Introduction to General Linguistics
Course author: Hubert Truckenbrodt
WS 2004/05
Course teacher: Arnim von Stechow
Phonology 4:
February 2nd, 2005
Basic phonology (consonants)
Handout
1 The phonological rule
Backness harmony
V -> [-back] / [-back] C0 ___
one or few
features:
features
that the
sound has
to have in
order for the
rule to apply
'change'
only one feature:
the one that is
added; the opposite
feature value is eliminated
in the sound
'environment'
[G. Umgebung; hier nicht Umwelt]
the sounds that have to sourround
the sound in question, in order for the
rule to apply; the 'environment bar' ___
indicates the position of the sound that
changes.
Notice: A rule of the form
A -> B / X __ Y
could also be written: XAY -> XBY
Notation used in writing rules:
V
C
C0
any vowel
any consonant
0 or more consonants
(...)
an optional element; for example:
A -> B / C (D) ___
is a unification of the two rules:
A -> B / C ___
A -> B / C D ___
+
#
a morpheme boundary
a word boundary; for example:
A -> B / # ___
'A becomes B at the beginning of a word.'
p. 1, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.
2 [C] and [x] in Greek
(1)
a.
[Cino]
[Celi]
[Ceri]
[oCi]
b.
'pour'
'eel'
'hand'
'no'
[xano]
'lose'
[xali]
'plight'
[xori]
'dances'
[xrima]
'money'
[xufta]
'handful'
(2)
[C] occurs _______
[x] occurs _______
(3)
a. inventory: assume /x/ is in the inventory, but not [C]
b. rule:
[x] -> [C] / ??__??
(4)
(please complete the rule)
Compare this with the distribution of [C] and [x] in German in regard to
a. which class of vowels likes to have which sound next to it?
b. position of the relevant vowel relative to [C/x]
What is similar to German, what is different?
similarity: ...
difference: ...
3 More on phonemes and allophones
complementary distribution [G. komplementäre Verteilung]: two sounds A and B are in
complementary distribution if they do not occur in the same environment. Often, this
means that one of the two sound occurs in one environment only, while the other
sound occurs in all other possible environments.
Example: [C] and [x] are in complementary distribution in German:
[x] occurs after back vowels, [C] occurs anywhere else.
The opposite of complementary distribution is contrastive distribution: if two sounds can
occur in the same environment. The best way of demonstrating this is by way of minimal
pairs. For example:
(5)
English: [s] vs. [S]
see
[si˘]
she
[Si˘]
sew Am. [soU]
show Am. [SoU]
Br. [s´U]
Br. [S´U]
Here we want to say that [s] and [S] are both phonemes of English, are both in the inventory
of English, and can thus both be used in the lexical entries of words ('underlying forms):
/si˘/ for the verb 'see', and [Si˘] for the pronoun 'she'.
A minimal pair like 'see' and 'she' demonstrates in a very clear way that these two
sounds cannot be allophones. If they were allophones, they would have to occur in different
p. 2, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.
environments, but never in the same environment. However, in a minimal pair like 'see'/'she',
these two sounds occur in exactly the same environment, namely: [#__i˘] .
We can also put this differently, in terms of the explanation for allophones that we
have seen: We said when there are two allophones, they are derived from the same
underlying sound (phoneme) in such a way that a rule leaves certain occurrences of the sound
unchanged, but changes other occurrences of the sound. For example:
"ich" "ach"
UR
/IC/ /aC/
FB
-[ax]
PR
[IC] [ax]
Here the rule is written to change [C] after back vowels. It therefore leaves [C] in 'ich' alone,
but changes [C] to [x] in 'ach'.
Now, if there is a minimal pair, with the two sounds in the same environment, it is
impossible to formulate a rule that similarly derives the two sounds from a single underlying
sound:
"see" "she" (wrong theory!)
UR
/si˘/ /si˘/ (assumed underlying forms with a single phoneme [s]
rule ???
-[Si˘]
PR
[si˘] [Si˘]
But there cannot be such a rule, because the URs would have to be identical, and no rule
could distinguish them, and apply in one case, but not in the other.
Therefore, when we have a minimal pair involving two sounds like [s] and [S], we
have good evidence that [s] and [S] are different phonemes in the language in question. For
example, [s] and [S] are different phonemes in English.
They are also different phonemes in German, compare 'sein' [saIn] and 'Schein'
[SaIn].
4 Korean [s] and [S]
Note: [tS] is an afficate, and thus a different sound from [S]. When we consider the
distribution of [s] and [S], the affricate [tS] is not directly relevant.
(6)
(7)
a.
[sal]
'flesh'
[tSasal]
'superstition'
[kasu]
[sanmun]
'prose'
[kas´l]
[tS´Nsonu´n]
[miso]
[susek]
[tapsa]
[so]
'cow'
b.
[Si]
'suicide'
'singer'
'hypothesis'
'adolescents'
'smile'
'search'
'exploration'
'poem'
[miSin]
[Sinmun]
[tHaksaNSikje]
[Silsu]
[oSip]
[tSaSin]
[paNSik]
[kanSik]
[kaSi]
[S] occurs before [i]
[s] occurs elsewhere
p. 3, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.
'newspaper'
'table clock'
'mistake'
'fifty'
'shelf'
'method'
'snack'
'thorn'
(8)
See if one of the two following hypotheses can be made to work out, by trying
to complete the rules and the example derivations that use these ruls
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
• /s/ but not /S/ in the inventory
• /S/ but not /s/ in the inventory
• rule 1: [s] -> [S] / __ [i]
• rule 2: [S] -> [s] / ?? __ ??
• example derivations:
"flesh" "poem"
UR
/sal/ /si/
rule 1 -Si
PR
sal
Si
• example derivations
"flesh" "poem"
UR
/Sal/ /Si/
rule 2
PR
(compare the first example each in (6a) and (6b). Can these be derived?)
---------- end of in-class exercise ----Thus: [s] and [S] are different phonemes in English and in German, but they are allophones
of the phoneme [s] in Korean. Thus, if two sounds occur, they may be different phonemes in
one language, and allophones of the same phoneme in another language.
5 English aspiration
(9)
When we transcribe more precisely, we can distinguish [p, t, k] from their aspirated
versions [pH, tH, kH]. The following examples concern the difference between [p] and
[pH].
a.
[pHIn]
[pHaI]
[pHUS]
[pHi˘s]
b.
pin
pie
push
piece
[spIn]
[speIs]
[spi˘tS]
[splQS]
spin
space
speech
splash
(10)
Using the symbol # for word-boundary (see p.1), write a rule that turns /p/ into [pH]
Aspiration:
[p] -> [pH] / ...
(11)
Give derivations for two cases, assuming that /p/ but not [pH] is part of the inventory
"pin"
"spin"
UR
/
/
UR
/
/
Aspiration
Aspiration
PR
PR
Notice: a similar relation holds between [t] and [tH], and between [k] and [kH]:
(12)
a.
[tHIn]
[tHi˘]
[tHç˘l]
b.
tin
tea
tall
[stIN]
[sti˘m]
[stçl]
p. 4, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.
sting
steam
stall
[kHIN]
[kHu˘l]
[kHeIk]
(13)
king
cool
cake
[skaI]
[ski˘]
[skIp]
sky
ski
skip
Minimal pairs in Hindi
[pal] 'take care of'
[pHal]
'knife blade'
'mine'
[bal] 'hair'
[bHal]
'forehead
'bundle'
[t5al]
'beat'
[kan] 'ear'
[t5Hal]
'plate'
[kHan]
[d5al]
'lentil'
[gan] 'song'
[d5Har]
'knife'
[gHan]
=> these are all different phonemes in Hindi:
/p, pH, b, bH,
t5, t5H, d5, d5H,
k, kH, g, gH/
PROBLEM SET
Please also read the script (Sat. morning on our web-site, early afternoon in the
Seminarapparat). It will also include some discussion that my be helpful in connection with
solving this problem set.
In Mohawk, a Native American language ('Indianersprache'), [t] and [d] are in
complementary distribution. Examine the data in (i) to see whether the left or the right
context of these sounds allows you to state a generalization that predicts whether [t] or [d]
occurs in each case.
(i)
[t]
[zahset]
'hide it!'
[ohjotsah] 'chin'
[labahbet] 'catfish'
[d]
[oli˘de?]
[odahsa]
[sdu˘ha]
[degeni]
[desda?n•]
'dove'
'tail'
'a little'
'two'
'get up!'
a.
Generalization:
[d] occurs ______
[t] occurs ______
b.
Postulate an underlying sound (/d/ or /t/) and write a rule to derive the
other sound. The rule should be based on your result in a.
c.
Demonstrate how the account in b. works with derivations for [zahset] and for
[oli˘de?].
d.
Are [d] and [t] both phonemes in Mohawk, or are they allophones of the same
phoneme? Give your reasoning.
p. 5, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.
e.
[k] and [g] are also in complementary distribution in Mohawk, as are [p] and [b].
The data in (ii) illustrate.
(ii)
[k]
[wisk]
[dZiks]
[p]
[aplam]
[g]
'five'
'fly'
'Abraham'
[oja˘gala] 'shirt'
[ga˘lis]
'sock'
[degeni]
'two'
[b]
[labahbet] 'catfish'
Find a generalization across all three pairs of allphones. Do this by writing
a more general version of a. above:
Generalization:
[voiced stops] occur _____
[voiceless stops] occur ____
Illustrate with a word with [k] and a word with [g].
f.
Now consider English. In English, [t] and [d] are not allophones,
nor are [k] and [g] allophones, nor are [p] and [b] allophones. For each of these pairs
of sounds, demonstrate this by giving two minimal pairs that show that these are each
separate phonemes. You may want to use a dictionary for this. Be sure to give both
the pronunciation and the spelling of your words, and make sure that the minimal
contrast is in the pronunciation in each case.
p. 6, Handout, February 2nd, 2005, Intro Ling.