English Linguistics (Phonology) Week 3
English Linguistics (Phonology) Lecture Notes Week 3: The Rules of Phonology Course Website: http://www.f.waseda.jp/tharada/phonology/index.htm Source: Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2006). An Introduction to Language (8th ed). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
Why two levels? time style better cat
Phonemic representation: /tam/ /stal/ /betr/ /kæt/
Phonetic representation: [tham] [sta] [ber] [khæ t]
• The relationship between the phonemic representations of words and the phonetic representations that reflect the pronunciation of these words is rule-governed. • The phonemic representations are minimally specified because some features or feature values are predictable. The phonemic representation, then, should include only the nonpredictable, distinctive features of the phonemes in a word. • The phonetic representation, derived by applying the phonological rules, includes all of the linguistically relevant phonetic aspects of the sounds. • Although the specific rules of phonology differ from language to language, the kinds of rules, what they do, and the natural classes they refer to are the same throughout the world.
Assimilation Rules Vowel nasalization in English Beeb: /bi:b/ [bi:b] beam: /bi:m/ [bı:m] bead: /bi:d/ [bi:d] bean: /bi:n/ [bı:n] bag: /bæg/ [bæg] bang: /bæ/ [bæ]
Rule1: Nasalize vowels when they occur before nasal consonants.
• This rule specifies the class of sounds affected by the rule: Vowels. • It states what phonetic change will occur by applying the rule: Change phonemic oral vowels to phonetic nasal vowels. • It specifies the context or phonological environment: Before nasal consonants.
Notation: V [+nasal] / ___ [+nasal] This means: V [+nasal] / ___ [+nasal] Vowels become nasalized in the environment before nasal segment If you look at more data, you will notice that this rule is not complete.
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English Linguistics (Phonology) Week 3
• Notation reveals the function of the rule more explicitly than words. It is easy to see in the formal statement of the rule that this is an assimilation rule because the change to [+nasal] occurs before [+nasal] segments. • Assimilation rules in languages reflect coarticulation—the spreading of phonetic features either in the anticipation or in the perseveration of articulatory processes.
More assimilation rules in English and Japanese • regular plural suffix /z/: /kæt +z/ [kæts] /bæ + z/ [bæz] • regular past-tense suffix /d/: /bek + d/ [bekt] /k:z + d/ [k:zd] • geminate in Japanese • moraic nasal () in Japanese • negative prefix /in/ in English impossible intolerant inconsistent irregular illegal • voiceless vowel in Japanese sukiyaki kisetsu sumie kiroku tatami sekoi kotatsu
Dissimilation Rules A segment becomes less similar to another segment. /f/ [ft]: fifth fift /s/ [st]: sixth sikst
Feature-Changing Rules The assimilation and dissimilation rules may all be though of as feature-changing rules. But some feature-changing rules are neither assimilation nor dissimilation rules. Aspiration in English: Aspiration occurs at the beginning of a stressed syllable, but not after /s/. pin spin hip
p ph Stop + + Labial + + Velar - - Voiced - - Aspirated - +
The aspiration rule in English is a feature-changing rule, but it is neither an assimilation nor dissimilation rule.
Segment Insertion Rules The process of inserting a consonant or a vowel is called epenthesis. • regular plurals, possessive forms and third-person singular verb forms
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English Linguistics (Phonology) Week 3
boxes, Swiss’s, kisses, watches, bridges
Ø / [+sibilant] _____ [+sibilant] (Ø stands for null.)
Segment Deletion Rules Segment deletion rules are commonly found in many languages and are far more prevalent than segment insertion rules. One such rule occurs in casual or rapid speech. • unstressed vowels in English mystery general memory funeral vigorous Barbara • silent g in English sign — signature design — designation paradigm — paradigmatic
Delete a /g/ when it occurs before a final nasal consonant.
/g/ Ø / ___ [+ consonantal, + nasal] # (# signifies a word boundary.)
Movement (Metathesis) Rules Phonological rules may also reorder sequences of phonemes, in which case they are called metathesis rules. • Children’s speech animal aminal [æmnl] spaghetti pusketti [pskti]
The Function of Phonological Rules The function of the phonological rules is to provide the phonetic information necessary for the pronunciation of utterances.
Input: Phonemic (Mental Lexicon) Representation of Words in a Sentence Phonological rules (P-rules) Output: Phonetic Representation of Words in a Sentence
• The input to the P-rules is the phonemic representation. The P-rules apply to the phonemic strings and produce as output the phonetic representation.
Underlying phonemic representation / t m p s t /
Aspiration rule th
Nasalization rule
Schwa rule
h Surface phonetic representation / t m p s t /
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English Linguistics (Phonology) Week 3
Questions Using the following data, consider voiceless vowels in Japanese. sukiyaki kisetsu tsukue sita sumie kiroku tatami sekoi kotatsu (zukoo) (gifu)
1. Which vowels may occur voiceless? 2. Are they in complementary distribution with their voiced counterparts? If so, state the distribution. 3. State in words and write in formal notation the rule for determining the allophones of the vowels that have voiceless allophones.
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