Phonology:contrast, complementary distribution

LING 200

Spring 2003

Reading: Files 4.1-4.3

Some acoustic phonetics

b ywaveform

spectrogram

energy

frequency

time

dark bands in spectrogram are ‘formants’ (F1, F2, etc.), characteristic frequencies of resonator (vocal tract shape)

frequency

timeF1

F2

F3b y

voicing

English vowels—an acoustic plotF2

F1

English vowels—an acoustic plotF2

F1

Aspiration in Englishp h y

aspiration

Aspiration in English• The sequence of events in [ph]:

[p] [h] []

lips labial closure apart apart

vocal cords

apart (voiceless)

apart (voiceless)

vibrating (voiced)

Broad vs. narrow transcription

• When should aspiration be included in a transcription of English?

• How much detail should a transcription contain?– Relatively a lot of detail: narrow

• e.g. [kh] ‘cot’ [gt] ‘got’

– Relatively less detail: broad• e.g. [kt] ‘cot’ [gt] ‘got’

Predictable vs. unpredictable information

• List-like information– unpredictable

• e.g. In English, [kæt] – represented in dictionary

• Rule-like information– predictable

• e.g. In English, voiceless stops are aspirated (in one context)

– represented in grammar• e.g. phonological rule of Aspiration

Broadest transcription

• Represents only unpredictable information• Phonemic representation: /kæt/

phonological rules e.g. assign aspiration kh

phonetic representation [khæt]

• Phonemes: the elements of a phonemic representation

When to use broad vs. narrow transcription?

• Typically, transcription is as broad as possible– Symbols in consonant, vowel charts are

phonemes

• In English, transcribe aspiration only in a phonetic study of aspiration

Phonemic vs. phonetic representations

• Phonetic representation– directly observable– contains measurable properties

• Phonemic representation– inferred, not observed– abstract, streamlined representation of sound

Inferring the phonemic representation

• Evidence from:– Minimal pairs/sets (‘contrast’)– Distributional properties of sounds

• When aspects of pronunciation are predictable, due to influence of– Neighboring sound– Position of sound

Minimal pairs• Two words which differ in meaning and along only one

phonetic parameter– A minimal pair for voicing

• [kræbi] vs. [kræpi]

• therefore, /p b/ in English

– A minimal pair for labio-dental vs. interdental place• [n] vs. [fn]

• therefore, / f/ in English

• Minimal pairs – contain phonemes

– are a guide to the phoneme inventory

Minimal sets

• A minimal set for vowel height– [hid]– [hd]– [hed]– [hd]– [hæd]

A near-minimal set

• [tyd]

• [hyd]

• [hwd]

Distributional properties of sounds

• Aspiration in more detail  /p/ /t/ /k/

aspirated [pt] [tt] [kt]

  [yupk]

[yut] [yukn]

unaspirated [spy] [sty] [sky]

  [sp] [rt] [sk]

  [sps] [rts] [sks]

( [ ] = primary stress; [ ] = secondary stress )

Distribution of [ph], [p]

•[by]•[phy]•[spy]•?•=[py]

Distribution of [ph], [p]

[ph] [p]

[pt] [spt]

[yu.pk] [sp]

[sps]

Observation: [ph] occurs at the beginning of a syllable; [p] occurs everywhere else voiceless stops can occur in English

Syllable: grouping of consonants and vowels. 1 syllable words: [rk], [brk], [brks]; 2 syllable word: [kn]. [.] = syllable boundary

Distribution of [ph], [p]

All the places /p/ can occur in English

[phe]

[phle] [ræpt]

[phre] [ræsp]

[spe] [ræps]

[sple] [ræp]

[spre]

Distribution of aspiration

• [p t k] and [p t k] do not contrast– there are no minimal pairs for aspiration

• [p t k] and [p t k] are in complementary distribution; i.e.– the distribution of [ph] complements that of [p]– i.e. [ph] and [p] don’t occur in the same place

• the distribution of aspiration is predictable and can be stated in a rule:– Voiceless stops are aspirated when syllable initial

In English,

Allophones• The pronunciations of phonemes which

contain predictable properties– E.g., [ph] and [p] are allophones of /p/ in

English.

• Phonemic vs. phonetic transcription phonemic phonetic (aspiration transcribed)

/pt/ [pt]/yupk/ [yupk]

/spt/ [spt]

/sp/ [sp]

/sps/ [sps]

Cross-linguistic similarities and differences

• Spoken languages differ– in phoneme inventories– in rules for the pronunciation of phonemes

• Phonological rules usually apply to, are conditioned by– natural classes of sounds

• e.g. Aspiration applies to /p t k/ (all voiceless stops)

• not /p r /

• State of glottis in Hindi

– [] = voiced aspirated palatal affricate

– [ch] = voiceless aspirated palatal affricate

– [] = voiced palatal affricate

– [c] = voiceless palatal affricate

Aspiration in Hindi

Aspiration in Hindi

• [cl] ‘turn’• [chl] ‘bark’• [l] ‘net’• [l] ‘cymbals’

[cl] ‘turn’, [l] ‘net’ are a minimal pair for voicing

[cl] ‘turn’, [chl] ‘bark’ are a minimal pair for aspiration

/ c ch/ are all phonemes in Hindi

Voicing in Mohawk• Iroquoian family; spoken in Quebec, Ontario,

New York

• Observation: [p t k b d g] are all sounds of Mohawk

• Suspicion: there are no minimal or near-minimal pairs for voicing

• Question: Is stop voicing phonemic or predictable?

Mohawk phonetic data

[oli:de] ‘pigeon’ [oy:gl] ‘shirt’

[zhset] ‘hide it!’ (sg.) [ohyotsh] ‘chin’

[g:lis] ‘stocking’ [lbhbet] ‘catfish’

[odhs] ‘tail’ [sdu:h] ‘a little bit’

[wisk] ‘five’ [iks] ‘fly’

[degeni] ‘two’ [desdn] ‘stand up!’ (sg.)

[plm] ‘Abram, Abraham’

[de:zekw] ‘pick it up!’ (sg.)

[V:] = long vowel, [C] = voiceless consonantof interest: [p t k b d g]

Stop distribution

[p] [b]

___l ___ h___e

[t] [d]

e___# i:___e

o___s o___ s___u:

#___e

#___e:

s___[k] [g]

s___# #___ :i___s e___e

e___w :___

# = word edge

Summarized contexts[p t k] [b d g]

___ C ___ V

___ #

[p t k] and [b d g] are in complementary distribution in Mohawk.

Writing the phonological rule

• Which rule?– Mohawk has /p t k/. Voicing: Stops are voiced

before vowels.or?

– Mohawk has /b d g/. Devoicing: Stops are voiceless word finally or before a consonant.

Writing the phonological rule• Choose Voicing. Why?

– Voicing rule is simpler than Devoicing rule• Voicing: “...before vowels.”• Devoicing: “...word finally or before a consonant.”

– If Voicing, then Mohawk consonant inventory contains /p t k/. If Devoicing, then /b d g/. But there are no languages with /b d g/ which lack /p t k/.

• i.e. voiced stops voiceless stops (an implicational universal)

Mohawk consonant inventorylabial alveolar palatal velar glottal

stop p t k

affricate c

fricative s h

nasal n

liquid r

glide w y

Voicing applies to all of the voiceless stops in Mohawk.

Writing the rule

•In Mohawk,

Stops are voiced before vowels.

(sentence formulation)

/p t k/ [b d g] / ___ V

(‘arrow’ notation)