Linguistics Post-Secondary School

Front 1

What is Phonetics?

Back 1

study of production and perception of speech sounds

related to the science of acoustics, as uses much the same
techniques in the analysis of sound that acoustics does.

articulatory, acoustic and perceptual phonetics.

Front 2

What is Phonology?

Back 2

sound patterns of language.

examines what occurs to speech
sounds when they are combined to form a word and how these speech sounds interact with each other.

Explanation of these phonological processes

Front 3

What is Morphology?

Back 3

study of word formation and structure

how words are put together from smaller parts, and rules governing this process.

elements that combine to form words are called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning you can have in a language.

Front 4

What is Syntax?

Back 4

study of sentence structure.

Description of what is grammatical in a particular language in terms of rules

Front 5

What are Semantics?

Back 5

study of meaning.

Description of how we represent the meaning of a word in our mind

how we use this representation in constructing sentences

Front 6

Pragmatics

Back 6

effect of situation on language use, or meaning in context

Front 7

Historical Linguistics

Back 7

study of language change and the relationships of languages to each other

Front 8

Sociolinguistics

Back 8

study of interrelationships of language and social structure, linguistic variation, and attitudes toward language

Front 9

Language acquisition

Back 9

L1 acquisition: how infants/children learn to speak their first language

L2 acquisition: how adults/children learn a second language

Front 10

Psycholinguistics

Back 10

how language is implemented in the brain

Front 11

Neurolinguistics

Back 11

study of the brain and how it functions in the production, perception and acquisition of language

Front 12

Applied linguistics sub-fields

Back 12

Language teaching

Translation

Language revitalization

Speech pathology

Computational linguistics

Lexicography

Front 13

Teeth

Back 13

are even;

form an unbroken barrier;

are upright;

top and bottom set meet.

-not needed for eating, but great for articulation of several sounds.

Front 14

Lips

Back 14

Muscles are more developed than other primates

Mouth can be opened and shut rapidly

simple to pronounce certain sounds

Front 15

Tongue

Back 15

Thick, muscular and mobile

Allows possibility to vary the size of the mouth cavity, allowing pronunciation of a large range of vowels

Above allow us to produce a variety of sounds rapidly and in a controlled way\

Front 16

Larynx

Back 16

Simpler than other primates

allows air to move past without hindrance

Not necessarily good : specialized larynx means though that we can’t seal our mouth off from our windpipe and breathe while eating, like monkeys

Front 17

Lungs

Back 17

Function in similar ways to other animals, but

Don’t need to learn to breathe while talking
easily adapted to language

Front 18

Brain

Back 18

very different from other animals

Heavier, more surface folding of the cortex (outer layer which surrounds the inner core of nerve fibres).

2 hemispheres of brain do not function in the same way

Front 19

Phonetic alphabets

Back 19

are designed for writing down utterances in a way that records how they sounded

Front 20

Specialized alphabet

Back 20

Many have been invented

One with widespread use is International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), used by phoneticians, linguists, speech/language pathologists, and increasingly by dictionary makers and second language teachers

Front 21

The International Phonetic Alphabet
Guiding principles

Back 21

One sound, one symbol

A symbol should always represent the same sound, regardless of the language being transcribed. A sound should always be represented by the same symbol

Front 22

The International Phonetic Alphabet
Guiding principles

Back 22

use letters of the Roman alphabet where possible

BUT: more speech sounds than there are letters of the Roman alphabet.

Modifications [ ɲ ĸ ɢ ʍ ʏ ɥ ħ ]
Letters from Roman-based alphabets of Europe [ œ ø ð ]
Greek letters [ɛ Ɵ ]
New symbols [ ʃ ] [ ʘ ]

Front 23

The International Phonetic Alphabet
Guiding principles

Back 23

Major sounds are represented by symbols; minor modifications of sounds are represented by diacritics on symbols

[õ] - a nasalized [o], like [o] but with air flowing through the nose as well as the mouth

[n̥]- circle indicates that the sound is like an ordinary [n], except that the vocal folds are not vibrating. .

Front 24

IPA
Random Facts

Back 24

revised a number of times since 1888, most recently in 1993, few minor changes in 1996

standard system of phonetic transcription in linguistics.

adopted by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), licensing body for U.S. speech/language pathologists and audiologists

used for the entries in most foreign language dictionaries and recent British ones.

Front 25

Phonetic units

Back 25

Human language is made up of a finite number of possible speech sounds.

segment
syllable
feature

Front 26

Larynx

Back 26

vocal folds are on top of trachea, bands of ligament & muscle lying across the air passage which can be opened and closed, allowing air to pass or not.

opening between the vocal folds is called the glottis

Front 27

Glottal states

Back 27

vocal folds can be positioned in different ways

As the air passes through the spaces between the vocal folds (the glottis), different glottal states are produced

Front 28

Voicelessness

Back 28

Vocal folds are too far apart to vibrate, but close enough that they can cause some turbulence in the airstream.

air is allowed through freely, with slight friction noise.

Front 29

Voicing

Back 29

Vocal folds are nearly closed, forcing a vibration when air passes in the vocal folds, which is called a voiced sound

Front 30

Whisper

Back 30

Vocal folds are open, but adjusted so that the anterior portions are close together while posterior portions are apart

Front 31

Murmur/Breathy voice

Back 31

Vocal folds are vibrating, closed almost like voiced, but relaxed to allow some air to pass through the glottis causing turbulence, hence breathiness

Front 32

Creaky voice

Back 32

only the front part of the vocal folds are vibrating, giving a very low frequency.

Try speaking at the lowest pitch you can. Then go lower

Front 33

Harsh voice

Back 33

very strong tension of the vocal folds

Front 34

Articulators

Back 34

Upper and lower articulators work together to form an obstruction to the air passage.

Front 35

Sound classes

Back 35

We can group sounds into classes based on shared phonetic properties

Front 36

Sound classes - consonants

Back 36

Either complete closure or narrowing of vocal tract

Airflow is blocked or restricted so that noise is produced as turbulence/air flows past the constriction

Front 37

Sound classes - vowels

Back 37

Produced with little obstruction

Tip of tongue remains low

Voiced

More sonorous than consonants

Front 38

Acoustic differences

Back 38

Vowels are acoustically strong.

Consonants are low intensity.

Can be seen on spectrograms which analyze the waveform into its frequency components.

Front 39

Syllabicity

Back 39

Vowels form the nucleus/base for syllables.

Less sonorous segments surround the vowel peak.
-careful, folded, computer

Front 40

Comparison of sound classes
Vowels

Back 40

Produced with little obstruction in vocal tract

More sonorous

Form nucleus of syllable

Front 41

Comparison of sound classes
Consonants

Back 41

Complete closure or narrowing of vocal tract

Less sonorous

Surround a vowel in a syllable

Front 42

Sound classes - glides

Back 42

Show properties of both consonants and vowels.

Articulation like a vowel

Movement like a consonant

Pattern like consonants wrt syllables (never in nucleus)

/j/ ‘you’ and /w/ ‘was’in English.

Front 43

English stops - variants

Back 43

Aspiration:
After initial voiceless stops, there’s a delay in voicing of the vowel which is accompanied by a puff of air.

pit [pʰɪt] spit [spɪt]

tiff [tʰɪf] stiff [stɪf]

cab [kʰæb] scab [skæb]

Front 44

Laterals
/l/

Back 44

tongue tip raises to touch dental or alveolar upper articulator

air escapes through the mouth along the lowered sides of the tongue.

laterals are most naturally pronounced voiced.

Front 45

English r

Back 45

English r is retroflex – bunch the tongue upward and back in the mouth

IPA transcribes this r as [ɹ], but we’ll use [r]

Front 46

Other classes of consonants - liquids

Back 46

/l/ and /r/ often pattern together in phonology

I.e. plied, pried, splash, spray, etc.

called liquids

Front 47

Other consonant classes: sonorants

Back 47

Sonorants are more sonorous, normally voiced

Sonorants are in opposition to obstruents

Sonorants = nasals, liquids, glides, vowels.

Obstruents = stops, fricatives, affricates.

Front 48

Syllabic liquids & nasals

Back 48

normally vowels are nuclei of syllables, because they’re so sonorous.

But sometimes liquids & nasals can also become syllables.

Transcription is not always consistent.

Front 49

Syllabic consonants

Back 49

‘summer’ [sʌmr̩] or [sʌmər]
‘word’ [wr̩d] or [wərd]
‘tunnel’ [tʌnl̩] or [tʌnəl]
‘full’ [fl̩] or [fəl]
‘button’ [bʌtn̩] (or [bʌtən])
‘mm-mm’ [ʔm̩ʔm̩]

Front 50

Glides, revisited

Back 50

2 glides in English:

/j/ = Palatal glide
‘you’ [ju] and ‘toy’ [toj]

/w/ = labiovelar glide
‘wish’ [wɪʃ] and found [fawnd]

Front 51

Vowels

Back 51

14 vowels in English

Two types of vowels

Simple vowels: consistent quality in articulation

Diphthongs: change in quality within the syllable.

Front 52

Simple vowels

Back 52

pat [pæt];

list [lɪst];

rest [rɛst];

pot [pɑt];

feet [fit];

foot [fʊt];

lust [lʌst];

boost [bust]

Front 53

Diphthongs

Back 53

Major:
pie [paj];
pow [paw];
boy [boj]

Minor:
pay [pej];
blow [blow]

Front 54

Parameters for vowels

Back 54

Height

Backness

Tenseness

Rounding

Front 55

Height

Back 55

how high is the tongue raised

Divided into 3 classes

High: [i], [ɪ], [ʊ]. [u]

Mid: [ej], [ɛ], [ʌ], [ə], [ow], [oj]

Low: [æ], [aj], [aw], [ɑ]

Front 56

Backness

Back 56

What part of the tongue is moving.

Divided into 2 classes

Front:
[i], [ɪ], [ej], [ɛ], [æ].

Back:
[ʌ], [ə], [aj], [aw] [ʊ], [u], [ow], [oj], [ɑ]

(all central are back)

Front 57

Rounding

Back 57

lip rounding

Divided into round or unround

Round:
[ʊ], [u], [ow], [oj].

Unround: all other vowels.

Front 58

Tenseness

Only tense vowels occur word-finally.

generally tense vowels are the ‘normal’ looking ones.

Back 58

amount of vocal tract constriction

Greater vocal tract constriction & longer = tense vowels

Less vocal tract constriction & shorter = lax vowels

Tense:
[i], [ej], [aj], [aw], [u], [ow], [oj], [ɑ]

Lax:
[ɪ], [ɛ], [ʊ], [ʌ], [ə], [æ].

Front 59

Articulators; Again

Back 59

Narrowing or closure happens with articulators.

Different articulators change airflow in different ways, and result in different sounds.

For every consonant, there is an upper and lower articulator.

Front 60

Upper articulators
*Upper lip*

Back 60

labial sounds

/p/ /b/ /m/

Front 61

Upper articulators
*Teeth*

Back 61

dental sounds

/f/
/v/
/Θ/
/ð/

Front 62

Upper articulators
*Alveolar ridge*

Back 62

Bumpy ridge behind upper teeth

alveolar sounds

/t/ /d/ /n/ /s/ /z/ /l/

Front 63

Upper articulators
*(Hard) palate*

Back 63

hard bit of top of mouth

palatal and alveopalatal sounds

/j/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/

Front 64

Upper articulators
*Velum (also called soft palate)*

Back 64

Soft rear portion of rear of mouth

velar sounds

/k/ /g/ /ŋ/

Front 65

Upper articulators
*Uvula*

Back 65

long thin structure behind velum

uvular sounds

(none in English, French ‘r’)

Front 66

Lower articulators
*Lips*

Back 66

/f/
/v/

Front 67

Lower articulators
*Lower teeth*

Back 67

(none in English)

Front 68

Lower articulators
*Tongue*

Back 68

Divided into parts:

tip/apex,

blade/lamina,

front,

back/dorsum,

root.

Front 69

Articulator:
Tongue

Back 69

Tip = apex = apical articulation

Blade = lamina = laminal articulation

Front = palatal articulation

Back = dorsum = dorsal articulation

Root (none in English)

Front 70

Place of articulation
*Glottal*

Back 70

produced using the vocal folds as primary articulators
(ie. no articulators in oral cavity)

/h/ /ʔ/

Front 71

Naming place of articulation

Back 71

Always lower articulator first, upper articulator second.

Dorso-velar

Apico-alveolar

Labio-dental vs. dento-labial

Some articulation combinations are impossible (try apico-velar or dorso-labial)

Front 72

Manner
*Nasality vs. Oral*

Back 72

Oral
Velum is raised, cuts off airflow to nasal tract, creating oral sounds.

Nasal:
Velum is lowered, allows airflow to nasal tract, creating nasal sounds.

Front 73

Manner
*Stops*

Back 73

Complete closure of articulators

/p/
/b/
/t/
/d/
/k/
/g/
/n/
/m/
/ŋ/

Front 74

Manner
*Fricatives*

Back 74

Continuous airflow; constriction, no closure.

/f/
/v/
/θ/
/ð/
/s/
/z/
/ʃ/
/ʒ/
/h/

Front 75

Manner:
*Affricates*

Back 75

Combination of stop + affricate

in a stop articulation, the tongue moves rapidly away from pt of articulation.

In affricates, tongue moves slowly, and movement is considered part of the articulation

/ʧ/
/ʤ/

Front 76

Stridents/Sibilants

Back 76

Sounds characterized by acoustics instead of articulation

Noisier fricatives/affricates are called stridents or sibilants.

/s/
/z/
/ʃ/
/ʒ/
/ʧ/
/ʤ/

Front 77

Representing manner/place

Back 77

3 parameters necessary to describe consonant & glide articulation: place, manner (includes nasality), glottal state.

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html

Front 78

Suprasegmentals

Back 78

other phonetic properties come into play which have nothing to do with place/manner of articulation

can often alter segments

Front 79

Suprasegmentals
*Pitch*

Back 79

Auditory property of a sound that can be placed on a scale High --> Low.

Noticeable especially in sonorants

But everything has a pitch: compare [s] to [ʃ]

Front 80

Suprasegmentals
*Tone*

Back 80

In tone languages, a meaning difference may be signaled by a change in pitch.

English is NOT a tone language

Tone language:
Mandarin:
[ma] with H tone = ‘mother’
[ma] with fall-rise = ‘horse’
[ma] with falling pitch = ‘scold’
[ma] with rising pitch = hemp

Front 81

Suprasegmentals
*Intonation*

Back 81

Pitch movement not related to differences in word meaning.

Can imply difference in sentence meaning.

Front 82

Suprasegmentals
*Length*

Back 82

Length is not distinctive in English

Many other languages do contrast short & long segments to make new words, however.

Indicated by a colon following the long segment, ie [i:].

Italian:
fato [fatɔ] ‘fate’
fatto [fat:ɔ] ‘fact’

fano [fanɔ] ‘grove’
fano [fan:ɔ] ‘they do’

Front 83

Suprasegmentals
*Stress*

Back 83

some syllables are perceived as more prominent than others

syllables perceived more prominently are called stressed.

English stress is perceived based on length, loudness and pitch.

Front 84

Secondary stress

Back 84

Next most prominent syllable. Not all words have secondary stress, but most long words (ie more than 4 syllables) will.

Front 85

Transcribing stress

Back 85

denoted by accents

Front 86

Vowels and stress

Back 86

unstressed vowels are generally schwas

2 regular exceptions: [-ɪŋ] and final [-i]

if unsure between ə and ʌ, pick ʌ in stressed syllables and ə in unstressed syllables.

Front 87

Phonetic Processes
*Assimilation*

Back 87

A process where one segment becomes more like another (usually neighbouring) segment.

For ease of articulation

Extremely common

Front 88

Types of Assimilation
*Progressive assimilation*

Back 88

A following segment takes on a feature of a preceding one,
ie the assimilation moves forwards.

Front 89

Types of assimilation
*Regressive assimilation*

Back 89

A preceding segment takes on a feature of a preceding one,
ie the assimilation moves backwards.

Front 90

*Regressive assimilation*

Back 90

possible impossible
probable improbable
pertinent impertinent
tolerable intolerable
tangible intangible
credible ɪŋ]credible
considerate ɪŋ]considerate

Front 91

*Regressive assimilation* AGAIN

Back 91

ban
bank
gram
sung
calm
pong

The velum, anticipating the opening for the consonant, opens early, nasalizing the vowels somewhat

Front 92

Phonetic Processes
*Flapping*

Back 92

Where a dental or alveolar stop articulation changes to a flap (voiced continuant) articulation [ɾ].

ladder vs. latter
badder vs. batter

Front 93

Phonetic Processes
*Dissimilation*

Back 93

Where 2 sounds become less alike.

Much rarer than assimilation.

fifths [fɪfts] instead of [fɪfθs]

Front 94

Phonetic Processes
*Deletion*

Back 94

Removal of a segment.
Common in everyday casual speech

veterinarian -> [vɛtənɛriən]
respiratory -> [rɛspətori]
spectrogram -> [spɛktəgræm]
governor -> [gʌvənər]
surprise -> [səprajz]

Front 95

Epenthesis

Back 95

Process of inserting a segment within a string of segments. Often happens with vowels.

prince [prɪnts]
warmth [wormpθ]

Transition from sonorant to obstruent is eased by insertion of a consonant which shares articulatory properties of each segment.

Front 96

Phonetic Processes
*Metathesis*

Back 96

Reordering of segments; very common in children.

Favre [farv]
apple [apəl]
prescription [pərscrɪpʃən]
ask [æks]

Front 97

Phonetic Processes
*Vowel reduction*

Back 97

When articulation moves more central in unstressed position

Front 98

Phonetic Processes
*Progressive assimilation*

Back 98

(a real example)

trial [tr̻ajl̩]
pliers [pl̻ajərz]
cry [kr̻aj]
play [pl̻ej]
prior [pr̻ajər]

Liquids /r/ and /l/ are voiceless after voiceless stops; ie the voiced consonants take on the voiceless feature of the preceding segment.

Front 99

Other vowels to know
(non-English)

Back 99

/y/ High front rounded tense

/ʏ/ High front rounded lax

/ø/ Mid front rounded tense

/œ/ Mid front rounded lax

/ɔ/ Mid back rounded lax

/ɯ/ High back unrounded tense

Front 100

Vowel diacritics to know
*Length*

Back 100

Found in Czech, Latin, Cree, Finnish, Estonian…
Marked with colon [v:]
[i] vs. [i:]
[a] vs [a:]
[o] vs. [o:]

Front 101

Vowel diacritics to know
*Nasalization*

Back 101

Found in French, Michif, Hindi, Irish, Yoruba…
Marked with tilde [ṽ]
[ɛ] vs [ɛ̃]
[œ] vs [œ̃]
[ɔ] vs [ɔ̃]
[ɪ] vs [ɪ̃]

Front 102

Consonants to know

Back 102

[q] [ɢ] Uvular stops

[ɸ] [ß] Bilabial fricatives

[x] [ɤ] Velar fricatives

[ɲ] Palatal nasal

Front 103

Phonetics vs. phonology

Back 103

Phonetics:
describes concrete physical properties of sounds

Phonology:
investigates systemic patterning of sounds, within one language and cross-lingustically.

Front 104

Major phonological units

Back 104

Syllable

Segment

Feature

Front 105

The segment

Back 105

Speech is divided into segments, which is what we show in phonetic transcription.

phonetics [fənɛɾəks]
share [ʃɛr]

Front 106

The syllable

Back 106

Segments combine to form larger units called syllables.

Syllables consist obligatorily of a syllabic segment and often of non-syllabic segments which precede or follow.

phonetics [fə.nɛ.ɾəks.]
share [ʃɛr.]

Front 107

The feature

Back 107

Segments are made up of smaller units called features.

Features correspond to articulatory or acoustic categories

ʃ
-syllabic
-sonorant
+continuant

Front 108

Segments in
*contrast*

Back 108

Segments contrast when their presence can result in a change in meaning.

pat vs bat vs cat vs mat vs gnat

bite vs bat vs but vs bought vs boot

Contrast = be distinctive = be in opposition

Change in contrastive sound = change in meaning.

Front 109

Segments NOT in contrast

Back 109

[pat̚ ] vs. [pat] vs. [path]

In Cree, Michif
[o] and [u] never contrast: there is only one back vowel which is pronounced either [o] or [u] but always understood/written as [o].

Front 110

Minimal pairs

Back 110

Two forms with distinct meanings which differ only by 1 segment, where this segment is in the same position.

[tæp] vs [tæb] are minimal pairs

[tæp] vs [bæt] are NOT minimal pairs.

Front 111

Near-minimal pairs

Back 111

2 forms that have segments in nearly identical environments

author [ɑθər] vs either [ajðər]

Often need to resort to near-minimal pairs to establish contrasts, but minimal pairs are always ideal.

Front 112

Phonemes

Back 112

Segments that contrast are called phonemes.

Phonemes are abstract representations of phones

Phones come out of your mouth/are what you hear, but phonemes are in your mind, or what you think you hear.

Front 113

Notation

Back 113

Phonemic transcription uses / / brackets

Phonetic transcription uses [ ] brackets

Phonemic Phonetic
/pæt/ [phæt]
/mæn/ [mæ̃n]

Front 114

Vowel contrasts in English

Back 114

Diphthongs are phonetically complex, composed of vowel + glide, but phonemically act as 1 vowel.

No contrast between [e] and [ej] or [o] and [ow].

So for phonemic purposes, we will consider diphthongs [ow], [ej], etc. to be single vowels.

Front 115

Complementary distribution

Back 115

When 2 segments do not appear in the same environment

H20

superhero with secret civilian identity

Hannah Montana/Mylie

Front 116

Complementary distribution

Back 116

Distribution of [l̻] and [l] in English:
[l] [l̻]
After voiceless stops N Y
Elsewhere Y N

[l] and [l̻] are phonetically different but phonologically the same in English.

Ie. [l] and [l̻] are allophones of one phoneme, /l/.

Front 117

Phonemes & allophones

Back 117

Allophones:
predictable variants that come out of your mouth in a certain phonetic environment

Phonemes:
Abstract mental representation of the variants; how it is stored in the brain.

Front 118

Two levels of representation: phonetic and phonemic

Back 118

/phoneme/
[allophone] [allophone]

Front 119

*Terminology*

Back 119

Phone - allophone - phonetic – phonetics – surface form

Vs.

Phoneme - phonemic - phonological – phonology – underlying form

Front 120

Free variation

Back 120

Final stops in English: aspirated, plain or unreleased variants.

Neither in complementary distribution (ie. occur in same environments) nor minimal pairs with different meanings.
= Free variation.

Front 121

Minimal pairs
Recap

Back 121

2 forms with distinct meanings which differ by only 1 segment
I.e. /dowt/ vs /towt/

If we have minimal pairs,
we have 2 distinct phonemes: /d/ & /t/

Front 122

Complementary distribution
Recap

Back 122

When 2 segments only appear in opposite phonetic environments, we say they are in complementary distribution, and they are allophones of 1 phoneme.

/l/ goes to: [l diacritic] and [l]

Front 123

Generalizing patterns

Back 123

Phonetic processes generally target a phonetic class, not a single segment

Look for generalizations: looking for forest, not trees.

State changes in general way for classes of segments undergoing a change.

Front 124

Generalizing patterns
Recap

Back 124

Phonemes:
Constrastive segments in a language, ie they make new words. /l/

Phones/Allophones:
Predictable variants of the contrastive phonemes.
[l̻] [l] [l̩]
Includes all sounds uttered in the language.

Front 125

How to transcribe?

Back 125

Note that 2 levels means we can transcribe in 2 ways.

Phonemic transcription is what we’ve been doing, mostly.

Phonetic transcription includes all predictable processes.

/plaw/ vs [pl̻aw]
/plænt/ vs [pl̻æ̃nt]

Front 126

Phonemic transcription

Back 126

Also called broad transcription

Only includes phonemes. I.e., just those segments in English phonemic inventory. (your charts)

Front 127

Phonetic transcription

Back 127

Also called narrow transcription

More detailed transcription, includes processes.

There is much more phonetic detail in a narrow or phonetic transcription

Front 128

Phonetic transcription
English processes

Back 128

Nasalization

Non-nasal sonorant devoicing

Canadian raising

Flapping

Front 129

Phonetic and phonemic inventories

Back 129

Inventory = list

Phonemic inventories are the charts from chapter 2, which list the contrastive segments.

Phonetic inventories are much larger, as they include all the allophones.

Front 130

Phonemic vs phonetic stops

Back 130

Phonemic stops in English
/p b t d k g ʔ/

Phonetic stops in English
/p ph b t th d k kh g ʔ/

Front 131

The Syllable; Revistited pt. 1

Back 131

Composed of segments

Has a structure

Governed by both universal and language-specific constraints

Can play a role in allophonic variation, i.e. is another phonetic environment to look for.

Front 132

The Syllable; Revistited pt. 2

Back 132

Consists of a sonorous element as its nucleus, and associated non-sonorous elements

Elements get more sonorous as they reach the nucleus

Sonorants: vowels, nasals, liquids, glides
Obstruents: stops, fricatives, affricates

Prance [præns] Trench [trɛnʧ]

Front 133

Syllable structure

Back 133

Syllable consists of an onset and rhyme.

Rhyme consists of a nucleus and coda

σ= Onset (O) + Rhyme (R) = Nucleus (N) Coda (Co)

Front 134

The Syllable; Revistited
Syllable tendencies

Back 134

Universal tendencies:
Syllable nuclei normally consist of one vowel

Syllables normally begin with onsets

Syllables often end with codas

Onsets and codas are normally 1 consonant

Front 135

The Syllable; Revistited
Syllable tendencies (2)

Back 135

Most common syllables are CV and CVC.

Where C=consonant, V=vowel

Front 136

Onset constraints

Back 136

Not all consonant sequences are permissible in every language.

French /pnø/ /psikoloʒi/

Russian /fprɔk/ /fstrɛʧa/

Phonotactics is the set of constraints on how segments pattern within syllables;
how we form syllables

Front 137

Accidental gaps

Back 137

Not all possible words exist in a language.

Accidental gaps are non-occurring but possible forms in a language.

Strack, prum, snal.

Front 138

Systemic gaps

Back 138

Not all forms are possible in a given language.

Systemic gaps are those which are impossible given a language’s phonotactics.

Considered unacceptable by speakers.

/pnø/ /fprɔk/

Front 139

Universal general syllable shapes

Back 139

Syllables have onsets

Onsets tend to be as large as possible

Nuclei are usually vowels; in the absence of a vowel, another sonorant may do.

Front 140

Setting up syllables
(4 steps)

Back 140

Form the nucleus (find the vowels)

Maximize the onset (based on language-specific phonotactic constraints)

Form the coda (any consonants left)

Construct the word (syllables form word)

Front 141

Distribution of English aspirated stops

Back 141

Aspirated stops appear syllable-initially

Unaspirated stops appear elsewhere (elsewhere in syllable, in a coda)

Front 142

Why we use features

Back 142

Allows us to classify segments

Allows us to generalize

Natural classes of sounds: share a feature or features which pattern together.

Front 143

Obstruent natural classes:

What are different features of obstruents?

Back 143

[-sonorant], [±voice], [±continuant].

From these features, we may observe and describe natural classes of segments; I.e. segments which pattern together.

Front 144

9 natural obstruent classes

Back 144

[-sonorant]
[-sonorant, -continuant]
[-sonorant, +continuant]
[-sonorant, -voice]
[-sonorant, +voice]
[-sonorant, -continuant, -voice]
[-sonorant, -continuant, +voice]
[-sonorant, +continuant, -voice]
[-sonorant, +continuant, +voice]

Front 145

Obstruent natural classes

Back 145

[-sonorant] [p t k b d g f s ʃ v z ʒ]

[-sonorant, -continuant] [p t k b d g]

[-sonorant, +continuant][f s ʃ v z ʒ]

[-sonorant, -voice] [p t k f s ʃ]

[-sonorant, +voice] [b d g v z ʒ]

[-sonorant, -continuant, -voice] [p t k]

[-sonorant, -continuant, +voice] [b d g]

[-sonorant, +continuant, -voice] [f s ʃ]

[-sonorant, +continuant, +voice] [v z ʒ]

Front 146

Feature matrices

Back 146

Features are organized in matrices.

Major class features
- consonantal
+sonorant + syllabic

Laryngeal state
+ voice

Articulation
o Dorsal

Precise place or articulation
+ high
- low
- back

tense/lax
+ tense

Front 147

Features and allophonic variation

Back 147

Some processes we’ve seen:
Vowel nasalization
Liquid & glide devoicing
Intervocalic voicing

Assimilation processes = change of a feature.

Front 148

Feature representations

Back 148

Organized into groups reflecting natural classes

Most features are binary [±consonantal]

3 unary features:
[LABIAL] [CORONAL] [DORSAL]

Front 149

Major class features:
[±consonantal]

Back 149

Glides, vowels, /h/ & /ʔ/ are [-consonantal].

Front 150

Major class features
[±syllabic]

Back 150

Sounds which may be syllable nuclei are [+syllabic].

Front 151

Major class features
[±sonorant]

Back 151

Sonorants are [+sonorant]: nasals, liquids, glides, vowels.

Front 152

Manner features
[±continuant]

Back 152

Sounds with free airflow are [+continuant].

Front 153

Manner features
[±delayed release]

Back 153

Affricates are [+del rel].

Front 154

Manner features
[±nasal]

Back 154

Sounds produced with open velum are [+nasal].

Front 155

Manner features
[±lateral]

Back 155

Varieties of /l/ are [+lateral].

Front 156

Laryngeal features
[±voice]

Back 156

Voiced sounds are [+voice];
voiceless are [-voice]

Front 157

Laryngeal features
[±spread glottis]

Back 157

Aspirated consonants are [+SG].

Front 158

Laryngeal features
[±constricted glottis]

Back 158

Sounds produced with closed glottis are [+CG]:
only [ʔ]

Front 159

Place features

Back 159

Unary features [LABIAL] [CORONAL] [DORSAL] indicate articulator(s).

Each unary feature has specific binary subfeatures.

Front 160

Place features
[LABIAL] = labial articulator

Back 160

[±round]
Rounded vowels & [w] are [+round]
Other labial consonants are [-round]. [p b f v]

Front 161

Place features
[CORONAL] = tongue tip or blade as articulator

Back 161

[±anterior]
In front of alveopalatal region = [+ant]
Behind alveopalatal region [-ant]. (alveopalatals)

[±strident]
Noisy fricatives & affricates [+strid] = [s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ]
Others = [-strid].

Front 162

Place features
[DORSAL] = Body of tongue as articulator

Back 162

[±high]
Tongue body is raised from central position.

[±low]
Tongue body is lowered from central position. (Vowels only, in English)

[±back]
Tongue body is behind the palatal region.

[±tense]
[±reduced]

Front 163

Writing a feature matrix
Determine manner of articulation

Back 163

Major class features
[±sonorant], [±consonantal], [±syllabic]

Manner features
[±nasal], [±cont]
If [+son, +cons, -nas], is it [±lat]?
If [-son, +cons, -nas], is it [±del rel]?

Front 164

Writing a feature matrix
Determine laryngeal setting

Back 164

Laryngeal features [±voice].
if ʔ, then [+SG].
If aspirated or /h/, then [±CG].

Front 165

Writing a feature matrix
Determine place of articulation

Back 165

Place features
Which articulator is active?
If LABIAL, [±round]?
If CORONAL, [±anterior], [±strident]?
If DORSAL, [±high], [±back]?

If a vowel: [±low], [±tense], [±reduced]?

Front 166

Recapitulation
Phonemes

Back 166

Abstract representations, or what is in a speaker’s mind

Front 167

Recapitulation
Phones/Allophones

Back 167

phonetic realizations of what is in the speaker’s mind

Front 168

Underlying vs surface forms

Back 168

speaker underlyingly has a phoneme in mind, which is produced on the surface as an allophone

undergoes a set of phonological rules

phonetic/surface representation is derived form from the underlying phonemic representation in our mind

Front 169

Underlying vs surface forms...

Back 169

Underlying representation:
mental representation of speaker

Surface representation:
actual phonetic output

Surface representation is the underlying representation after having undergone a set of rules.

Front 170

Rule ordering

Back 170

Unordered rules: environments are different.

Sometimes applying multiple rules needs to be done in a specific order.

Front 171

Feeding vs bleeding

Back 171

Feeding: when one rule creates the environment for another rule.

Bleeding: when one rule removes the environment for another rule.

Front 172

Rule notation
A --> B / X__Y

Back 172

A = element in phonemic representation

B = the change it undergoes (referring to features) or output

X, Y = conditioning environment.

__ = position of segment undergoing the change

Front 173

Notation

Back 173

# = word boundary

σ = syllable boundary

Front 174

Assimilation processes
A --> B / X__Y
Liquid devoicing

Back 174

A: what is the changing element?

B: what is the change?

X, Y: what is the environment

__: what is the segment’s position?

Front 175

Assimilation processes
A --> B / X__Y
Aspiration

Back 175

A: what is the element?

B: what is the change?

X, Y: what is the environment

__: what is the segment’s position?

Front 176

Deletion & epenthesis
Schwa deletion: English speakers may drop [ə] in open syllable preceding a stressed syllable.

Back 176

[ə] --> ∅ / C0 _ σ C0
[+stress]

Front 177

What is historical linguistics?
again

Back 177

the description and explanation of language change

Syntactic, morphological, semantic, phonological.

Front 178

Language change

Back 178

All languages change over time.

Ex.
Three periods of English:
Old English (450-1100)
Middle English (1100-1500, i.e. Chaucer)
Modern English (1500 to present)

Front 179

Language change, more

Back 179

Is inevitable

Is systematic, ie based on linguistic principles and affects natural classes.
i.e. Canadian raising

Occurs in every language

Front 180

Motivation for language change
Language internal

Back 180

Motivated by systemic linguistic principles.
Similar types of change happen across language families, based on articulatory or syntactic or semantic principles.

Front 181

Motivation for language change
Language external

Back 181

Catalyst is society, history, language policy.

Front 182

Language-internal causes
Simplification

Back 182

Articulatory, morphological, etc.

Old English: ganra > gandra ‘gander’; simle > simble ‘always’

Modern English: Whom, thou-thee-thy-thine

Flip side: complication, ie. making new distinctions. (primarily morphological

Front 183

Language-internal causes
Analogy

Back 183

languages prefer regularity over irregularity.

Mouse, louse, house. (plurality)
Sing, swing, sting, bring. (time tense)
Dive (forms)

Front 184

Language-internal causes
Reanalysis

Back 184

attributing a complex structure where there is/was none

Kleenex
cerise - cherise - cherries - cherry
hamburger

Front 185

Language-external causes

Back 185

Language contact

Borrowing
Lexical & phonological
/ŋ/

Front 186

Language-external causes of language change

Back 186

Spelling pronunciation: writing systems are more stable than pronunciation.

often
assume/assure

Front 187

More
Language-external causes

Back 187

Hypercorrection: overgeneralization of a rule.

English pronouns: myself, I.

Front 188

Phonetic vs. phonological change

Back 188

First stage of a sound change: creation of allophones.
= phonetic sound change

leads to splits, mergers or shifts; changes in a phonological system.

Front 189

Splits

Back 189

allophones of one phoneme come to contrast with each other.

one change, then another which obscures the predictability of the original change

then-thyn split of Old English /θ/ into /ð/ & /θ/ in Early Middle English.

ŋ

Front 190

Mergers

Back 190

two phonemes no longer contrast with each other.

Michif: French
/o/ & /u/ > /o/

Cockney English:
/θ/ & /f/ > /f/

North American English:
/w/ & /ʍ/ > /w/

Canadian English, Midwest U.S.: /ɔ/ /ɑ/ merger

Hong Kong English /s/ /ʃ/ > /ʃ/

Front 191

Shift

Back 191

organization of a series of phonemes within the phonological system is changed.

Front 192

Great Vowel Shift

Back 192

Affected English long vowels

took place in south of England 1450 to 1750

Front 193

Great Vowel Shift, more

Back 193

Standardisation of English spelling ~ 15th & 16th centuries

Spellings that made sense in Middle English pronunciation are retained in Modern English

Without vowel shift, vowels would sound much like they ‘should’ in IPA. (boot, beet, bead, bite, etc.)

Front 194

Why do vowels shift?

Back 194

Possibly due to phonological vowel space.

Tendency is for equally distributed vowels within trapezoid.

Diphthongization to reduce complex system.

Front 195

Sound change

Back 195

Sound changes mirror phonological changes

Start off subtly, ie the phonological processes that we saw last section, and become significant over time.

Front 196

Language change
i, ii, iii

Back 196

Sequential change: involve sequences of segments for articulatory reasons.

Segmental change: change of segment for articulatory reasons.

Auditorily based change: based on audition.

Front 197

Sequential change

Back 197

Most common:

Assimilation (varia)
Dissimilation
Epenthesis
Metathesis
Weakening & deletion (varia)
Consonant strengthening

Front 198

Sequential change: Assimilation Place assimilation

Back 198

Early Latin inpossibilis --> Latin impossibilis

Front 199

Sequential change: Assimilation
Palatalization & affrication:

Back 199

alveolar, dental & velar stops before front vowels & /j/.

Front 200

Sequential change: Assimilation
Affrication

Back 200

/t, k/ --> ts /d, g/ --> dz

Canadian French
/t, k/ --> ʧ /d, g/ --> ʤ

Métis French
French [kø], [ky] --> Métis French [ʧø], [ʧy]

Front 201

Sequential change: Assimilation
Nasalization

Back 201

vowels becoming nasalized due to adjacent consonant, then consonant deletion.

Latin --> French
bon --> bɔ̃
fin --> fɛ̃

Front 202

Sequential change: Assimilation
Manner assimilation

Back 202

slæ̃pde --> later Old English slæ̃pte

Front 203

Sequential change: Assimilation

Back 203

Most common type of change.

Front 204

Sequential change: Assimilation
Total assimilation

Back 204

Latin octo, septem --> Italian otto, sette

Front 205

Sequential change: Assimilation
Umlaut

Back 205

vowel change due to vowel in another syllable.

Front 206

Sequential change: Dissimilation

Back 206

Latin --> Spanish
anma --> alma
arbor --> arbol

Front 207

Sequential change: Epenthesis

Back 207

Vowel epenthesis:
breaks up difficult consonant clusters.

Latin schola, scribere --> Spanish escuela, escribir

Front 208

Sequential change: Metathesis

Back 208

Change in positioning of segments

English
bryd, hros, waps --> bird, horse, wasp

Cajun French
grenier > [gərnje]
prenait > [pərnɛ]
vendredi >[vɑ̃dərdi]

Front 209

Sequential change: Weakening and deletion

Back 209

Consonantal and vowel

Natural progression until deletion

Front 210

Sequential change: consonant weakening

Back 210

Scale of consonant weakening:

Strongest
geminate voiceless stops
voiceless stops
voiced stops/voiceless fricatives
voiced fricatives
nasals
liquids
glides
Weakest

Front 211

Sequential change: Rhotacism

Back 211

consonant changes into an /r/

Front 212

Sequential change: strengthening

Back 212

Glide strengthening

Latin --> Italian

iuvenis [j] --> giovane [ʤ]

Front 213

Segmental change
Deaffrication

Back 213

turns affricates into fricatives

Front 214

Auditorily-based change

Back 214

Substitution: replacement of a segment by another similar-sounding segment

Front 215

Language reconstruction

Back 215

systemic phonetic correspondences are the most reliable sign of family relationships

by systematically comparing genetically related languages, may reconstruct an earlier form

words descended from a common source = cognates

Front 216

Reconstruction strategies

Back 216

Phonetic plausibility (first & foremost)

Majority rules: if no plausible change can account for differences.

Front 217

Common sound changes

Back 217

ie. highly plausible

Palatalization t > ʧ / __i
Assimilation n > m / _b
Voicing t > d / V_V
Frication d > ð / V_V
consonant deletion k > ∅ / __#

Opposites are very unlikely – do not correspond to any usual change.

Front 218

Indo-European
...language family...

Back 218

by studying phonetic correspondences, linguists have ascertained that most languages of Europe, Persia, and the northern part of India belong to a single family called Indo-European

Front 219

Grimm’s law

Back 219

series of sound shifts differentiating Proto-Germanic from other Indo-European languages.

(exception: voiceless stops following /s/)

Front 220

Exceptions to Grimm’s law

Back 220

borrowings
Eg. pedestrian, tenuous
/f/, /θ/ expected, but borrowed directly from French/Latin.

reconstruction can be complicated by borrowings, esp. given Latin & French also come from PIE.