More fun with phonology

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More fun with phonology
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Phonological rules

• Mapping between phonemes (mental entities) and
  allophones (physical entities).
• Part of a speakers knowledge of his or her
  language.
• Discussed in File 4.2

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Structure of phonological rules

• Phonemic form
• Rules
• Phonetic form

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An example

• The data pin phIn, pine phayn, spin spIn,
  spinespayn
• /p/ is pronounced as
• ph at the beginning of a word
• p after s

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Another example

• The data tone thon, tine thayn, stone
  ston, stein stayn
• /t/ is pronounced as
• th at the beginning of a word
• t after s

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Yet another example

• The data cone khon, cane khen, scone skon,
  skein sken
• /k/ is pronounced as
• kh at the beginning of a word
• k after s

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Can we unify these three rules?

• What do the phonemes /p/, /t/, and /k/ have in
  common?

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Can we unify these three rules?

• What do the phonemes /p/, /t/, and /k/ have in
  common?
• /p/ voiceless bilabial stop
• /t/ voiceless alveolar stop
• /k/ voiceless velar stop
• All voiceless stops
• /p/, /t/, and /k/ form a natural class.

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Natural class

• A group of sounds in a language that share one
  or more articulatory or auditory property, to the
  exclusion of all other sounds in that language.

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• Natural classes are defined by
• the articulatory properties we have discussed
• For consonants voicing, place of articulation,
  manner of articulation
• For vowels height, tongue advancement, lip
  rounding, tenseness

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• Natural classes can also be defined by
• Property of obstructing airflow
• Obstruents produced with narrow constriction and
  obstruct airflow (stops, fricatives, affricates)
• Sonorants produced with a relatively open vocal
  tract (vowels, glides, liquids, nasals)

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Types of phonological rules

• Seven major types
• Assimilation process that causes a sound to
  become more like a neighboring sound
• Dissimilation process that causes a sound to
  become less like a neighboring sound
• Insertion process by which a segment not present
  at the phonemic level is inserted at the phonetic
  level
• Metathesis process by which the order of sounds
  is changed
• Strengthening (fortition) process by which a
  sound is made stronger
• Weakening (lenition) process by which a sound is
  made weaker

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Types of phonological rules

• Seven major types
• Assimilation process that causes a sound to
  become more like a neighboring sound

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• Dissimilation process that causes a sound to
  become less like a neighboring sound

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• Insertion process by which a segment not present
  at the phonemic level is inserted at the phonetic
  level

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• Metathesis process by which the order of sounds
  is changed

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• Strengthening (fortition) process by which a
  sound is made stronger

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• Weakening (lenition) process by which a sound is
  made weaker

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Notes on Phonological Rules

• More than one rule can apply to a phonemic form
  to produce a phonetic form.
• Some rules are obligatory others are optional.