Phonology:
contrast, complementary distribution
LING 200
Spring 2003
Reading: Files 4.1-4.3
Some acoustic phonetics
A
b
y
energy
waveform
frequency
spectrogram
time
A
b
F3 y
frequency
voicing
F2
time
F1
dark bands in spectrogram are ‘formants’
(F1, F2, etc.), characteristic frequencies of
resonator (vocal tract shape)
English vowels—an
acoustic
plot
F2
F1
English vowels—an
acoustic
plot
F2
F1
Aspiration in English
p
h
aspiration
A
y
Aspiration in English
• The sequence of events in [phA]:
[p]
[h]
[A]
lips
labial closure
apart
apart
vocal
cords
apart
(voiceless)
apart
(voiceless)
vibrating
(voiced)
Broad vs. narrow transcription
• When should aspiration be included in a
transcription of English?
• How much detail should a transcription
contain?
– Relatively a lot of detail: narrow
• e.g. [khAt] ‘cot’
[gAt] ‘got’
– Relatively less detail:
• e.g. [kAt] ‘cot’
broad
[gAt] ‘got’
Predictable vs. unpredictable
information
• List-like information
– unpredictable
• e.g. In English, [kæt]

– represented in dictionary
• Rule-like information
– predictable
• e.g. In English, voiceless stops are aspirated (in
one context)
– represented in grammar
• e.g. phonological rule of Aspiration
Broadest transcription
• Represents only unpredictable information
• Phonemic representation: /kæt/
phonological rules
e.g. assign aspiration
phonetic representation
kh
[khæt]
• Phonemes: the elements of a phonemic
representation
When to use broad vs. narrow
transcription?
• Typically, transcription is as broad as
possible
– Symbols in consonant, vowel charts are
phonemes
• In English, transcribe aspiration only in a
phonetic study of aspiration
Phonemic vs. phonetic representations
• Phonetic representation
– directly observable
– contains measurable properties
• Phonemic representation
– inferred, not observed
– abstract, streamlined representation of sound
Inferring the phonemic representation
• Evidence from:
– Minimal pairs/sets (‘contrast’)
– Distributional properties of sounds
• When aspects of pronunciation are
predictable, due to influence of
– Neighboring sound
– Position of sound
Minimal pairs
• Two words which differ in meaning and along only one
phonetic parameter
– A minimal pair for voicing
• [kræbi] vs. [kræpi]
• therefore, /p b/ in English
– A minimal pair for labio-dental vs. interdental place
• [TIn] vs. [fIn]
• therefore, /T f/ in English
• Minimal pairs
– contain phonemes
– are a guide to the phoneme inventory
Minimal sets
• A minimal set for vowel height
– [hid]
– [hId]
– [hed]
– [hEd]
– [hæd]
A near-minimal set
• [tyd]
• [hAyd]
• [hAwd]
Distributional properties of sounds
• Aspiration in more detail
aspirated
unaspirated
/p/
/t/
/k/
[pHAt]
[tHAt]
[kHAt]
[yupHIk]
[yutHA]
[yukHAn]
[spAy]
[stAy]
[skAy]
[sAp]
[rAt]
[sAk]
[sAps]
[rAts]
[sAks]
( [ ] = primary stress; [ ] = secondary stress )
Distribution of
•[bAy]
•[phAy]
•[spAy]
•?
•=[pAy]
h
[p ],
[p]
Distribution of
[ph]
[p]
[pHAt]
[spAt]
[yu.pHIk]
[sAp]
h
[p ],
[p]
[sAps]
Observation: [ph] occurs at the beginning of a syllable; [p]
occurs everywhere else voiceless stops can occur in English
Syllable: grouping of consonants and vowels. 1
syllable words: [rIk], [brIk], [brIks]; 2 syllable word:
[TIkn]. [.] = syllable boundary
Distribution of
h
[p ],
[p]
[phe]
[phle]
[ræpt]
[phre]
All the places /p/ can
occur in English 
[ræsp]
[spe]
[ræps]
[sple]
[spre]
[ræp]
Distribution of aspiration
In English,
• [pH tH kH] and [p t k] do not contrast
– there are no minimal pairs for aspiration
• [pH tH kH] and [p t k] are in complementary
distribution; i.e.
– the distribution of [ph] complements that of [p]
– i.e. [ph] and [p] don’t occur in the same place
• the distribution of aspiration is predictable and can
be stated in a rule:
– Voiceless stops are aspirated when syllable initial
Allophones
• The pronunciations of phonemes which
contain predictable properties
– E.g., [ph] and [p] are allophones of /p/ in
English.
• Phonemic vs. phonetic transcription
phonemic
phonetic (aspiration transcribed)
/pAt/
[pHAt]
/yupIk/
[yupHIk]
/spAt/
[spAt]
/sAp/
[sAp]
/sAps/
[sAps]
Cross-linguistic similarities and
differences
• Spoken languages differ
– in phoneme inventories
– in rules for the pronunciation of phonemes
• Phonological rules usually apply to, are
conditioned by
– natural classes of sounds
• e.g. Aspiration applies to /p t k/ (all voiceless stops)
• not /p r /
Aspiration in Hindi
• State of glottis in Hindi
– [] = voiced aspirated palatal affricate
– [ch] = voiceless aspirated palatal affricate
– [] = voiced palatal affricate
– [c] = voiceless palatal affricate
Aspiration in Hindi
•
•
•
•
[cAl] ‘turn’
[chAl] ‘bark’
[Al] ‘net’
[Al] ‘cymbals’
[cAl] ‘turn’, [Al] ‘net’ are a minimal pair for
voicing
[cAl] ‘turn’, [chAl] ‘bark’ are a minimal pair
for aspiration
/   c ch/ are all phonemes in Hindi
Voicing in Mohawk
• Iroquoian family; spoken in Quebec, Ontario,
New York
• Observation: [p t k b d g] are all sounds of
Mohawk
• Suspicion: there are no minimal or nearminimal pairs for voicing
• Question: Is stop voicing phonemic or
predictable?
Mohawk phonetic data
[V:] = long vowel, [C] = voiceless consonant
of interest: [p t k b d g]
[oli:de]
‘pigeon’
[oyA:gAlA]
‘shirt’
[zAhset]
‘hide it!’ (sg.)
[ohyotsAh]
‘chin’
[gA:lis]
‘stocking’
[lAbAhbet]
‘catfish’
[odAhsA]
‘tail’
[sdu:hA]
‘a little bit’
[wisk]
‘five’
[iks]
‘fly’
[degeni]
‘two’
[desdAn]
‘stand up!’ (sg.)
[AplAm]
‘Abram,
Abraham’
[de:zekw]
‘pick it up!’ (sg.)
Stop
distribution
#=
word
edge
[p]
A ___l
[b]
A ___ A
[t]
h___e
[d]
e___#
o___s
i:___e
o___ A
s___u:
#___e
#___e:
s___A
[k]
s___#
i___s
e___w
[g]
#___ A:
e___e
A:___ A
Summarized contexts
[p t k]
[b d g]
___ C
___ V
___ #
[p t k] and [b d g] are in complementary
distribution in Mohawk.
Writing the phonological rule
• Which rule?
– Mohawk has /p t k/. Voicing: Stops are voiced
before vowels.
or?
– Mohawk has /b d g/. Devoicing: Stops are
voiceless word finally or before a consonant.
Writing the phonological rule
• Choose Voicing. Why?
– Voicing rule is simpler than Devoicing rule
• Voicing: “...before vowels.”
• Devoicing: “...word finally or before a consonant.”
– If Voicing, then Mohawk consonant inventory
contains /p t k/. If Devoicing, then /b d g/. But
there are no languages with /b d g/ which lack
/p t k/.
• i.e. voiced stops  voiceless stops (an implicational
universal)
Mohawk consonant inventory
stop
labial
alveolar palatal
velar
glottal
p
t
k

c
affricate
fricative
s
nasal
n
liquid
r
glide
w
h
y
Voicing applies to all of the voiceless stops in Mohawk.
Writing the rule
•In Mohawk,
Stops are voiced before vowels.
(sentence formulation)
/p t k/  [b d g] / ___ V
(‘arrow’ notation)