English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 2
English Linguistics (Phonology)
Lecture Notes
Week 2: Phonems & Distinctive Features of Phonemes
Course Website: http://www.f.waseda.jp/tharada/phonology/index.htm
Source: Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2006). An Introduction to Language (8th ed).
Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
Review: Japanese & English Vowels
J [i] （いと）= similar to E [i] (e.g., eat), but the lips are not spread.
J [e] （えき）= slightly higher than E [ɛ] (e.g., egg).
J [a] （あく）= similar to E [ɑ:] (e.g., arc), but J [a] is more forward.
J [o] （おと）= similar to E [ɔ:] (e.g., ought), but J [o] is somewhat higher and slightly
more front.
J [ɯ] （うち）= less rounded and more front than E [u] (e.g., cool)
Phonemes/allophones
はな
ひな
hana
hina
かな
みな
kana
mina
ふな
huna
つな
tsuna
time
[th]1
better
[ɾ]
style
[t]
cat
[t̚]
Allophone（異音） = an actual phonetic realization. The allophones of a phoneme form a
set of sounds that:
1) do not change the meaning of a word (noncontrastive): whether or not to form a
minimal pair: two different words that differ in one sound.
2) are all very similar to one another (phonetic similarity)
3) occur in phonetic contexts different from one another (complimentary distribution):
where allophones occur can be predictable
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Voice onset time (VOT), which often corresponds to the duration of aspiration, is defined as the time
between the release of a stop and the onset of voicing of the following vowel, and is one of the most important
cues for distinguishing voiced from voiceless stops.
VOT
Noise
burst
Voice
onset
Aspiration
Closure
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Release
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English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 2
Phoneme（音素） = an abstract unit that serves as a contrastive unit
Complimentary Distribution（相補分布）
before /i/
before /u/
X
[ç]
X
[ɸ]
[h]
elsewhere
X
Phonemic and allophonic transcription
Phonemic transcription = a general transcription of a phoneme: / /
Allophonic transcription = the detailed transcription of allophones: [
Example:
Phonemic transcription: /ha/, /hi/, /hu/, /he/, /ho/
Phonetic transcription: [ha], [çi], [ɸɯ], [he], [ho]
]
Distinctive Features of Phonemes（音素の弁別的特徴）
 We are generally not aware of the phonetic properties or features that distinguish the
phonemes of our language.
 When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another, it is a distinctive feature or
equivalently, a phonemic feature.
Feature Values
 Plus (+): the presence of a single feature
 Minus (-): the absence of a single feature
 The phonetic and phonemic symbols are cover symbols for sets of distinctive features.
 Phones and phonemes are composed of phonetic features.
 Example: An explicit description of the phonemes /p/, /b/, and /m/ may be given in a
feature matrix as follows:
p
b
m
Stop
+
+
+
Labial
+
+
+
Voiced
+
+
Nasal
+
 A phonetic feature is distinctive when the + value of that feature in certain words
contrasts with the – value of that feature in other words (e.g., pat, bat, mat).
Nondistinctive Features（非弁別的特徴）
パパ
いっぱい
たこ
はた
はった
かた
はか
みっか
pin

spin
hip
When a feature is predictable by rule for a certain class of sounds, the feature is a
nondistinctive or redundant or predictable feature for that class.
Thai: voiceless unaspirated stops vs. voiceless aspirated stops
Voiceless unaspirated: [paa] forest
[tam] to pound
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[kat] to bite
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English Linguistics (Phonology)
Voiceless aspirated:

[phaa] to split
Week 2
[tham] to do
[khat] to interrupt
p
t
k
ph
th
kh
Stop
+
+
+
+
+
+
Labial
+
+
Velar
+
+
Voiced
Aspirated
+
+
+
Two languages may have the same phonetic segments (phones) but have two different
phonemic systems. In other words, the same phonetic segments function differently in the
two languages. (Aspiration is a distinctive feature in Thai, but it is a nondistinctive
feature in both English and Japanese.)
Major Phonetic Classes
Obstruents: the non-nasal stops, the fricatives, and the affricates form a major class of
sounds called obstruents. The airstream may be fully obstructed or partially obstructed.
Sonorants: Sonorants are produced with relatively free airflow through either the mouth or
nose. They have greater acoustic energy than obstruents.
「いた」
「あさり」
Consonantal
 Labials: Labial sounds are those articulated with the involvement of the lips: [p, b, m,
f, v].
 Coronals: Coronal sounds are articulated by raising the tongue blade: [θ, ð, t, d,
n, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ, l, r].
 Anteriors: Anterior sounds are consonants produced in the front part of the mouth, that is,
from the alveolar area forward: [p, b, m, f, v, θ, ð, t, d, n, s, z].
 Sibilants: Sibilants are characterized by an acoustic rather than an articulatory property:
[s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ]. The friction created by sibilants produces a hissing sound,
which is a mixture of high frequency sounds.
Syllabic Sounds: Syllabic sounds may function as the core of a syllable. Vowels are syllabic,
̩], button [bʌtn̩
and liquids and nasals can also be syllabic: faker [feikr̩
], rhythm [rɪðm
].
Tense vs. Lax Vowels
Tense vowels have a slightly higher tongue position than lax vowels, and are produced with
greater tension of the tongue muscles than lax vowels.
 Tense vowels ([i, e, u, o]) may occur at the end of words: [si], [seɪ],
[su], [soʊ].
 Lax vowels ([ɪ, ɛ, ʊ, ɔ]) mostly do not occur at the ends of words: *[sɪ],
*[sɛ], *[sʊ], *[sʌ].
Tetsuo Harada
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English Linguistics (Phonology)
Week 2
Natural Classes of Speech Sounds (the same classes of sounds)（自然類）
 A natural class is a group of sounds described by a small number of distinctive features
such as [-voiced], [-continuant], which describe /p/, /t/, /k/, and /tʃ/.
 Feature specification of major natural classes of sounds:
Features
Obstruents
Nasals
Liquids
Glides
Vowels
Consonantal
+
+
+
Sonorant
+
+
+
+
Syllabic
+/+/+
Nasal
+
+/Note: The presence of +/- indicates that the sound may or may not possess a feature
depending on its context.
Questions
Using the following data and consider /t/ in Japanese.
tako
tika
tuki
teko
tate
tiku
tunami
tema
tama
tigai
tumi
teki
toki
tomi
tonai
1. How many allophones does a phoneme /t/ have?
2. Describe each allophone in terms of voicing, place of articulation, and manner of
articulation.
3. What is the phonetic environment in which each allophone appears?
Tetsuo Harada
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