语言学chapter 3 phonology

chapter 3
Chapter 3 Phonology



Aims:

1) To have an understanding of the differences between phonology and phonetics;

2) To let the students know some terms in phonology, such as phoneme, allophone, phonemic contrast, complementary distribution and so on;

3) To be familiar with the distinctive features and some phonological rules;

4) To understand what suprasegmental features are.







1. Phonology and phonetics



Phonology is the study of sound systems—the inventory of distinctive sounds that occur in a language and the patterns into which they fall, how the sound system of a language functions.



Both phonology and phonetics are studies of speech sounds．The two words contain the same root phono-，meaning sounds．But while both are related to the study of sounds，they differ in their approach and focus. As we have seen in the last chapter，phonetics is of a general nature；it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages：how they are produced，how they differ from each other，what phonetic features they possess，how they can be classified，etc. Phonology，on the other hand，is interested in the system of sounds of a particular language；it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication．Thus these two are at once related and distinct branches of linguistic studies.



Phonology, therefore, different from phonetics, is language specific. It deals with speech sounds within the context of a particular language.



2. Phoneme and allophone



Phonology is concerned with the speech sounds which distinguish meaning. So the subtle difference between clear [l] and dark [l] and that between alveolar [n] and dental [n] are not really the concern of phonology, but the difference between [p] and [b] and that between [l] and [m] are because [pi:] (pea) and [bi:] (bee), and [leik] and [meik] are entirely different in meaning. The basic unit in phonology is called phoneme; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. But is an abstract unit. To be exact, a phoneme is not a sound; it is a collection of distinctive phonetic features. In actual speech, a phoneme is realized phonetically as a certain phone. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme.



3. Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution and minimal pair



Phonetically similar sounds might be related in two ways. They might form a contrast if they are two distinctive phonemes，or they do not form a contrast in meaning if they are allophones of the same phoneme. Study the pronunciation of the following words:




Rope[r[Up]，robe［r[Ub］，pin［phin］，bin [bin]，pot［phCt］spot［spCt］



We can see that [ph] and［b］contras each other in initial position，as in pin and bin. Then we find

that they also contrast in final position，as in rope and robe. So we come to the conclusion that /p/ and /b/ can occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning：therefore they are in phonemic contrast. On the other hand，［p］and [ph]never contrast each other. They are two allophones of the same phoneme /p/. They occur in different environmentsThese two allophones of the same phoneme are said to be in complementary distribution.



When confronted with an unfamiliar language，a linguist has，first of all，to find out what are the sounds that convey meaning in that language，namely，the phonemes that form the sound system of that particular language．A basic way to determine the phonemes of language is to see if substituting one sound for another results in a change of meaning. If it does, the two sounds then represent different phonemes. An easy way to do this is to find the minimal pairs. When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to form a minimal pair.



4. Phonological rules



4.1 Sequential rules



There are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language. These rules are called sequential rules. There are many such sequential rules in English. For example, if a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. That is why [ibik] and [ikbi] are impossible combinations in English.



If three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules:



1) the first phoneme must be /s/;



2) the second phoneme must be /p/ or /t/ or /k/;



3) the third phoneme must be /l/ or /r/ or /w/.



This is why all words beginning with a combination of three consonants in English are words like spring, strict, square, splendid, scream.



4.2 Assimilation rules



The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar.



For example, [i:] sound is non-nasalized in such words as tea, peep, flee, it is nasalized in words like bean, green, team and scream. This is because in al these sound combination the [i:] sound is followed by a nasal [n] or [m]. While we are pronouncing the [i:] sound, we are already getting ready to pronounce the subsequent nasal sound. Nasalize a vowel when it is followed by a nasal sound.



4.3 Deletion rule



It tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented.



4.4 Distinctive features



As we have seen from the discussion of IPA symbols in the last chapter; speech sounds are divided up into classes according to a number of properties. One important property is “voicing”, which plays an important part in distinguish obstruents（阻塞音） in English. Because voicing can d

istinguish one phoneme from another, it is a distinctive feature for English obstruents. There are other features too and many of them are binary features. eg, [+voiced] [+nasal] [+round].



5. Suprasegmental features (refer to Poole, 2000: 66)



5.1 Syllable



Syllable is a unit in speech which is often longer than one sound and smaller than a whole word. The syllable consists of three parts: onset, the peak, coda. Every syllable has a nucleus, its power source. This is usually a vowel but it can also be a liquid or nasal consonant as in the second syllable of the word “people” [5pi:pl]. A syllable may consist of nothing but the nucleus, as in the word “owe”, but the nucleus is usually accompanied by at least one consonant.



A preceding consonant or consonant cluster is called an onset and a following.



5.2 Stress



The pronunciation of a word or syllable with more force than the surrounding words or syllables. A stressed word or syllable is produced by using more air from the lungs.



Stress has two main semantic functions:

a. It may distinguish between two words

b. The speaker wishes to emphasize the syllable or word.



Pitch: different rates of vibration of vocal cord caused different pitch. Pitch variations may be distinctive like phonemes.



5.3 Intonation



When pitch, stress and length variations are tied to the sentence rather than to the word, they are collectively known as Intonation. Intonation has four grammatical functions:



First, it may indicate different sentence types by pitch direction.



Second, sometimes the different pitch direction may indicate connotative meanings.



Third, it may impose different structure on the sentence by dividing it into different intonation units.



Fourth, intonation may bring part of a sentence into prominence by placing the nucleus (the major pitch change) on the syllable concerned. Stress, intonation and length can all make a word more prominent than the quality of its component sounds allows. But of the three, intonation is the most effective means while stress is the least, in spite of the erroneous assumption that the sole function of stress is to give emphasis to a word.



Intonation also has attitudinal functions. It may indicate the emotional state of the speaker---whether he is calm or exited, happy or sad.







Exercise:



1. What criteria are used to classify the English consonants and vowels?



2. Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound description:

1) voiced palatal affricate 2) voiceless labiodental fricative 3) voiced alveolar stop

4) front, close, short 5) back, semi-open, long 6) voiceless bilabial stop



3. Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds: [d] [l] [tF] [w] [U] [A ]



4. How do phonetics phonology differ in their focus of study? Who do you think will be mor

e interested in the difference between, say [l] and [l], [] and [ph], a phonetician or a phonologist? Why?



5. Explain with examples the sequential rule, the assimilation rule and the deletion rule.



6. What is the test used for determining phonemes in a language?