Phonology

The sound patterns of Language

What is phonology?
Definition

Phonetics: concerned with the physical properties of the speech

production system.
Phoneticians are concerned with how sounds differ in the way they
are pronounced.
Phonologists are interested in the patterning of such sounds and the
rules that underlie such variations.
Eg. Tea, too.
Phoneme
Definition

Phoneme is the minimum phonemic unit that is not further analysable into
smaller units.
A phoneme is the abstract set of units as the basis of our speech.
Phonemes are distinctive sounds although they can be represented by sounds
in slightly different ways
Phoneme is a unit of explicit sound contrast. If two sounds in a language make
a contrast between two different words, they are said to be different phonemes.
Crystal: “Phonological analysis relies on the principle that certain sounds cause
changes in the meaning of a word or phrase, whereas other sounds do not.”
音系学分析依照导致单词或短语意义变化的发音
Phoneme & Phone
Phone 音素

phone 音素 -minimal sound segments that human speech organs can

produce. Basic units of phonetic study and transcribed within square
brackets[].
语音学；具体；不区别意义
Phoneme & Phone
Phoneme 音位

phoneme 音位 -abstract collection of phonetic features which can

distinguish meaning, transcribe with the IPA symbols, within slant
lines//.
音系学，抽象，区别意义
realized by phone
Identification
minimal pairs test

minimal pairs test 最小对比对测试： find out which sound substitutions

cause differences of meaning
phonemes: important units identified through minimal pairs test.
A minimal pair consists of two different forms which are identical
in every way except for one sound segment in the same place in
the strings.
Phonemic contrast: Two phonemes in a minimal pair occur in the
same place and can distinguish meaning-in phonemic contrast.
Identification
Minimal Set

Minimal set: a group of words which can be differentiated from one

another by changing one phoneme in the same position. Eg.
Pig,big,dig,rig,fig,wig
Realization

Realized as phones in specific phonetic context

因为 phoneme 是一个抽象的单位，在现实交流中，一个抽象的声音类型（ phoneme ： sound type ）可以
有不同的版本 / 变化，而这些版本被描述为 phone
比如 phoneme /p/ ，语音学上，发为送气（ aspirated co-articulation ）塞音（ plosive-
manner of speech ） [ph] 在单词 pit 中；在 spit 中发为不送气塞音 [p]
这两种发音方式都来自同一个 phoneme 音位 /p/
而这种变化就被称为 allophone
所以我们可以说， [ph]&[p] are allophones of /p/ ，它们是同一音位的变化的 complementary
distribution
Realization
Allophones 音位变体

[p], [ph] are 2 different phones, and are variants of the phoneme /p/
Such variants of a phoneme are called allophones of the same phoneme.
In this case the allophones are said to be in complementary distribution because they never occur in the same context
Eg.
/p/ -> [p] / [s]__
[ph] elsewhere
The phoneme /p/ is pronounced as [p] after the voiceless alveolar fricative [s] and as [ph] in other cases.
Phonetic similarity 语音相似性：
The allophones of a phoneme must bear some phonetic resemblance.
音位的音位变体必须具有语音学的相似性
Allophony 音位变体现象：
The phenomenon of variation in the pronunciation of phonemes in different positions is called allophony or allophonic variation.
Allophone 音位变体 & alloplony 音位变体现象
Synonym 同义词 & synonymy 同义关系
Velarization软腭化: clear “l” and dark “l” ：
/l/ -> [l] / __ v. Let
[l~] / v __ help
Allophones
Allophones & free variants

Definition:
Allophone: a sound that is slightly different from another sound, although both sounds belong to the same
phoneme, and the difference does not affect meaning
Free variants: Two sounds occurring in the same environment do not contrast meaning, that is, the substitution of
one for the other does not produce a different word form, but merely a different pronunciation of the same word,
then the two sounds are in free variation, and they are variants of the same phoneme.
Relations:
Two different realization of the same phoneme are not necessarily allophones of the same phoneme. When their
realization is decided by dialect or personal habit rather than phonological rules, they are actually free variants
of one phoneme.
区别：
发音规律： allophone 遵循音系规则，互补分布； free variants 地域特征，个人
发音相似度： allophone 高； free variants 低
发音环境： allophone 不同环境； free variants 相同环境
Allophones
Allophones & phonemes

The crucial distinction between phonemes and allophones is that

substituting one phoneme for another will result in a word with a
different meaning(as well as different pronunciation), but
substituting allophones only results in a different (and perhaps
unusual) pronunciation of the same word. (Yule, 2006:45)
Phonological Rules
sequential rules 序列规则 /Phonotactics 音位结构学

Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language.

For instance:
In english, Ibki cannot be a word, because a word begins with [l] should have a vowel as its second sound segment.
A fricative or a sibilant cannot be followed by a sibilant such as [s], so we have boxes, teaches etc.
When three consonants appear at the beginning of the word, the first sound must be [s], the second one must be [p, t, k], ans the
third one must be [l, r, w, j]. So we have spring, string, squeal, rather than bdling or wbtendlid
Phonotactics 音位结构学 :
The rules that govern the sequences of sounds of a language.
规定声音顺序的规则
(By the same token: vocabulary&grammar -> speech sounds articulation -> rules that govern the sequences of sounds)
Phonology: the grammar of phonetic patterns.
Phonotactics: the particular branch of phonology which studies the permissible sound combinations.
The branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes.
Eg. In Eng. L, like fig, rig, dig, vig, lig, can come into use. But bned, sthring, can’t . Bcz violate the phonotactical restrictions.
Phonological Rules
Sonority scale 响音阶

Sonority scale can explain some combinations of consonants.

响音阶，解释部分辅音组合
Refers to the different degrees of sonority of speech sounds.
指语音响度的级别
Vowels(5) > lateral [l](4) > nasals(3) > fricatives(2) > stops(1)
The sonority scales of speech sounds contained in a word should be
roughly accordant with normal distribution and can be drawn in to a
figure similar to an inverted “V”, which explains why “splash” is a
correct word whereas lsapsh is not accepted.
Assimilation rules

Assimilation: a process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound.
Refers to the phonological process in which a target or affected segment undergoes a structural change in certain environment or contexts.
In each process the change is conditioned or triggered by a following or preceding sound.
同化三要素： Target sound, sound change, phonological environment.
3 aspects:
A set of sounds to undergo the process
A set of sounds produced by the process
A set of situations in which the process applies
Can occur across syllable or word boundaries.
English fricative devoicing
英语擦音轻音化：
/v/ -> [f]
/z/ -> [s]
Voiced fricative -> voiceless / ___ voiceless
A voiced fricative is transformed into the corresponding voiceless sound when it appears before a voiceless sound.
Assimilation rules
instances

Nasalization
Nasalization rule: [-nasal] -> [+nasal] / __ [+nasal]
dentalization
Dentalization rule: [-dental] -> [dental] / __ [dental]
Velarization
Velarization rule: [-velar] -> [+velar] / __ [+velar]
across syllable or word boundaries ： devoicing
Assimilation rules
Regressive assimilation 逆同化 & Progressive assimilation 顺同化

A following sound is influencing a preceding sound

后音影响前音

A preceding sound is influencing a following sound

前音影响后音
Epenthesis rule
增音规则

Eg. A hotel, a wagon, a big man; an apple, an egg, an orange

Epenthesis/ Insertion Rule:
The nasal [n] is added to the article “a” due to the lack of a
consonant between two vowels.
# -> [n] / [ 倒 e] __ Vowel
Deletion rule

Deletion rule:
A sound is deleted in specific conditions.
Eg. The sound [g] is deleted when it happens before a nasal which
is at the end of a word.
Sign, design, paradigm; signature, designation, paradigmatic
/g/ -> # / __ [+nasal]
Rule ordering and the elsewhere condition: Plurals
in English

A. The [s] appears after voiceless sounds.

B. The [z] appears after voiced sounds.
C. The [ez] appears after sibilants 咝音 .
/z/ -> [s] / [-voice, C] __ (devoicing)
# -> [ 倒 e] / [+sibilant] __ [z] (Epenthesis)
先增音再轻音化 - 越具体的规则越先使用
The more specific rule applies first.
[z] is the basic form (underlying form/representation)
Distinctive features

The idea of Distinctive features was first developed by: Roman Jacobson (1896-1982)
As a means of working out a set of phonological contrasts or oppositions to
capture particular aspects of language sounds.
制定一系列音系对比，来捕捉语言声音的某些特别方面
区别特征：一个音位与另一个音位区别开的特征。
More general, identify 2 or more phoneme at a time.
Distinctive features are those phonologically relevant properties, that is, the
features which can distinguish meaning, for example, voicing, place and manner
of articulation are all principal distinctive features of consonants.
音系相关的特征，即区别意义的特征，带音性，发声部位和发声方式都是辅音的主要区别特征。
Distinctive features
Binary features 二分特征

Binary features 二分特征

We can group them into two categories: one with this feature and the other
without.
Binary features have two values or specifications denoted by ‘+’ and ‘-’, so voiced
obstruents are marked [+voiced] and voiceless obstruents are marked [-voiced].
The place features are not binary features, they are divided up into four values:
[PLACE: Labial] 唇音
[PLACE: Coronal] 舌冠音
[PLACE: Dorsal] 舌背音
[PLACE: Radical] 舌根音
Suprasegmentals
The syllable structure
Suprasegmentals
porsodic features 音高变化
Thanks