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3: Sounds, Part 2- Phonology

Last updated

Feb 23, 2024
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- 2.11: Tone and intonation
- 3.1: Phonemes and allophones

Catherine Anderson, Bronwyn Bjorkman, Derek Denis, Julianne Doner, Margaret Grant, Nathan Sanders, and Ai Taniguchi
eCampusOntario

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Learning Objectives

When you’ve completed this chapter, you’ll be able to:

Analyze linguistic data to determine the distributions of phones in a spoken language and phonological processes in signed languages,
Categorize phones into phonemes based on their distributions, and
Write phonological rules that show how to map phonemes and underlying representations to allophones and surface representations.

The phonetic properties of language are not entirely random. There are many repeated patterns and categories that give more abstract structure to the physical reality of the linguistic signal, both within a particular language and across languages. This chapter explores this abstract structure by looking at patterns in how the physical units of language can be combined, how they affect each other in patterned ways when they are combined, and the methods linguists can use to discover these patterns.

3.1: Phonemes and allophones
The page discusses phonology, focusing on how linguistic signals are composed of smaller physical units that combine based on language-specific rules. Examples in English and American Sign Language (ASL) demonstrate the concept. In spoken language, phonemes are abstract units with various allophones, which vary depending on stress and other phonetic environments.
3.2: Phonotactics and natural classes
The page discusses phonotactics, which are language-specific restrictions on the combinations of physical units in certain environments. Examples highlight how some sounds are allowed in certain languages but not in others. The concept of natural classes, sharing phonetic properties, is explained, and the Symmetry Condition in ASL is discussed with examples. The distribution patterns of sounds within languages and the significance of understanding these patterns are also examined.
3.3: Contrastive distribution and minimal pairs
The page discusses the concept of minimal pairs in linguistics, where two words differ by only one phonetic element, proving that these sounds have a contrastive distribution. It explains that minimal pairs help demonstrate the presence of phonemic contrasts. When minimal pairs are difficult to find, linguists can rely on near-minimal pairs or nonce words. Near-minimal pairs have one additional difference, and nonce words can be created to test phonemic contrasts in a language.
3.4: Complementary distribution
The page discusses the concept of phones in complementary distribution and their relation to phonemes in English. It highlights that two phones, such as [h] and [??], can be in complementary distribution, meaning they never appear in the same phonetic environment. [h] and [??] are fundamentally different and represented as different phonemes due to their lack of phonetic similarity.
3.5: Phonemic analysis
The page discusses phonemic analysis, a process to identify phonemes and allophones in a language. It explains that languages can have multiple phonemicizations as they are subject to interpretation and theoretical analysis. The text emphasizes the principle of simplicity in selecting analyses and uses Georgian lateral approximants as an example. Through step-by-step analysis, it evaluates their distribution, determining whether they are allophones of the same phoneme.
3.6: Another example of phonemic analysis
The text discusses the phonetic analysis of French voiced and voiceless sonorants, focusing on voiced sonorants [m], [l], [??] and their voiceless counterparts [m??], [l??], [????]. The analysis follows steps to identify and organize phones, determine environments, and assess whether phones are in complementary distribution.
3.7: Phonological rules
The page discusses the elimination of redundancy in phonological analysis using faithfulness, natural classes, and simplicity. It suggests that phonemes have default pronunciations and can be simplified using natural classes, like sonorants, in French phonology. It introduces generative phonology, explaining underlying and surface representations, emphasizing phonological rules and derivations that transform phonemes to allophones.
3.8: Phonological derivations
The page explains the process of selecting examples to demonstrate phonological rule application and lack of application in a language, using French as an example. It suggests choosing words that show the rule working correctly, such as /??itm/ for ???rhythm???, and cases where the rule does not apply, like /tabl/ for ???table???.
3.9: Types of phonological rules
The page discusses various types of phonological rules across different languages, mainly focusing on assimilation, where phonemes change to resemble their surrounding sounds. Examples include phonation assimilation in Wemba Wemba, place assimilation in Persian, and nasality assimilation in Ka???apor. The page also highlights other articulatory processes such as aspiration in English, deletion, epenthesis, metathesis, and constraints in certain languages.
3.10: Signed language phonology
The text discusses phonological rules in signed languages, highlighting how they differ from spoken languages due to modality differences. In spoken languages, phonological rules apply universally; however, signed languages have unique phonological processes impacting individual signs. These include "weak hand freeze," "weak hand drop," "lowering," "distalization," and "proximalization.

Learning Objectives

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