Linguistics week 9
Phonology 2
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The IPA vowel chart
• This is a stylized
representation of the
inside of the mouth
• It shows
– the cardinal vowels
• marked by black dots
– and the approximate
position of vowels common
in many languages
• The next slide shows the
position of English vowels
on the same kind of chart
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Phonemes

There are meaning related differences between
–
–
–


English /b/ and /p/ (voiced and voiceless)
Mandarin /p/ and /pʰ/ (aspirated & unaspirated)
French /o/ and /õ/ (oral & nasal vowels)
These pairs of sounds are phonemes of English,
Mandarin, French
You should read the introduction to minimal pairs
and phonemes, Fromkin 283-287
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Allophones 1


[pʰ] is not a phoneme of English, because the
difference between [p] and [pʰ] never
distinguishes meaning
They each occur in different contexts
–
–


[p] after a consonant, or before a pause
[pʰ] at the beginning of a syllable.
They both represent the phoneme /p/
We can say they are allophones of the phoneme
/p/
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Allophones 2


[õ] is not a phoneme of English, because the
difference between [o] and [õ] never distinguishes
meaning
They each occur in different contexts
–
–


[õ] before a nasal consonant.
[o] everywhere else
They both represent the phoneme /o/
We can say they are allophones of the phoneme
/o/
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Complementary distribution 1

Where x occurs, y does not occur; where y occurs,
x does not occur
–
–


Where [o] occurs, [õ] does not occur; where [õ] occurs,
[o] does not occur
Where [p] occurs, [pʰ] does not occur; where [pʰ]
occurs, [p] does not occur
The allophones [o] and [õ] are in complementary
distribution
The allophones [p] and [pʰ] are in complementary
distribution
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Complementary distribution 2




Consider ㄢ (not after ㄧ!) and ㄤ
We could transcribe these as /an/ and /ɑŋ/
But are [a] and [ɑ] really phonemes?
Are there any minimal pairs?
–

If there were any minimal pairs, we would need more
than one symbol ㄚ to represent them
So we could say that /a/ has two allophones
–
–
[ɑ] before a velar nasal, [a] everywhere else
i.e. [ɑ] in ㄤ, [a] inㄢ andㄚ
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Complementary distribution 2

The alveolar lateral approximant (Fromkin:
liquid) /l/ has two allophones in English
–
–
–
–

[l] and [ɫ]
The first, like ㄌ, is called a clear l
The second has a diacritic ~ to show pharyngealization
(contact between the tongue and the pharynx: the back
of the throat)
It is called a dark l
Do you know when each is used?
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Allophones not in complementary
distribution

I pronounce “bottle” in two different ways,
depending (I think) on who I’m talking to, or my
mood!
–
–

The [t] and [ʔ] are not in complementary distribution,
because they can occur in the same context.
They are still allophones of /t/, though
The same applies to the velar [x] or glottal [h]
fricative in 好
–
–
It depends who’s talking
The same probably applies to [ʐ] (voiced retroflex
fricative) and [ɻ] (retroflex approximant) in 人 (peng)
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So what is a phoneme?


A phoneme is a member of the set of sounds of a particular
language
A phoneme can be spoken in different ways, depending on
–
–
–


the other sounds near it, in the utterance (context)
the local accent or dialect
the person speaking
These different realizations (different ways) are the
allophones of the phoneme
A phoneme can be distinguished from every other
phoneme
–
You do this by checking that a minimal pair exists
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Transcription (IPA, KK etc)

A phonemic transcription
–

Write only the symbols for the phonemes, even
though the same phoneme can be pronounced
in a slightly different way
A phonetic transcription
–
Write symbols, maybe with diacritics, to
explain the exact details of every sound in the
utterance.
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Reading

Phonology in general
–

Phonemes
–

pp 273, 274
pp 283 – 287
Complementary distribution
–
–
pp 287 – 290
Cursive and caps analogies
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Economy of effort: allophonic
differences within one syllable




The vowels in ㄢ and ㄤ are different (front and back)
because the speaker is preparing for the following
consonant
The consonants /k/ in kit and cat differ slightly because the
speaker is preparing for the following vowel. Tongue
position for the first is further forward
Why do these allophonic differences exist?
In language, as in life, people are lazy!
–
–
It is logical that tongue movement should be minimized
As long as people can understand what we are saying!
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Economy of effort: assimilation


Another syllable or word influences
pronunciation, in rapid speech
How do you pronounce 根本?
–

This is an example of progressive assimilation
What about 多少錢
–
This is an example of elision
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Assimilation in English and
French

Usually it’s regressive
–

A phoneme is changed to accommodate
(match) the next phoneme.
Voicing
–
–
–
Newspaper, of course, have to
News has /z/; newspaper has [s] to
accommodate the following /p/
French avec /avek/ in avec vous /aveg vu/
“with you”
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Assimilation of place of
articulation



/tem/ in ten minutes
/iƷ/ in is she?
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/assimilatio
n.html
–

For more examples
The first sections of
http://www.traininglinkonlineireland.ie/courses/c3p2/pp8.pdf are a good tutorial
on assimilation and elision
–
We’ll work through them in class
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Homework


Read about assimilation at
http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~llsroach/ph
on2/asscoareli-into.htm
But do this after the midterm exam!
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