Phonology
Questions? Comments?
Last minute Phonetics questions?
Phonetics
Slide 13
Phonology
PHONETICS - Chapter 2
Consonants: Order of 3-part descriptive terms:
Voicing -- Place o’ Articulation -- Manner o’ Articulation
Phonetics
Slide 21
Phonology
English Consonants (voiceless sounds on the left)
Phonetics
Slide 25
Phonology
vowel words
Phonology
Chapter 3 – Difficult!
Chapter 3 – Phonology
Chapter 3 Exercises: 4, 5, 7 (Due 4/24)
 Click here or link below for better directions for Ex 4 and 5 –
do not follow the directions in the book or you will be
confused!
 http://web.pdx.edu/~connjc/Directions%20for%20LING%20390%20Ch%203%20Exx%
204%20and%205.pdf
Problem Set 2 (Due 4/29) – very tricky – look it over to make sure
you don’t have any questions!
Phonology
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Phonology
Phonology
 The component of the grammar that determines the selection of speech
sounds and that governs both the sound patterns and the systematic
phonetic variation found in language.
 Segments (phones, sounds) - what we learned from phonetics
 Features - parts of phones
 Syllables - putting phones together in a larger structure
Phonology
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Phonology
Phonology
 Looking for meaningful contrast between sounds
(distinctive sounds, sounds in opposition)
 Minimal Pairs - 2 forms with distinct meanings that differ by only 1
segment found in the same position in each form (p.59)
 Like 2 words that rhyme (minimal pairs test for consonants)
 sip and zip show a meaningful difference between the segments [s] and [z]
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
 Environment - the phonetic context in which a sound occurs
 Near minimal pairs - like minimal pairs but environments aren’t
entirely identical
 Near minimal pairs used if minimal pairs can’t be found
Minimal Pair
sip and zip show a meaningful
difference between the segments
[s] and [z]
Near Minimal Pair
author and either show a meaningful
difference between the segments
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology
 Minimal Pairs Practice
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology
 For each of the following pairs of English consonant phonemes, find a
minimal pair
/p/
/b/
/t/
/d/
/k/
/g/
/p/
/f/
/m/
/n/
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Phonology
Phonology
 Minimal pairs used to find phonemes
 Phonemes - segments that contrast with each other in a particular
language belong to separate phonemes (p. 60)
 Can’t always find MP for all phonemes in all environments

only occur in certain
environments in English
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Phonology
Phonology
 English phonemes are shown on pages 60-61
 Note that there is no glottal stop or flap on the consonant chart - why?
Phonology
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Phonology
Phonology
 English phonemes are shown on pages 60-61
 Note that there is no glottal stop or flap on the consonant chart - why?
 What is considered a phoneme is language specific
 If we say in English “do Len” we can change length of vowels and
consonants and it’s doesn’t change the meanings of the words - Finnish no
Length in Finnish contrastive for both cons and vowels
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Phonology
Phonology
 Systematic variation - predictable changes in segments in certain
environments
 Not all ls are the same - who was surprised?
Only voiceless [l] occurs
after voiceless stop, so it is
predictable.
No voiced [l] occurs in this
environment.
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Phonology
Phonology
 When 2 or more sounds never occur in the same environment then they
are in complementary distribution
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Phonology
 When 2 or more sounds never occur in the same environment then they
are in complementary distribution
voiceless stop
aspirated voiceless stop
unreleased voiceless stop
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Phonology
 Allophones - When two or more segments are phonetically distinct but
phonologically the same (predictable variation).
at the Daily Planet
saving the world
at Darcelle’s
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
 Phonetic representation - shows all allophones and all information
about segments that is phonetically produced (manila folders)
 Phonemic representation - only shows phoneme (green hanging file
folder)
Phonemic representation
Phonetic representation
/p/
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
 English – one phoneme /p/ and allophones include [p] and [ph]
Phonemic representation
Phonetic representation
/p/
[p]
[ph]
 Thai – 2 phonemes /p/ and /ph/
Phonemic representation /p/
/ph/
[p]
[ph]
Phonetic representation
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Phonology
Phonology
 Searching for generalizations about systematic variation of sounds
In English, liquids and
glides have voiceless
allophones after voiceless
stops, and voiced allophones
elsewhere.
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Phonology
Complementary Distribution - remember that the phoneme /p/ has 3
allophones:
Environments
Phonetic Environments Examples
# ___
word initial
___ #
word final
s ___
after [s]
___ C
before a consonants
C ___ V between a consonant and a vowel
V ___ V between two vowels
V ___ # word-final after a vowel
C ___ # word-final after a consonant
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Phonology
Phonology
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Yes - minimal pairs 1-7; 2-8; 3-9; 4-10 so:
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Phonetic Environments
# ___
word initial
___ #
word final
s ___
after [s]
o ___ e
between [o] and [e]
Phonetic Environments
___ C
before a consonant
C ___ V
between a consonant and a vowel
V ___ V
between two vowels
V ___ #
word-final after a vowel
C ___ #
word-final after a consonant
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Phonology
Phonology
organize
your data
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Phonetic Environments
# ___
word initial
___ #
word final
s ___
after [s]
o ___ e
between [o] and [e]
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Organize your data! = Where does each sound occur? List the specific immediately
preceding sound and the specific immediately following sound (don’t generalize yet!)
before [a], [o],
[e], [o:], word
initially, etc
elsewhere
[t]
[tS]
[ts]
#_a o_o
#_i
#_u
a_a #_e
i_i
u_u
u_a #_o
u_i
a_u
i_o: o_e
all before [i]
all before [u]
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Phonology
Phonology
•
Underlying representation (UR) - the unpredictable phonological information
represented in a phonemic representation (green folders)
•
Surface representations (PR) - the phonetic representations (manila folders)
•
We use rules (formalized phonological processes) to derive the PR from the UR
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Phonology
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Phonology
Phonology Review
 The component of the grammar that determines the selection of speech
sounds and that governs both the sound patterns and the systematic phonetic
variation found in language.
 Phoneme - the idea of the sound and organizational unit for all its
allophones - in yo’ head
 Allophones - the phonetic realizations of the phoneme in certain phonetic
environments - out yo’ mouth
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Phonology
Phonology Review
 Minimal Pairs - 2 forms with distinct meanings that differ by only 1
segment found in the same position in each form (p.59)
Minimal pairs used to find phonemes
 Phonemes - segments that contrast with each other in a particular
language belong to separate phonemes (p. 60)
When 2 or more sounds never occur in the same environment then
they are in complementary distribution
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Data from Zinacantec Tzotzil: Consider [p] and [p´] ; [k] and [k´]
Are they separate phonemes or allophones of the same phoneme?
[p´] and [k´] represent a glottalized sound, made with simultaneous closure of the
glottis and constriction of the throat. (Consider them glottalized voiceless stops)
‘pot’
‘small’
‘my leg’
‘to multiply’
‘fire’
‘jail’
They are separate phonemes!
Proof = minimal pairs: 5-12 & 3-6 & 9-11
AND near minimal pairs: 1-7; 4-10; for extra support
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Answer They are different phonemes.
Why? Minimal pairs a/e, b/f and near minimal pair c/d
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Are they separate phonemes? No – then organize your data!
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
What is the distribution?
This is complementary distribution – allophones of the same phoneme!
Which is the phoneme?
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Phonology
Distinctive Features
 Features - smaller than the segment (subsegment)
 Characteristics of segments - voicing, place, manner, etc.
 Natural classes - group of sounds that share feature(s) in
common
 Sound is characterized by a feature matrix
 Purpose of features is to represent sounds as a set of phonetic
properties, to capture natural classes, and to show nature of
allophonic variation (not just random)
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Phonology
 Obstruents - some sort of obstruction (fricatives, stops and affricates)
 Sonorants - “singable” - liquids, glides, nasals and vowel
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Phonology
Major class features
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Phonology
 Major class features
 [ consonantal] - major obstruction in vocal tract

obstruents, liquids, nasals (not h and ʔ) (not glides)
 [ syllabic] - sounds that can act as syllables

vowels, and syllabic consonants (not glides)
 [ sonorant] - singable sounds

vowels, glides, liquids and nasals (even if voiceless)
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Phonology
Manner features
 [ continuant] – sounds with free or nearly free airflow through oral cavity
fricatives, liquids, glides and vowels (not stops, affricates (nasals included))
 [ delayed release] [ DR] – the release of a stop is slowed to create a fricative
affricates only
 [ nasal] – sounds produced with a lowered velum (through nasal passage)
nasal stops and nasalized vowels
[ lateral] – sounds produced air flowing over sides of tongue
only varieties of l are [+ lateral]
Phonology
Phonology
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Laryngeal features
 [ voice] – vocal folds vibrating or not
 [ spread glottis] [ SG] – aspirated sounds are [+ SG]
 [ constricted glottis] [ CG] – sounds made with a closed glottis are [+ CG]
In English, only glottal stop is [+ CG]
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Phonology
Place o’ articulation features
 Different from other features – only certain features apply to the 3 places
 LABIAL – sounds made with at least one lip
 CORONAL – sounds made with tongue tip or blade raised (front of tongue)
 DORSAL – sounds made involving body of tongue
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Phonology
Place o’ articulation features
LABIAL
 [ round] – sounds produced by protruding the lips
[+ round] is [w]; [– round] is [p, b, f, v]
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Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
Place o’ articulation features
DORSAL (for vowels and some consonants)
 [ high] – tongue body raised higher than a central position
DORSAL consonants (velars and palatals) and high vowels
 [ low] – tongue body lowered lower than a central position
low vowels are [+ low]; others are [– low]; not for consonants in English
 [ back] – produced with tongue body behind palatal region [+ back]
velar consonants and back vowels are [+ back]; palatals and front vowels not
 [ tense] – tense vowels are [+ tense]; lax vowels are [– tense]
 [ reduced] – if the vowel is reduced, it is [+ reduced] (always for schwa)
Phonology
Phonology
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Consonants (C)
LABIAL
[+ high]
CORONAL
DORSAL
[– strident]
[– round]
[+ strident]
[+ back]
[– back]
[– anterior]
[+ anterior]
[+ round]
Phonology
Phonology
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DORSAL
Vowels (V)
[+ tense] =
LABIAL
[+ high]
[– low]
[+ round]
[– high]
[– low]
[– high]
[+ low]
[+ back]
[– back]
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Phonology
Consonants (C)
Phonology
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Phonology
Vowels (V)
Phonology
Practice 45
Phonology
Phonology Practice - Features
In the following sets, all the sounds except one belong to the same natural class.
One of these things is not like the others – which one is it? State the feature that
the remaining sounds share.
[+voice] or [-continuant]
[+sonorant] or [-nasal]
[-nasal]
[-delayed release]
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Phonology
Phonology
Rule annotation:
A  B / X __ Y
A becomes B in the environment between X and Y
Rule annotation for deletion:
A  ø / X __ Y
A is deleted in the environment
between X and Y
Rule annotation for epenthesis:
ø  A / X __ Y
A is epenthesized (added) in the
environment between X and Y
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Convert this statement into a rule:
Voiced oral stops become voiceless at the beginning of words.
–sonorant
–continuant
+voice
-DR

[–voice] / # ___
[b]  [p] / # __
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Convert this rule into a statement:
–sonorant
+continuant
–voice

[+voice] /
– consonantal
+syllabic
___
–consonantal
+syllabic
Phonology
Practice
Phonology
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Phonology Practice
Convert this rule into a statement:
C
+continuant
–del rel
+voice
-sonorant

[–voice] / V __ V
Voiced fricatives become voiceless between vowels (intervocalically)
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Phonology
Practice
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Phonology
Phonology Practice
Phonology
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Phonology
Phonology
Syllables
•The grouping of one or more segments
•A syllable consists of a sonorous element and its associated nonsyllabic (less
sonorous) segments. {sonorous = “singable” - vowels, glides, liquids and nasals}
Phonology
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Phonology
Syllables
Consisted of a Nucleus, Onset and Coda
Nucleus + Coda = Rhyme (it’s what rhymes when we say 2 things rhyme!)

Onset (O)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
Coda (C)
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
Syllables
Phonotactics - the set of constraints on how sequences of segments pattern
(language specific) {Gaps are shown with dashes}
Labial + sonorant
Coronal + sonorant
Velar + sonorant
[pl]
please
[tl]
[kl]
clean
[pr]
proud
[tr]
trade
[kr]
cream
[tw]
twin
[kw]
queen
tune (Brit)
[kj]
cute
[skl]
sclerosis
[skr]
scrap
[skw]
squeak
[skj]
skew
[pw]
—
[pj]
pure
[tj]
[spl]
splat
[stl]
[spr]
spring
[str]
[spw]
[spj]
—
spew
[stw]
[stj]
—
—
strip
—
stew (Brit)
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Phonology
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
Syllables
Drawing syllable trees: ‘expect’
1) Identify the vowels (the nucleus of the syllable) and draw an association line
from the vowel to the N to the R to the syllable (Greek sigma)


Rhyme (R)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
Nucleus (N)
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
Syllables
Drawing syllable trees: ‘expect’
2) Form onset using the phonotactics of the language (you need to know the rules)
and form the largest possible onset the language will allow


R
R
N
O
N
Phonology
Phonology
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Phonology
Syllables
Drawing syllable trees: ‘expect’
3) Form coda - connect what is left over as coda of preceding nucleus


R
R
N
C
O
N
C
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Syllables
Phonology
Phonology
Why are syllables important?
Aspiration - voiceless stops aspirated syllable initially (when they are the only
thing in the onset) and when they are not in the coda
Why isn’t spit aspirated?
Why isn’t p in upset aspirated?