PhonologyThe idea of feature systems that we

have been talking about in relation to phonetics also lends itself quite handily to the description of natural classes of sounds.

Phonetic natural classes are groups of sounds in a language which share some articulatory or auditory feature.

Phonology In order for a group of sounds to be a

natural class, it must include all of the sounds that share a particular feature or group of features, and not include sounds that don’t.

PhonologyWe have already talked about

several natural classes of sounds, such as bilabals, palatals, stops, fricatives, nasals, affricates, etc.

To talk fully about phonetic natural classes, however, we need to clarify a few other features.

Phonology Some sound classes are based on

articulation or production: For example, both labio-dental and

bilabial involve the lips. Therefore, we can group them together

under the term labial.

Phonology In English, these sounds are [m, b, p, f,

v, w] In English, the sound [w] doesn’t

occur after any of these sounds. We can use the term labial to simplify

one description of how English works: [w] doesn’t occur after labial sounds.

Phonology Other natural classes are based on sound

quality, or auditory properties. One example of a natural class based on

auditory properties is Sibilants. Take a look at the pronunciation of the

plural suffix in English, which we will label as -s

This suffix is pronounced in three different ways, depending on the last sound in the noun to which it is added.

Phonology If the noun ends with a voiced sound the

phonetic form is [z]. If the noun ends in a voiceless sound the

phonetic form is [s]. However, after such words as rich, bush,

kiss, garages, rouge, and maze, (in other words, [s, z, š, , č, j,]) the form is [z].

Phonology This group of sounds all differ in respect

to voicing, place, and manner of articulation.

However, they do have an auditory property in common: a high pitched hissing sound.

These sounds, therefore, form a natural class called sibilants.

PhonologySo using this natural class, we can

state a generalization, or “rule”:+ plural [z] / after a sibilantThis rule states that the sound occurs

in a general context, rather than having to specify for each individual context. 

Phonology Other classes include: Obstruents, which are sounds produced with

an ‘obstruction’ of air flow, namely stops, fricatives, and affricates.

Sonorants, which are consonants produced with a relatively open passage for the air flow, including vowels, nasals, glides, and liquids (approximants)

Distinctive Features In every language, certain sounds are

considered to be the “same” sound, even though they may be phonetically distinct.

For example, native speakers consider the [l] in lay to be the same sound as that in play, even though the former is voiced and the latter voiceless.

Distinctive Features Liquids and glides in English are

ordinarily voiced, but when they follow a voiceless obstruent in speech, they are pronounced as voiceless consonants.

proof [pruf] sleep quick [kwk]

Distinctive FeaturesNative speakers overlook the fact

that the [p] in pat and spat are phonetically different and just consider them both to be /p/.

(Notice the slash marks)Hindi speakers, however, can’t

ignore the difference.

Distinctive Features Take the following data, for example: [kl] ‘wicked person’

[kl] ‘yesterday’ [kapi] ‘copy’

[kapi] ‘ample’ [pl] ‘fruit’

[pl] ‘moment’ [bl] ‘strength’

Distinctive Features In general, speakers will attend to

phonetic differences between two (or more) sounds only when the choice between the sounds can change the meaning of a word, - that is, can cause a distinction in meaning.

Such sounds are said to be distinctive with respect to one another.

Distinctive Features So, how do we determine when two

sounds are distinctive? One way to determine whether two

sounds are distinctive is to identify a minimal pair - a pair of words that differ only by a single sound in the same position - and which have different meanings - but which are otherwise identical.

Distinctive FeaturesSome examples from English are: tot vs. hot tap vs. top tap vs. tabLet’s take a second to go back and

look again at the examples from Hindi.

Distinctive Features [kl] ‘wicked person’

[kl] ‘yesterday’ [kapi] ‘copy’

[kapi] ‘ample’ [pl] ‘fruit’

[pl]‘moment’ [bl] ‘strength’

Distinctive FeaturesWhat must be considered minimal

pairs in Hindi?What sounds do Hindi speakers

consider distinctive?

Distinctive Features Before we proceed any further, we need

to discuss some definitions: The first definition we need to consider is

that of a Phone, which is simply an individual speech sound.

The second definition to consider is that of a Phoneme, which is a class of speech sounds which are identified by a speaker as the same sound.

Distinctive FeaturesThe members of these classes are

called Allophones. Thus, an allophone is a phone that

has been classified as belonging to some class, or phoneme.

Distinctive Features In English, the “p” in pat and spat

are allophones of the same phoneme in English.

In Hindi, these sounds are allophones of different phonemes.

Distinctive Features Phones are written with brackets Symbols representing phonemes are

instead written with slash marks. So, in English, we would have one

phoneme labeled /p/, with allophones labeled [p] and [p]

But in Hindi, we would have two separate phonemes, labeled either /p/ or /p/

Distinctive Features By giving a description like this, linguists

are attempting to show that the phonological system of a language has two levels.

The more concrete level involves the physical reality of phonetic segments (which is what phonetics looks at).

Phonemes are more on the psychological level; they are more abstract.

Distinctive Features Allophones are physical units of

linguistic structure. Phonemes are psychological units of

linguistic structure. Phonemes are not directly observable;

allophones are. So we use allophones to make educated

guesses about phonemes

Distinctive FeaturesWriting systems also reflect this reality.

In English, we don’t make the graphemic distinction between [p] and [p]. In Hindi, they do.

p = प p = फ In general, alphabetic writing systems

tend to be phonemic rather than phonetic.

Distinctive Features To find out which sounds are thought of

by a native speaker as the same sound, and which sounds are distinctive to one another, it is important to look at where these sounds occur in a language.

In other words, linguists try to discover what the phonemes of a language are by examining the distribution of that language’s phones.

Distinctive Features The distribution of a phone is ‘the set of

phonetic environments in which it occurs.’

Two speech sounds in a language will either be in overlapping distribution or complementary distribution with respect to one another.

Distinctive Features Overlapping distribution occurs when

the sets of phonetic environments in which the sounds occur are partially or completely identical.

For example, consider [p] and [b]: ‘bait’ [bet] ‘date’ [det] ‘lobe’ [lob] ‘load’ [lod] ‘knobs’ [nabz] ‘nods’ [nadz]

Distinctive Features Since the sets of possible phonetic

environments overlap, we say that [b] and [d] are in overlapping distribution in English.

Distinctive Features Most sounds that are in overlapping

distribution are contrastive with respect to one another, which is another way of saying they are distinctive sounds.

Consider [b] and [d] above: they form minimal pairs.

Since the difference between [b] and [d] can result in contrastive meaning, we say that [b] and [d] are in contrastive distribution.

Distinctive FeaturesThese two distinctive phones are

classified as being allophones of two separate phonemes.

Thus, [b] is an allophone of /b/ and [d] is an allophone of /d/.

Distinctive FeaturesSome other phones that are in

overlapping distribution are in free variation. As an example:

Leap [lip]leap [lip ] Soap [sop] soap [sop ] Troop [trup] troop [trup ]Here, the represents an

“unexploded” [p]

Distinctive Features These sounds are in overlapping

distribution, because they share some of the same environments: they both appear at the end of words.

Unlike [b] and [p], however, there are no minimal pairs.

In other words, although they contain the same sounds but one, these words do not contrast in meaning.

Distinctive Features These sounds are interchangeable in word-

final position. Because they don’t result in a change in

meaning, we are generally oblivious to them So we say that they are allophones of the

same phoneme. So, [p] and [p ] are allophones of /p/

Distinctive Features Complementary Distribution is just the

opposite of overlapping distribution. To understand this, think of the term

‘complementary.’ Two complementary parts make up a whole.

People in this class, for example, may be divided up into those who have glasses on and those who don’t.

Distinctive FeaturesThese two sets of people

complement each other. They are mutually exclusive. That is,

they are non-overlapping, but together they make up the whole class.

Distinctive FeaturesAs an example, consider the sounds

[p] and [p] in English: Spat [spt] pat [pt] Spool [spul] pool [pul] Speak [spik] peek [pik]

Distinctive FeaturesAs you can see, [p] and [p] are not in

overlapping distribution. In other words, they do not occur in the

same phonetic environment. In fact, they are in complementary

distribution.Wherever you find one, you won’t find

the other.

Distinctive Features First: There are no minimal pairs involving

the [p] vs. [p. Second: [p] occurs after [s] but not word

initially. [p] occurs word initially, but not after [s].

Since these sounds appear in different phonetic environments there can be no pair of words composed of identical strings of sounds except for [p] in one and [p] in the other.

Distinctive Features Phones that are in complementary distribution

are allophones of a single phoneme. In this case, [p] and [p] are allophones of the

phoneme /p/. The appearance of one allophone or the other is

predictable when those allophones are in complementary distribution.

So how many allophones (thus far) does /p/ have in English?

Distinctive Features Recall that phonemes and allophones belong

to different levels of structure in language. Phonemes are mental entities. Allophones/phones are physical events. So what is the connection between the two

levels? The mapping between phonemic and

phonetic elements is accomplished using phonological rules.

Phonological RulesA speaker’s unconscious knowledge

of phonological rules allows him or her to mentally “translate” phonemes into actual sounds.

Knowledge of these rules forms part of a speaker’s linguistic competence.

Phonological RulesThe following is a representation of

the process:Phonemic form (in your head)

rules

phonetic form (comes out of your mouth)

Phonological Rules In other words, phonological rules apply

to the phonemic form to produce the phonetic form.

To accept this is to accept the notion that there is something called an underlying form.

In the linguistic literature, this underlying form is called the Underlying Representation or UR.

Phonological Rules Classifying Phonological rules There are several different ways that we

can classify phonological rules. One of the most common types of

phonological rules is called Assimilation. Rules involving assimilation cause a sound

to become more like a neighboring sound with respect to some feature.

Phonological Rules In other words, the segment affected by

the rule assimilates or takes on a feature from a nearby (usually adjacent) sound.

 For example:  I can ask [ay kæn æsk] I can bake [ay kæm bek] I can go [ay kæŋ go]

Phonological RulesAnother type of assimilation is

dental assimilation, as in the following examples:

width [wdθ]health [hεlθ]unthinkable [nθŋkbl] in this [ns]

Phonological RulesAnother example is vowel

nasalization: pit [pt] pin [pn]

Phonological RulesOther phonological rules involve

dissimilation. Rules involving dissimilation cause two neighboring sounds to become less alike with respect to some feature.

Dissimilation rules are less common than assimilation rules, at least in English.

Phonological Rules One example of a dissimilation rule is

fricative dissimilation: /θ/ changes to [t] following another

fricative: fifth phonemically [ffθ] phonetically often realized as [fft] sixthphonemically [sksθ] but often realized as [skst]

Phonological RulesAnother classification is insertion

(also called epenthesis).Rules of insertion cause a segment

not present at the phonemic level to be added to the phonetic realization of a word.

Phonological Rules One example of an insertion rule is

voiceless stop insertion. Between a nasal and a voiceless fricative, a voiceless stop with the same place of articulation as the nasal is inserted.

strength /strεŋθ/ → [strεŋkθ] hampster /hæmster/→ [hæmpster]

Phonological Rules Another classification is Deletion.

Deletion rules eliminate a sound. Such rules apply more frequently to unstressed syllables and in casual speech.

/h/ - deletion: /h/ may be deleted in unstressed syllables.

In the sentence, ‘He handed her his hat,’ the UR is:

 /hi hændd hz ht/

Phonological Rulesbut is often represented on the

surface as: [hi hændd r ht]

Phonological RulesThe final type of rule that we will

concern ourselves with is called metathesis

These rules change the order of sounds

Phonological RulesFor example, for many children, the

word that is normally pronounced [spgi] ([spki])gets pronounced as [psgi] ([pski])How about animal?

Phonological RulesThe Format for representing

Phonological RulesThe basic format for specifying

phonological rules is as follows: A → B/ C __ DThis format is meant to be read as

“A becomes B in the environment following C and/or preceding D.”

Phonological Rules For example, here are the formulations

for two of the rules we have discussed so far:

Vowel → + nasal/ ___ nasal Alveolar → + dental/ ____ dental