Chapter 4: Phonology…
…not the study of telephones!
NOTES:
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The slides/lecture/discussion for this chapter deviate from the order of the
book… You WILL need to read, you decide to read early, late or both…
About exercising: it keeps you healthy: physically & mentally…
Kinds of Sound Change
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Assimilation
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Nasalization
Voicing
Flapping
Dissimilation
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(become more alike)
Metathesis
Epenthesis // Intrusion
(become less alike)
(shift sounds around)
(add a sound)
Other
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Elision // Deletion
Vowel Reduction
(take a sound away)
(shorten or ‘schwa’ a sound)
Kinds of Sound Change
Sound Safari
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Find example words for one
subcategory of each type of
sound change in the previous slide
Hand me the examples highlighting
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IPA for “careful” vs. “fast-casual” speech
Explanation of the change in terms of
natural classes
Answer: Is the created sound always
allophonic, or sometimes phonemic
Phonemes
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Formal Definition:
Sounds that are heard distinctively by
native speakers of a language
Dave’s Translation:
Sound that make meaningful
differences in a language
What word do you get…
…if you delete the first sound of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do sounds
1, 2, 3, &/or 4
test for
phonological
awareness?
On Being Distinctive
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AKA Contrastive … AKA Phonemic
Minimal pairs
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You tell me:
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Standard spelling for each of the above…
More minimal pairs…
What’s This?
Allophones
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Formal Definition:
Sounds that are NOT heard distinctively
by native speakers of a language
Dave’s Translation:
Sounds that DO NOT make meaningful
differences in a language
Aspiration
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Hold a paper in front of your mouth
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Say “pot” and “poke”
Then “spot” and “spoke”
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Does the paper move differently?
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Phonemes & Allophones
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Minimal Pairs  phonemic distinction
- Allophones (in English)
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(sit, sing)
Phonetically distinct, phonologically same
Complementary distribution
Other Language:
Phonemic or allophonic?
Phonological Principles
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Ideal vs. Realization
Largely subconscious
Universals exist
Rule governed
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Rules can be formalized
Rules can be generalized
Rules must be ordered…
To Formalize
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Phoneme –Allophone Illustration
Underlying form
Surface form
Phonological Rule
Explain the Rule…
What type of change is this?
In Simpler Words
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A  B / C __ D
A becomes B when it comes
between C and C
We typically use features for A, B, C and D…
For shorthand we may sometimes use segments instead…
Rules & Allophones
Get Some Exercise
Yes, [h] and [?] are phonemic.
Both appear at the beginning & between vowels…
Any Questions…
…before we move on?
(…breathe, stretch, move around…)
Natural Classes
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Sounds that share feature(s) and
behave similarly in phonology
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Consonants
+ Stop
+ Voice
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- Stop
- Voice
Vowels
+ High
+ Back
- High
- Back
Natural Classes: Exercise
Natural Classes: Answers
Challenge: Find the rest… (there are at least 12)
Get Some Exercise
More Exercise…
Any Questions…
…before we move on?
Phonological Units
Features
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The atoms of phonology
Building blocks of sound
Key to understanding (most) variation
Binary distinction (+/-)
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You’ve either got it, or you don’t…
Any Questions…
…before we move on?
Possible English Words?
Syllable
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Book’s Definition:
A unit of linguistic structure that consists of a
syllabic element and any segments that are
associated with it
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Dave’s Interpretation:
A potentially independent group of sounds
that sticks closely together
Syllabic Recipe
sprint
σ
Onset (O)
Rhyme (R)
Nucleus (N)
Coda (Co)
NOTE: Only the Nucleus is required…
Sequence Constraints
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(Phonotactic
Constraints)
Formal Definition:
The set of constraints on how
sequences of segments pattern
Dave’s Interpretation:
Rules on which sounds can be next to
each other (≈ in a syllable)
Sequence Constraints
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Different languages = Different rules
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English
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V, VC, CV, CVC, CCV, etc…
≠
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Spanish
≠ Onset = [sk], [st], [sp]
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Japanese
≠ “C” as coda, except [n]
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Explain Spanish or Japanese constraints in
terms of natural classes…
Whaddya Know…
… about syllable constraints
in another language?
Don’t Get Stressed Out…
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Primary and Secondary Stress
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Separate Words
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Whíte hóuse
Single Concept
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= Separate Stress
= Related Stress
Whíte Hòuse
Multi-syllable words
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Stress varies
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http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/tn24/wordstress/wstresstext.html
Syllablabic Interventions…
Sentence Level Stress
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Stress Content Words
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N, V, Adj, Adv
Not function words
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Det, Aux Vs, Conj’s, Pronouns, Prepositions
Any Questions…
…before we move on?
Try It: The Plural Suffix
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Orthography:
-s or -es
Phonetic:
Sort the following phonetically:
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tack, tag, torch, cough, cup, dish, dress,
grave, graph, hat, house, hunch, judge,
lad, lash, lathe, maze, room, tax, thing
Why?
(i.e. What are the rules?)
tack
cough
cup
graph
hat
tag
grave
lad
lathe
room
thing
torch
dish
dress
house
hunch
judge
lash
maze
tax
3 Rules
Plural Rules:
Any Questions…
…before we move on?
…only two slides left…
Cross-linguistic Variation
For “Tomorrow”
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Quiz
Exercises
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Yes, they’re a good idea…
4-1, 4, 8, 15
Teacher-focused, but also good:
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4-18, 19, 20, 22