Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology Jezek Session 1 Mgr. Miroslav Ježek, Ph.D. Brno, 24th February 2020 Linguistics •scientific study of language •DISCIPLINES: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, stylistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, lexicography, historical linguistics, comparative philology, language acquisition, philosophy of language, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, forensic linguistics and others… •many inter-disciplinary fields, e.g. language variation and change Phonetics •the science of human speech sounds with no specific reference to their function in a given sound-system •highly autonomous within linguistics (true science: instruments, computers, scaled measurements, etc.) •It studies 'the defining characteristics of all human vocal noise' (Crystal 1990: 167); => phonetic symbols (IPA). •three interdependent viewpoints: v articulatory (speech production) v acoustic (transmission of sound) v auditory (perception of sound) Phonology •Studies 'sounds and their contrasts within a specific sound-system' (Crystal 1990: 172). •functional aspect of sounds •PHONETIC STATEMENT: /b/ is a voiced bilabial plosive. •PHONOLOGICAL STATEMENT: there are 6 short vowels in English. •phonemics: 1/ synonym of phonology (sound-system of one language) • 2/ theoretical study of phonemes Phoneme & Allophone •Phonemes are contrastive units of sound which can be used to change meaning (Collins & Mees 2003: 11). • •Phoneme is an abstract entity shared by a native community. • •Allophones are actual sounds uttered by speakers and interpreted as one phoneme despite possible phonetic differences. Phoneme & Allophone • •One cannot pronounce a phoneme, only an allophone; hence phoneme, being a feature of language structure, cannot be defined acoustically. In Saussurean terms, it is part of langue, not parole. • •phonemic /ki:p/ v. phonetic [k̟ʰi:p] transcription Phonemes-contrastive distribution •Two phonemes (never allophones) appearing in the same environment and with a change in meaning: • pit and bit – minimal pairs • pit, bit, kit, lit, sit ; beat, bean, beam, beef, bees – sets of minimal pairs Allophonic variation–examples •/k/ - advanced keep v. retracted cool –accommodatory (intrinsic) alternation (determined by the phonetic environment, i.e. the following vowel). •/l/ - clear [l] light v. dark [ɫ] till – non-accommodatory (extrinsic) alternation (determined by the position within a word). Allophonic variation–examples •/l/ - clear [l] light v. dark [ɫ] till – the two allophones are in complementary distribution (i.e. one or the other). •Other examples of complementary distribution: •[p] in spare, supper (after a voiceless alveolar fricative and intervocallicaly preceding an unstressed vowel) v. [pʰ] in pear (syllable-initial preceding a vowel under stress). •also syllable-initial only [h] v. syllable-final only [ŋ]; but they are not considered allophones of one phoneme due to their lack of phonetic similarity. Allophonic variation–examples •The varied quality of /r/, namely e.g. [ɹ] in RP red, [ɾ] in Scottish terrible, [ʁ] in French rouge or in traditional Northumbrian accent. These allophones are in free variation. •Other examples of free variation: /t/-glottaling in right [ɹaɪʔ]; Czech long /a/. •Are there, however, any cases of really free variation in language? The phonemic principle Phonemic neutralisation •Two phonemes show overlap in phonetic realisation, i.e. ‘a sound may appear to belong to either of two phonemes’ (Cruttenden 2014: 47). •Examples: •lenis (non-aspirated) realisation of plosives after s: /st/ star, /sp/ spar, and /sk/ scar—possible allophones of /d/, /b/, and /g/ respectively? • cf. Welsh sbectol (spectacles) and sgyrt (skirt). • (from Collins & Mees 2003: 70) • •/m/ and /n/ in infamous and emphatic are both, in anticipation of the following labiodental fricative /f/, labiodental nasals [ɱ]; which phoneme does this sound belong to? • • Phonemic neutralisation • •More examples: •in Czech dip, tip v. pod, pot. • • Q: So, which phoneme does the plosive in spin belong to: /p/ or /b/? • • • • • • Archiphoneme • • A: it belongs to an archiphoneme /P/ + /B/. • •It combines the characteristics of two normally distinct phonemes that cannot be differentiated in certain contexts. • •VIDEO: Prof. Jurgen Handke, Marburg University, Germany • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1EhcdSMHGg • • • • • Phonemic merger •Absolute phonemic neutralisation is also called a phonemic merger; i.e. two previously separate phonemes become one. •Example: •US English LOT-THOUGHT merger. •Middle English meat-meet merger. • • • • • One phoneme or two? •affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/-how many phonemes? •One phoneme: phonotactically (see the next slide) they function in a different way from other affricates (especially /ts/ and /dz/) in word-final positions as they do not typically contain a syllable boundary. •Cf. patch, badge v. cats, dogs. (even word-initial affricate in tsar is not pronounced as [ts], but [z]). • Two phonemes: if /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ are just one phoneme, why not /tr/ and /dr/? •Universal consent, native intuition… • Phonotactics •Refers to restrictions on the possible combinations of phonemes within a particular language (accent). •CCCV- in English limited to /s/ + plosive + approximant /j/, /r/, /w/, /l/. Thus stew, stream, spleen, square are possible, but not zdream. •/ɳ/ in word-final positions only •/h/ never in word-final positions Phonemicisation- phonemic split • •Establishment of a new phoneme in a given language (accent). •Also called a phonemic split • •Examples: •lowering of EModE blood [ʊ] => [ʌ] •loss of /g/ in –ing endings => new phoneme /ŋ/ •TRAP and BATH split in southern varieties of BrE • Phoneme- theoretical perspectives •The notion of phoneme was known in the 19th century-but it referred to a phonetic unit (sound) in diachronic comparative philology. •Phoneme as an abstract contrastive unit was, however, intuitively felt. •Kazan School of Linguistics: •Jan Baudoin de Courtenay (d. 1929), Mikolaj Kruszewski (d. 1887) •physiophonetic v. psychophonetic alternations •American anthropological linguistics •Edward Sapir (d. 1939) •anthropological focus on native American languages •important v. unimportant sound-units in language Phoneme- theoretical perspectives •Ferdinand de Saussure (d. 1913) Cours de linguistique générale (phoneme impicitly present in the langue v. parole distinction). •Phoneme first thoroughly described by the Prague Linguistic Circle in the 1920s and 30s (Nikolay Trubetzkoy, Roman Jakobson, Vilém Mathesius, Josef Vachek). •Structuralists: focus on synchrony, on functional relationships between elements within language. • Phonology - Prague Linguistic Circle •Trubetzkoy’s Grundzüge der Phonologie (posthumously 1939) •first explicit theoretical account of phoneme •clear separation of phonetics and phonology (with heavy focus on the latter) •system of phonological oppositions=>it is the difference between /t/ and /d/ in tear v. dear that is worth scientific interest, not the actual quality of the two sounds. • •Jakobson later spread the ideas of the PLC abroad: the distinctive feature theory (see below). • Phonology - Prague Linguistic Circle • •PLC: centre v. periphery •level of integration into the phonemic system •high/low functional yield • • •Case in point: /h/ phoneme • Phoneme- theoretical perspectives •The PLC: phoneme as a purely abstract, contrastive (functional) unit. •Other approaches at that time: •phoneme as a class of sounds; thus /l/ phoneme consists of clear [l] and dark [ɫ]. •phoneme as a class of features of sounds; /l/ phoneme consists of features like laterality, alveolarity, etc. (Leonard Bloomfield: Language, 1933). •cf. rationalism v. nominalism in epistomology Roman Jakobson- distinctive feature theory •After WWII in the USA, d. 1982. •Continued with what Trubetzkoy did not manage to finish. •Phonological oppositions: relative (not absolute) values that keep phonemes distinct, e.g. Aspiration. •Next step: to establish a set of distinctive features to analyse phonological oppositions in a language. •Ultimate aim: to establish a limited set of distinctive features to analyse any language. • • Jakobsonian set of distinctive features •Universal binary (i.e. two mutually exclusive options) system of twelve distinctive features to describe all languages of the world. •All contrasts must be stated in terms of these features. •All restrictions on distribution must be stated in terms of these features. •Distinctive features: e.g. +/- nasal, +/- consonantal, +/- vocalic •Many later modifications: more features and different labels • • Distinctive feature theory C:\Users\Monika\Desktop\Distinctive+Features+_p+_+described+as+a+bundle+of+features+[-Vocalic].jpg Generative phonology • •Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle: The Sound Pattern of English (1968) • •It is a subdiscipline within generative grammar (particular focus on syntax). • •It is heavily based on Jakobson’s distinctive feature theory. • Generative phonology •Aim: to create and analyse phonological rules that map an underlying (abstract) representation onto a surface (sound) representation. •Examples: •Context-free rule: in RP the underlying form of get is /get/, surface forms may be [t], [tʰ], [tˢ], or even [ʔ]. •Context-sensitive rule: in AmE fat /fat/ may surface as [t] or [ɾ]. •The surface representations are merely the tip of the iceberg; it is what lies beneath (the unconscious knowledge of language) that linguistics should focus on. •Phonological rules delete, insert, modify sounds. Generative phonology Input fə hɪz ˈfrɛndz by Unstressed H Dropping fə ɪz ˈfrɛndz by R Insertion fər ɪz ˈfrɛndz = correct output Input fə hɪz ˈfrɛndz by R Insertion - Rule cannot apply due to structural restrictions by Unstressed H Dropping fə ɪz ˈfrɛndz = incorrect output Phonetic conditioning •Refers to the way in which sounds are influenced by adjacent sounds=>phonemes vary in their realisations according to the phonetic context. •Four main types: •allophonic variation (here dealt with elsewhere); •assimilation; •elision; •liaison. • Assimilation •A phoneme is replaced by another one due to the influence of yet another phoneme •Types of assimilation: •leading: bad girl in casual speech becomes [bag gɜ:ɫ]; frequent in Italian (Latin octo => ModIt otto) •lagging: on the site [ɒn nəˈsaɪt] •--------------------------------------------------------------------------- •place: woodpecker [ˈwʊbpekə] •manner: till they see [tɪɫ leɪˈsi:] •energy: I have to [aɪˈhaf tə] Elision • •Refers to the deletion of a phoneme. • •Examples: •tasteless [ˈteɪsləs]; •historically, the silent letters in write, knee, castle, cupboard, chalk, thumb, etc. Liaison •Refers to the insertion of a phoneme to enable easier articulation of the sequence. • •Example: •intrusive /r/: I saw it [aɪˈsɔ:r ɪt]; the idea of, vodka on ice, etc. Phoneme as a source of inspiration •prosodeme: a phoneme stretching over more than one segment of sound; e.g. yes pronounced with different pitch patterns. • •toneme (=tonal phoneme): in tonal languages like Chinese, the only distinctive element is the different tone. • •morpheme, grapheme, behavioureme: e.g. gusteme, kineme, etc. • References •Collins, Beverley and Inger Mees. 2003. Practical Phonetics and Phonology. London: Routledge. •Cruttenden, Alan. 2014. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English, 8th ed. London: Routledge. •Crystal, David. 1990. Linguistics. London: Penguin Books. •Wells, J C. 1982. Accents of English. Cambridge: CUP. •