PHONOLOGY

SOME BASIC CONCEPTS

1. PHONOLOGY 2. PHONEMES 3. MINIMAL PAIRS 4. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 5. ALLOPHONES 6. COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION 7. FREE VARIATION 8. MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

PHONOLOGY
The phonology of a language isthe system and pattern of the speech sounds. We see that the word phonology is used in two ways, either the study of sound patterns in language, or as the sound patterns themselves. [Fromklin & Rodman, 1993:216] In linguistics, the study of how sounds pattern in languages is called phonology. [ Avery & Ehrlich, 1995:39]

PHONEMES

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words.
[Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987:214]

PHONEMES
The English words pan and ban differ only in their initial sound: /p/ and /b/. The English words ban and bin differ only in their vowels: /{/ and /I/. Therefore, /p/, /b/ and /{/, /I/ are phonemes

PHONEMES The functional sounds of speech, i.e. the sounds which contrast in the same environment, are called phonemes. [Buchanan, 1963:90]

PHONEMES
just as there is an abstract alphabet as the basis of our writing , so there is an abstract set of units as the basis of our speech. These units are called phonemes, and the complete set of these units is called the phonic system of the language . [Roach, 1991:38]

PHONEMES
A first rule of thumb to determine the phonemes of any language is to see whether substituting one sound for another results in a different word. If it does, the two sounds represent different phonemes.
[Fromklin & Rodman, 1993:218]

MINIMAL PAIRS

When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment that occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are called minimal pair. Ex: Pan/ban is a minimal pair. Ban/bin is also a minimal pair.

MINIMAL PAIRS

Minimal pairs are valuable in identifying the significant sounds the phonemes of a language.
[Finegan, 1994:56]

The following minimal pair show that /b/ and /d/ are two phonemes in English: bead /bi:d/ vs. deed /di:d/

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another, it is a distinctive feature (or a phonemic feature)A feature can be thought of as having two values, + which signifies its presence and which signifies it absence. [b] is therefore [+voiced] and [p] is [-voiced].
[Fromklin & Rodman, 1993:221]

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
A distinctive feature is a particular characteristic which distinguishes one distinctive sound of a language from another or one group of sounds from another group.
[Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987:85]

Fricatives, nasal stops, approximants and vowels are [+continuant] whereas nonnasal stops and affricates are [-continuant]. English pure vowels are [-gliding] whereas English diphthongs are [+gliding]

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
A phoneme should be regarded as a combination of different distinctive features as well as nondistinctive features. /t/ in tea has the following distinctive features :
[+consonant] and [-vowel] [+obstruent] and [-sonorant]
[-continuant] and [+noncontinuant] [+plosive/oral stop] and [-fricative], [-affricate], [-nasal], [approximant] [+alveolar] and [-bilabial], [-labiodental], [-dental], [-alvoe-palatal], [-palatal], [-glottal] [+voiceless] and [-voiced]; [+oral] and [-nasal]

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

/t/ may have one more nondistinctive (redundant/predictable) feature :

[+aspirated] and [-unaspirated]

ALLOPHONES ALLOPHONES
An allophone is any of the different forms (variants) of a phoneme.
The clear [l], the dark [5], the devoiced [l], and the syllabic [l=] are the four allophones of the phoneme /l/, they are heard and identified as /l/, i.e. they have the same phonemic function .

ALLOPHONES
Allophones of a phoneme never occur in the same position. They always occur in different positions. We say that they are in complementary distribution.
The clear [l]: before vowels The dark [5]: before consonants and before a pause. The devoiced [ l ]: after fortis consonants /p/, /k/ at the beginning of stressed syllable. The syllabic [l]: stands as the peak of an unstressed syllable.

COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
When different sounds do not occur in the same position in words but only in different positions, we say they occur in complementary distribution. Complementary distribution simply means that where one sounds occurs, the other does not occur.
[Finegan, 1994:54]

One may then define a phoneme as a set of phonetic similar sounds which are in complementary distribution with each other.
[Fromklin and Rodman, 1993: 224]

FREE VARIATION
When two sounds can occur in the same position in a word without contrasting that is, without creating different words those sounds are said to occur in free variation.
[Finegan, 1994:54]

Economics /%i:k@"nQmIks/ or /%ek@"nQmIks/

MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

NONCONTINUANTS VS. CONTINUANTS

Fricatives, nasal stops, approximants and vowels are continuant, i.e. the air stream flows continuously out the mouth; whereas nonnasal stops and affricates are noncontinuant, i.e. there is a total obstruction of the airstream in the vocal tract.

MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

OBSTRUENTS VS. SONORANTS
The nonnasal stops, the affricates and the fricatives are obstruents because the aitstream cannot escape through the nose and it is either fully obstructed or partially obstructed in its passage through the vocal tract in their production. Nasal stops are sonorants because although the air is blocked in the mouth, it continues to resonate and move through the nose. The liquids and the glides and vowels are sonorants because the air resonates without being stopped.

MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

CONSONANTS VS. VOWELS Consonants: oral stops, nasals, fricatives, affricates, approximants (liquids and glides). Vowels: front, central, back, high, mid, low, tense, lax, long, short vowels, and vowels with rounded lips or unrounded lips. However, obstruents (plosives, fricatives and affricates), nasals, and liquids are [+consonantal], phonetically different from vowels and glides, which are [-consonantal].

MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

SYLLABIC CONSONANTS

Liquids and nasals can be syllabic - that is they may constitute separate syllables, as in the words medal, feather, mutton, or rhythm; or they may be nonsyllabic as in the words lead, read, deal, dear, name, or mean.
[Fromklin and Rodman, 1993:199]

MAJOR CLASS FEATURES

SIBILANTS

The friction created in the production of the fricatives and the affricates causes a hissing sound. These sounds are in a class of sibilants
[Fromklin and Rodman, 1993: 233-235]