Phonology

1
Phonology

• The function and patterning of sounds

2
Phonology vs. Phonetics

• Phonetics (what weve done so far) how human
  beings produce language sounds
• Phonology
• what sounds each language uses (the sound
  pattern of each language)
• how these sounds are organized into a regular
  system

3
Unconscious Knowledge

• Speakers have unconscious knowledge of the
  phonetic patterns that make up the phonological
  system of their language
• E.g. slish, screnk vs. srish, screpk

4
Task of phonologists

• to discover and describe the systematic phonetic
  patterns found in individual languages
• to discover the general principles that underlie
  the patterning of sounds across all human
  languages

5
Contrasts

• Not all differences between sounds are relevant
  in a language
• A contrast between two sounds in only relevant
  when their presence alone can distinguish forms
  with different meanings
• Examples s and z, as in sip vs. zip
• but not p and ph in spot vs. pot

6
Minimal Pairs

• Minimal pair - two forms with distinct meanings
  that differ by only one segment found in the same
  position in each form
• Examples
• _bet, _pet _van, _fan

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Minimal Pairs

• Spelling doesnt matter, pronunciation does
• b ? ?, bi?? bitch, beach
• ?ri?, ?ru? three, through

8
Phonemes

• When there is a minimal pair for a set of two
  segments, we say those two segments contrast or
  are distinctive
• Segments that contrast are considered separate
  phonemes of a language
• Different languages have different phonemes - two
  segments can be distinctive in one language, but
  not in another

9
Language-Specific Contrasts

• English vs. Turkish

10
Language-Specific Contrasts

• Japanese and Finnish
• ? ia a postalveolar flap

11
Canadian Raising

• Compare the diphthongs aj and ?j

12
Allophones

• H2O
• Tlt0oC 0oltTlt100oC Tgt100oC

13
Allophones

• Depending on its environment, H2O can be liquid
  water, ice, or vapor
• The same thing happens with phonemes they can
  take different forms depending on their
  environment
• These different forms are called allophones of
  the phoneme

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Allophones

• /p/
• ph p p-
• pot spot stop
• beginning middle end

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Phonemes vs. Allophones

• Phonemes are distinctive
• Allophones are not distinctive and their
  distribution is predictable