Lecture 3

Phonetics and phonology: Speech Sounds and Their Systems

Wu Heping http://wuhpnet.googlepages.com/linguistics http://groups.google.com/group/linguistics_nwnu

natural sounds

no systematic meaning

speech sounds

a code system.

Definition of Phonetics
Phonetics is the science of speech sounds, which aims to provide the set of features or properties that can be used to describe and distinguish all the sounds used in human language.

Three stages in speech chain

The production of the message The transmission of the message The reception of the message
Articulatory phonetics Acoustic phonetics Auditory phonetics

 The principal cavities or resonators: -the pharyngeal cavity -the oral cavity -the nasal cavity (-the labial cavity) The vocal tract: - the long tubular structure formed by the first three cavities.

The Speech Organs

Pharynx Oral Cavity Nasal Cavity Uvula Tongue (tip/blade/front/ middle/back/root) Hard Palate Soft Palate (Velum) Alveolar Ridge (teethridge) Teeth (upper &lower) Lips (upper &lower) Epiglottis

Diagram of the speech organs

The process of producing speech

The air breathed in lungs the air pressed out mouth cavity windpipe (trachea) larynx pharynx nasal cavity

Read the following twister

I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble but not you On hiccough, thorough, lough and through. Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps?

 I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble but not you On hiccough, thorough, lough and through.

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps?

I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? [tf] [bau] [kf] [d] Others may stumble but not you On hiccough, thorough, lough and through. ['hkp] ['r] [lk] [ru:] Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps?

Definition of Consonants &Vowels

Consonants: the sounds in the production of which there is an obstruction of the air- stream at some point of the vocal tract . Vowels: the sounds in the production of which no articulators come very close together and the air-stream passes through the vocal tract without obstruction.

Consonants
The place of articulation the manner of articulation.

(2)Place of Articulation
When describing the place of articulation, what we usually consider is the place within the vocal tract where the articulators form a stricture.

The place of articulation

Bilabial e.g. [p], [m]. Labio-dental e.g. [f]. Dental e.g.[] Alveolar e.g. [t] Palatal e.g..[j]. Palato-alveolar e.g. [] Velar e.g. [k]. Glottal e.g. [h] Retroflex . Uvular, Pharyngeal

The manner of articulation.

Plosive e.g. [p],[d]. It belongs to a broader category called stop suction stop (pressure stop) Nasal e.g. [m]. Affricate, e.g. [t]. Liquid e.g. [l], [r]. [l] Fricative e.g. [f], [z]. Some fricatives are also called sibilants e.g. [s], [] Glide e.g. [h], [w].

Give the IPA symbol for each of the consonants described below
1) voiced bilabial plosive 2) voiceless alveolar plosive 3) voiceless dental fricative 4) voiced bilabial nasal 5) voiceless labio-dental fricative b t

m f

Vowels

A Diagram of English Vowels

monophthong diphthong triphthong

e.g. [u] e.g. [au] [u] e.g. [au]

suprasegmentals
stress pitch tone Intonation They relate to aspects of pronunciation that go beyond the production of individual segments.

Stress and pitch

[,u:nI'v:stI ]

Read it!
The story in Pinyin: shsh shsh shsh, sh sh, sh sh sh shsh shsh sh sh sh sh shsh, sh sh sh sh sh shsh, sh shsh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh, sh sh sh sh sh, sh sh sh sh shsh sh sh sh sh sh sh, sh shsh shsh sh, sh sh sh sh shsh shsh sh, sh sh sh sh sh sh shsh sh, sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh shsh sh sh sh

Read again
The story in Chinese characters:

A translation from internet (revised)

(Once upon a time,) there was a poetic scholar whose name is Mr. Shi, who took delight in lion. He vowed to eat 10 lions. He frequently traveled to towns to see whether there were lions. One day, at 10 o'clock, 10 lions happened to travel to the town. At the same moment, Mr. Shi arrived at the town too. Mr. Shi saw these 10 lions and killed them by casting ten stones. He then picked up those dead bodies, and transported them back to the stone house. When he arrived at home, he found that his house was wet. He ordered his servants to wipe the stone house. after the stone house was wiped, he tried to eat the lions, only to find out that those lions were actually made of stones, This is my attempt to explain this weird story.

From phonetics to phonology

Phones and phonemes Feature theory Syllabification Phonological processes and phonological rules

Phones and phoneme

pot, spot, slip
We pronounce them differently but we know they are the same

sound. How do we know two sounds are the same or different? Phoneme:
a class of sounds which are identified by a native speaker as the same sound. The form we think of sounds and store them in memory Marked as /p/

Allophones:
the members of these classes The actual phonetic segments produced by a native speaker Marked as [ph], [po]

How are the phonemes are identified?

Minimal pairs and complementary distribution

1. Is there a minimal pairPhonetic environment for the given sounds? If yes, go to 2. If not, go to 5. If not, go to 4. Overlapping Overlapping complementary 3. The sounds are contrastive, i.e. separate phonemes. Identical environment

Distribution of speech sounds 3. 2. Do the words in the pair differ in meaning? If yes, go to
4. The sounds are allophones in free variation. Contrastive overlapping: (minimal pairs) same phonetic environment, differences which each sound Describe the phonetic environment in in meaning. The appears; e.g.differences in comes before and after each sound. list what sounds lead to distinctions in Contrastive Free variations meaning Do minimal pair occur in the same (or similar) the Free variations: same linguistic invironment, no sounds distinction in are their environments complementary? environments, ormeaning. (allophones) /t/ in Not ready & Britain. If same/similar, go to 6. Complementary Different One sound found to position where the other(s) 5. If complementary, goin a 7. phonemes occur and vice versa: the distributionsame Allophones of the of one cannot 6. The soundsthe complement your best guessthe that they're sound is contrast so of the distribution of is phoneme other. (allophones) separate phonemes, and you'd expect to find minimal pit, spit, pairs with more data. 7. The sounds represent allophones of a single phoneme.
/t/and /d/ in time and dime

[l] & [r] in Korean

Are /r/ & /l/ allophones of one or two phonemes?
rupi ruby
kiri

road saram person irmi name ratio radio

mul water pal leg sul Seoul ilkop seven ipalsa barber

*[] is a back unrounded vowel in Korean.

Do they occur in any minimal pairs? Are they in complementary distribution? In what environment does each occur?

More from Korean

son hand

sm sack
Sosl novel sk color us

upper

ihap game ilsu mistake ipsam thirteen inho signal mai delicious

Are [s] and [] allophones of the same phoneme or is each an allophone of a separate phoneme?
There are no minimal pairs that will help to answer

this question. Determine, instead, whether they are in complementary distribution. If they are, state their distribution. If they are not in complementary distribution, state the contrasting environment.

In Czech, there are two alveo-dental stops,[t] and [d], and two palatal stops,[ty] and [dy]. To how many phonemes are these four sounds assignable?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. dej = 'give!' dyedyit = 'to inherit' dyej = 'action' dyelo = 'cannon' kotel = 'kettle' kotye = 'kitten' tedi = 'hence' tele = 'calf (animal)' 9. tyelo = 'body' 10. teta = 'aunt' 11. tikat = 'to be on a firstname basis' 12. titul = 'title' 13. tyikat = 'to tick (clock)' 14. vada = 'flaw' 15. vana = 'bathtub' 16. vata = 'absorbent cotton'

Feature Theory
The idea of DISTINCTIVE FEATURES was first developed by Roman Jacobson (1896-1982) in the 1940s as a means of working out a set of phonological contrasts or oppositions to capture particular aspects of language sounds. Major distinctions
[consonantal] : distinguish between consonants and vowels
[sonorant] distinguishes between what we call OBSTRUENTS

(stops, fricatives and affricates) and SONORANTS (all other consonants and vowels

BINARY FEATURES
features are grouped 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].

Major class features

obstruents vowels glides liquids nasals [consonantal]: produced with major obstruction in the oral cavity [consonental] + + + [vocalic]: vowels and syllabic liquids. [Vocalic] [sonorant]:- all and + only the- singables: vowels, glides, liquids, and nasals [sonarant] examples [p b z ] + [i a] + [j w] + [l r] + [m n]

Laryngeal features
These features represent laryngeal states
[voice]
[spread glottis] This feature distinguishes

unaspirated from aspirated consonants.

[+SG]: aspirated consonants

Place features
Dentals/ alveopalatals Palatals/velars [labial] labials alveolars [rounded] [anterior] + + [coronal]: any sound articulated with the tongue tip or blade raised [coronal] + [anterior]: any sound articulated in front of the alveopalatalbregion d s z n l r ] examples [p m] [t [, t] [k g ] [strident]: the noisy fricatives and affricates

Dorsal features
Features represent placement of the body of the tongue
[High] [Low] [back] [tense]: The tense-lax distinction

Manner features
[+/- continuant] Free or nearly free airflow through the oral cavity:

Vowels Fricatives Glides liquids.

[+/- nasal]: any sound made with the velum lowered. [+/- lateral] All and only varieties of [l] are [+lateral]. [+/- delayed release] This feature distinguishes stops from affricates. Affricate are designated [+dr].

Psychological reality of features

Evidence that features is not only required by the way sounds are conveniently described but also enters directly into the knowledge that speakers have of their language
English plural suffix [s] lips, lists, maniacs, telegraphs [z] clubs, herds, colleagues, holes, gears [iz] places, porches, cabbages, The choice of suffix is governed by the last sound in the word. [iz] if noun eds with [s z sh ch etc], otherwise [s] if ends with [p t k f etc], otherwise [z] Members of each group share features that distinguish the group from all other

sounds in the language. Translated into fature notation, the rule for the English plural suffix reads as follows:
[iz] if noun eds with [+coronal, +strident], otherwise [s] if ends with [+stiff vocal cords, -voice], otherwise [z]

Phonological processes and rules

Phonemic representation will become phonetic form in order for it to be articulated.
This process is rule-governed. /p/ becomes [ph] when it follows the voicess alveolar fricative [s] A B/X___Y, where
A: underlying phonemic representation B: phonetic form

X, Y: conditioning environment
___ : the position of the segment undergoing the rule

: becomes

Assimilation processes
The spreading of phonetic features either in the anticipation or in the perseveration of articulatory processes.
English alveolar nasals becomes bilabial

nasals before a labial stop.

As in /input/--[imput]

 +nasal -labial

+nasal +labial

+consonental / _____ +labial

Segment deletion and addition processes

Delete a /g/ when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. -nasal
sign

signature design designation +velar resign resignation

/ _____ +nasal +alveolar

+voice

Feature addition
a segment has a non-distinctive feature
voiceless stops becomes aspirated at the

beginning of a syllable before a stressed vowel.

Dissimilation
Rules in which a segment becomes less similar to another segment.
Sixthsikst

fifth--fift

Syllable and syllabification

Syllable is a phonological unit composed of a nucleus and its associated non-syllabic segments.
A complete desciption of the internal structure of a

syllable ()requires four subsyllabic units:

The nuclueus(N) : syllables only obligatory member

A vocalic segment that forms the core of a syllable.

The coda (C): those segments following the nucleus in the

same syllable The rhyme (R): is made up the nucleus and coda. The onset (O): is made up of those segments that precede a rhyme in the same syllable.

Procedures of establishing a syllable

Since the syllabic nucleus is the only obligatory constituent of a syllable, it is constructed first.

np

Procedures--2
Onset before codas the longest sequence of consonants to the left of each nucleus.

Procedure--3
Any remaining consonants to the right of each nuclueus form the coda and are linked to a C above them.

NC

Procedure4
Syllables that make up a single form branch out from the representation wd.
Wd

NC

English syllable structure

Please do the following

sprint applaud improvise decline explain applecart