllables
Onset Constraints & Phonotactics
 Isn’t it interesting!
 Native speakers of ant language intuitively know
that certain words from other languages sound
unusual and they often adjust the segment
sequences of these words to conform with the
pronunciation requirements of their own
language.
 Example: Russian word vprog /fprɔk/ (value, or
good)
[fəprɔk] – adding /ə/
[prɔk] – deleting /f/
Syllables
Onset Constraints & Phonotactics
 Phonotactics:
 The
set of constraints on how sequences of
segments pattern
 Forms part of a speakers knowledge of the
phonology of his or her language
Syllables
Onset Constraints & Phonotactics
Accidental and
Systematic gaps
Syllables
Accidental and Systematic Gaps
 Gaps in the language’s vocabulary that
correspond to ___________ but
_________ forms called accidental
gaps
 Sometimes
filled by borrowed words that fill the
phonotactic constraints
Ex:
Kodak, taco, Zen, perestroika
Syllables
Accidental and Systematic Gaps
 Systematic gaps:
 Gaps
in the syllable structure of a language
that result not by accident but from
exclusion of certain sequences
 Examples in English:
/bz/, /pt/ & /fp/
 Unacceptable in one language but not
necessarily another
Syllables
Accidental and Systematic Gaps
 Accidental gaps:
filled by ___________
___that fill the phonotactic constraints
 Sometimes
Ex:
Kodak, taco, Zen, perestroika
 Systematic gaps:
 English
speakers often change the pronunciation
of borrowed words that do not fit the phonotactic
constraints
Ex:
Psychology & pterodactyl
Syllables
Language-specific phonotactics
 Language-specific constraints, on the
other hand, hold true for individual
languages such as English, but they
may not be found in other languages
Review
SETTING UP THE SYLLABLES
SYLLABIC PHONOLOGY
PRACTICE
Review
Syllable & Onset
Syllable: σ
Onset (O): Within a syllable, the longest
segment of consonant to the left of each
nucleus that does not violate the phonotactic
constraints of the language in question (e.g.,
[st] forms the onset of the second syllable in
hamster)
Review
Rhyme: Nucleus & Coda
Rhyme (R): The nucleus and the coda of a
syllable (e.g., [ust] in the word boost)
Nucleus (N): a vocalic element that forms
the core of a syllable (e.g., the vowel [A] is the
nucleus of the first syllable in Patrick)
Coda (Co): The elements that follow the
nucleus in the same syllable (e.g., [rf] in
surfboard)
Review
Practice
Sprint [sprɪnt]:
σ
Onset (O)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
spr
ɪ
Coda (Co)
nt
Review
Practice
First [fɜrst]
σ
Onset (O)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
f
ɜ
Coda (Co)
rst
Review
Practice
Words [wɜrdz]
σ
Onset (O)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
w
ɜ
Coda (Co)
rdz
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
 Each language defines its own syllable
structure through the interaction of
universal and language-specific
constraints
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
 Step a: Nucleus-formation
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
 Step b: Onset-formation
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
 Step c: Coda-formation
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
 Step d: Word-level construction
Syllables
Setting Up Syllables
Syllables
Syllabic Phonology
 One reason that syllables are treated as
units of phonological structure is that
they are relevant to stating
generalizations about the distribution
of allophonic features
Syllables
Syllabic Phonology: Aspiration
Syllables
Syllabic Phonology: Aspiration
English ___________ are
aspirated ___________
Syllables
Syllabic Phonology: Vowel Length
Syllables
Syllabic Phonology: Vowel Length
English vowels are ____when
followed by a ______
___________ in the ____
position of the same syllable
Features
Features
Definition
 Segments themselves are composed of
even smaller, subsegmental,
phonological units known as segments
 Smallest
unit of phonology
 Basic building blocks of human speech
sounds
 Independent and coordinate phonetic
elements
Features
Independent and Coordinate
Features
Features & Natural Classes
Features
Features & Natural Classes
Features
Features & Natural Classes
Features
Features & Natural Classes
 By ___________ examining the
phonemic contrasts of a language, we can
extract the ___________ ____and
use these irreducible linguistic elements to
describe the phonemic inventory
Features,
Processes, & allophonic variation
Features Representation
 Only a limited number of features –
currently around twenty-four – have
been proposed
 Fewer are needed to characterize the
sounds of English
Features Representation
Major class features
 [±consonantal]
 [±syllabic]
 [±sonorant]
Features Representation
Manner features
[±continuant]
[±delayed release] ([±DR])
[±nasal]
[±lateral]
Features Representation
Laryngeal Feature
[±voice]
[±spread glottis] ([±SG])
[±constricted glottis] ([±CG])
Features Representation
Place of Articulation
[LABIAL]
[±round]
[CRONAL]
[±anterior]
[±strident]
[DORSAL]
[±high]
[±low]
[±back]
[±tense]
[±reduced]
Features Representation
Features Representation
Derivations
Derivations
Definitions
 Phonemic representations are equivalent to
__________________ that
speakers have of the words in their language
 Also
called underlying representation
 Phonetic representations are equivalent to
the __________________that are
produced in the course of speech
 Also
called surface representations
Derivations
Definitions
 Derivations:
 Resulting
from the application of phonological
rules to underlying representation
 Going from mental representations to spoken
language
 Phonological rules:
 Rules
that derive phonetic representations from
underlying representations, accounting for
alterations among allophones
Derivations
 The derivation of three phonetic
representations from underlying
representations are illustrated bellow: