Phonetics and Phonology
Lecture 8: Phonetics and phonology, phonemeand allophone, distinctive features
KAMIYAMA, [email protected]
Phonemes in different languages
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 83
Phonemes in different languages• In a given language, you can make list of the
phonemes that make up a phonological systemof the language.
• In English:• /p b t d k g f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h tʃ dʒ m n ŋ r l j
w/• /iː ɜː ɑː ɔː uː ɪ e æ ʌ ɒ ʊ ɪə eə ʊə eɪ aɪ ɔɪ aʊʊə/
• The choice and the boundary of phonemes maybe different from one language to another: e.g.French does not have the same system.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 84
Nasalized vowels and nasal vowels inEnglish and French
• In English, oral [æ] in /kæt/ and nasal [æ̃] in/kæn/ are allophones of the phoneme /æ/.
• But to French speakers, they sound differently.In French /ɛ/ and /ɛ̃/ are different phonemes:minimal pair /pɛ/ and /pɛ̃/.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 85
French /ʁ/• In French there are various realizations
(allophones) of /ʁ/• [pɔʀ]• [pɔʁ]• [pɔχ]• [pɔr]• [pɔɹ]• [pɔː(ə)]
• -> /pɔʁ/ « port »
• [ʀ ʁ χ r ɹ Vː(ə)]are all allophonesof the phoneme /ʁ/in French.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 86
• 1. « s’est effondré »• 2. « s’est absenté »• 3. « être déçu »
In Moroccan Arabic, however …
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 87
In Moroccan Arabic, however …
• 1. /rab/ « s’est effondré »• 2. /ʁab/ « s’est absenté »• 3. /χab/ « être déçu »
-> /r/, /ʁ/, and /!/ are 3 different phonemes2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 8
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In English …
• In the onset of a stressed syllable, you have[p] after /s/ (as in [speɪs]), and [pʰ] in othercontexts (as in [pʰeɪs]): the two allophones ofthe phoneme /p/, namely [p] and [pʰ] are incomplementary distribution.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 89
In Korean …
• [paŋ] “bread”• [pʰaŋ] “bang” (onomatopoeia)
• /p/ and /pʰ/ are two different phonemes inKorean, unlike in English and in French.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 810
Summary
• Two sounds (or “phones”: to betranscribed between [ ] square brackets)may correspond to two allophones of thesame phoneme in one language, and totwo different phonemes in another.
2. Phonetics and phonology
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 812
Phonetics and phonology
• Both phoneticians and phonologists studyspeech sounds of human languages.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 813
Phonetics and phonology: in thestructuralist tradition
• Phonetics dealswith concretephysicalrealizations ofspeech sounds(articulatory,acoustic, andperceptualcharacteristics).
• Phonology dealswith the soundsystem oflanguages: howphonemes function,how they are used ina given language.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 814
Some examples of topics treated inphonetics and phonology
• Phonetics deals withconcrete physicalrealizations: word-final /l/ in RP is“dark” (articulatory,acoustic, perceptualcharacteristics). It isnot the case inFrench.
• Phonology dealswith the soundsystem oflanguages: /l m n ŋ r/can be the nucleus(peak) of syllables inEnglish. It is not thecase in French.
3. Some tools of phonology:natural class and distinctive
feature analysis
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 816
Natural class
• The consonants of English can be groupedinto some groups according to theirbehaviours in the language.
• - /l m n ŋ r/ can be nucleus (peak) of syllable
• - Others cannot.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 817
Natural class: some otherexamples
• The vowels /i y u/ in Canadian French showcommon behaviours, unlike others.
• They may be devoiced.• They are realized as lax allophones [ɪ ʏ ʊ] in
closed syllables.• - /i y u/ form a natural class of high vowels.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 818
Distinctive features• Theory formalized first by Roman Jakobson.
• Phonemes should be regarded:not as independent and indivisible unitbut instead as combinations of different binaryfeatures (+ or -).
• A distinctive feature makes it possible todistinguish phonemes.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 819
Distinctive features: some examples
• /p b m f v/ are all labial consonants: one orboth lips are involved. -> [+ labial]
• /b d g v ð z ʒ dʒ/ are all voiced. -> [+ voice]
• /f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h/ are fricatives: the airstreamis not blocked completely and flows outcontinuously. -> [+ continuant]
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 820
Distinctive features: some examples
• Phonemes are represented in terms ofcombination of features.
• /v/ [+continuant, +voice, +labial]• /p/ [-continuant, -voice, +labial]• /g/ [-continuant, +voice, +velar]• /k/ [-continuant, -voice, +velar]
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 821
Distinctive features• With 1 binary feature, we can distinguish 2
phonemes at most (2 = 21).
+-[voice]
dt
• With 2 binary feature, we can distinguish 4phonemes at most (4 = 22: “two squared”).
++--[labial]+-+-[voice]
bpdt
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 822
Distinctive features• With 3 binary features, we can distinguish 8
phonemes at most (8 = 23: “two cubed”, or“two to the third power”).
++++----[continuant]
++--++--[labial]
+-+-+-+-[voice]
vfzsbpdt
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 823
Distinctive features• In reality, it is not always perfectly economical
(or efficient).
• To distinguish the 24 consonants and the 20vowels of English, we need more than 5 (cf.32 = 25) features respectively.
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 824
A distinctive feature analysis of the English consonantsystem
Spencer (1996)
2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 825
A distinctive feature analysis ofthe English vowel system
Roach (1991)2017-2018 T. Kamiyama Phonetics and Phonology Lecture 8
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Application of features
• In generative phonology, we explain soundchanges with rules involving features.
• /kæn/ [kæ ̃n]• [-consonantal] -> [+nasal] / _ [+nasal]• Vowels ([-cons]) become nasal ([+nasal]) in
the following context (/): before a nasal.