S4- MODULE 15

INITIATION TO CORE LINGUISTICS

PHONOLOGY

Prof. Karim Bensoukas

Spring 2014

The sounds of a language (1)

2

Activity 1: Provide the glosses for the following items:

gal
___________
al
___________
mal
___________
al
___________
al
___________
al
___________
al
___________
al
___________
bal
___________
qal
___________
sal
___________
al
___________

Which sounds occur in Moroccan Arabic and which ones dont?

The sounds of a language (2)

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Activity 2: Consider the following words:

gal
mal
al
al
al
bal
qal
sal

What is similar? What is different?

Compare sal ask and zal be removed. What is the difference?
Compare qal and gal? What is the difference?

The sounds of a language (3)

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Activity 3: For each of the following sound sequences, provide a

word from Moroccan Arabic: e.g.
fl
flus
br
____________
kg
____________
bn
____________
ns
____________
bk
____________
l
____________
bf
____________
fb
____________
sz
____________

Native-speaker knowledge of
phonology
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Which sounds occur in a given language: e.g. Moroccan Arabic (MA):

gal, mal, al, al, al, bal, qal, sal
al, al, al, al.

Which sounds change meaning (have a distinctive function) and which dont:
sal ask and zal be removed
qal say and gal say

The way these sounds pattern according to regular rules:

Words do not have the following sequences: *kg, *gk, *bf, *fb, *sz,
*td.

Phonology- definition
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Phonology: (Crystal, 1985:230).

Object of study

A branch of linguistics which studies the sound systems of languages.

Out of the very wide range of sounds the human vocal apparatus can
produce, and which are studied by phonetics, only a relatively small
number are used distinctively in any one language.

Unit(s) of analysis

The sounds are organized into a system of contrasts, which are

analyzed in terms of phonemes, distinctive features, or other such
phonological units, according to the theory used.

Methodology

The aim of phonology is to demonstrate the patterns of distinctive

sound found in a language, and to make as general statements as
possible about the nature of sound systems in the languages of the
world. Putting this another way, phonology is concerned with the range
and function of sounds in specific languages and with the rules which
can be written to show the types of phonetic relationships that relate
and contrast words and other linguistic units.

Phoneme- definition
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The phoneme: (Crystal, 1994:298).

Phoneme

The smallest unit in the sound system of a language, according to the

traditional phonological theory called phonemics or phonemic phonology.

Minimal pair test

In this approach, units such as /p/ and /b/ are established on the
grounds that substitution of one for the other can cause a change in
meaning (as in pit vs. bit).

Phoneme inventory

A complete analysis in these terms displays a languages phonemic system.

Phonemic units are transcribed within slashes, to distinguish them from the
physical sounds of speech, which appear within square brackets. Thus, the
phoneme /l/ in English can appear in speech as clear [l] (as in lead), a
dark [l
] (as in fool), and voiceless (as in please).

Allophones

These variants of a phoneme are called allophones.

ExerciseMinimal pair test

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Identify all the phonemes in the following data from Tarifit.

Exercise- Fromkin et al.

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ExerciseComplementary distribution
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Consider the distribution of [l] and [r] in Korean.

ExerciseComplementary distribution
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Here are some additional data from Korean:

son
miin
som
ihap
sosl
sal
kasu
miso

hand
superstition
cotton
game
novel
flesh
singer
grin

ipsam
maita
ilsu
isa
inho
oip
sk
kai

thirteen
is delicious
mistake
moving
signal
fifty
color
thorn

a. Are [s] and [] allophones of the same phoneme, or is each an allophone

of a separate phoneme? Give your reasons.
b. If you conclude that they are allophones of one phoneme, state the rule
that can derive the phonetic allophones.

Allophones
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The allophone:
A predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme. Thus, the
choice of allophones in any language is not random but
rather rule-governed. When a feature is not specific to any
particular words but determined by a general rule, it is a
redundant feature. It is also called a non-distinctive feature.
e.g. Nasality in English vowels is a redundant feature:
fat
fn
bat
bn
(but no contrast in meaning: fan / fn ; ban / bn
Complementary distribution: there is contextual variation.

Phonological rules
13

Korean

sa:ram

Rule: l

kol

philyman

r / V___V
ipsam

son

Rule: s
Nasality in English:
fat
bat
Rule: V
[-nasal]

/ ____ i

Distinctive features:
[+nasal]/[-nasal]...

fn
bn
V
[+nasal]

/ ___

C
[+nasal]

Exercise
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Phonological processes- Assimilation

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Total vs. partial

Impossible;

illegal, irregular

Regressive vs. progressive

Contiguous vs. non-contiguous

u

Phonological processes- Dissimilation

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Phonological processes- Epenthesis

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Phonological processes- Deletion

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