Module 5 Sounds Systems PDF

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Summary

Notes for the module 5 lecture for SPTH1506 at Flinders University. Includes detailed information about sound systems:
- phonology
- sound variations
- distributions of sounds
- distinctive features between sounds
- difference between phonetics and phonology...

Description

SOUND SYSTEMS PHONOLOGY The sound systems of a language and patterns of sounds that occur in a language Psychological aspect as opposed to phonetics which is a physical aspect of sounds looking at the kinds of differences in sounds that create differences in meaning. Key points are phoneme, minimal pairs and allophones. meaningful units are called phonemes. Phonology is the study of the way that sounds are organised in a language. The description of the systems and patterns of sounds that occur in a language (and in language varieties. Eg. Australian English or the speech of an individual). Involves the study of variations between the sounds of a language to find our with sounds are distinctive (convey a difference in meaning) TYPES OF VARIATION Phones: physical units of sound produced by speech organs (are also considered as the variations of a phoneme) The variation of a phoneme are the phonetic variations. - Eg. /t/ in ton, stun and bet. [t^hɐn, stɐn, bet ] Variations of /t/ (phoneme) are called allophones (collectively). Free variation: Variation from one repetition to another – never actually pronouncing the same word in the EXACT same way every time. Eg. Tongue in slightly different position each time. Also, r or ɹ. /bɐtə/ buter or /bɐɾə/ buda. Doesn’t change the meaning of the word Individual variation: From one speaker to another. Personal and dialectal. Positional variation: Variation according to position. Variation is predictable. Written the same but said differently. For example /l/ and /p/. fixed. Contrastive Variation: variation which changes meaning - Eg. Crick and creek, pit and bit, lord and sword. Minimal pairs: words that differ by just one sound and have different meanings. Commutation: method of finding minimal pairs in a language Phonemes: contrastive segments. Basic speech sound segments that contrast with each other in a particular language to change word meanings. About 40 phonemes in Australian English the consonants and vowels. Abstract mental objects and have no physical reality (part of a speaker/listener’s code in their head). Mental and social construct – like the rules. You can’t identify a single sound and say that it is a phoneme, rather it is sets of sounds that we view in effect, as behaving as if they are the same sound. We work out which sounds belong to each group by discovering minimal paires. Allophones: the variation in the physical expression of a phoneme as a phone (a phonetic speech sound) according to its position or context. - Eg. /t/ - t^h (tooth), t (step), ɾ (buda) (Intrinsic allophones: phonetically motivated. Can see the phonetic reason why they would occur. - /l/ has the allophones {l, ɫ] (extrinsic allophones – no apparent phonetic reason for that) - Example allophones of /t/: [t ʰ, t and t ] Distribution: lists of contexts in which a given sound may occur Complementary distribution: if two sounds never occur in the same environment they are in complementary distribution. - Eg. You only never get the clear l at the end of a syllable and you never get a dark l at the beginning of a syllable. - Example: lucy like salty meals. In both cases the blade of the tongue is touching the alveolar ridge however for clear [l] the body of the tongue runs down and back (as in a front vowel) but for the dark [l] the body of the tongue is higher shaped like a high back vowel. Parallel distribution: if two sounds may occur in the same environment they are in parallel distribution. Means we can establish the difference between two phonemes (when we don’t have minimal pairs and know that they are not allophones of the same phoneme) by examining the distribution of these phonemes – start looking at the positions in which these sounds occur.

Example: ‘teeth’ and ‘liege’ we know that /th/ and /zsh/ occur after the vowel/ee/. We can therefore safely assume that both of these differ when it is preceded by a vowel in the same environment. All sounds in contrastive distribution are also in parallel distribution. However, parallel distribution need not occur in contrastive distribution as well. Parallel distribution is less likely to find a minimal pair than contrastive distribution. -

Phonetic transcription is made in [ ] and phonemic transcription is in / / Differences between phonetics and phonology: - Phonetics is the physical sound - Phonology deals with the mental construct in our minds - Phonetics open to a wide range of physical variation - Phonology is a small closed set of elements - Phonetics is universal everyone can make the same basic sounds - Phonology is very specific – language or individual - Phonetics is orientated to how sounds are produced and perceived - Phonology is how speech sounds are used to communicate meaning in a language

PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES Sets of attributes for phonemes that describe the various components that go together to constitute the phoneme. Distinctive features: features that serve to distinguish one phoneme from another. Initial allophone of /p/ is [p^h] aspirated p in pill. In the initial position it is the aspiration that makes the difference between p and b. Binary: assumed that the speaker/listener makes a series of two-way decision. It it this or this. When listening the brain has to make the following decisions for a phoneme: - consonantal? - Sonorant? - Nasal? - Labial?/ place of articulation There are a smaller number of features than phonemes

Voicing is binary Nasality is binary place basic pairs used: anterior and coronal: - + anterior: articulated at or in front of the alveolar ridge - +coronal: articulated with the blade of the tongue raised above its neutral position. - +strident: high frequency noise, whistly component eg. Sz,sh,zsh Manner: - +sonorant:carrying a greater amount of sound or produced with relatively free airflw (spproximants, laterals, nasals) - -sonorant: blockage somewhere in vocal tract, obstructing passage of air from the lungs (stops, fricatives, affricates - +continuant: no complete blockage in the mouth (fricatives, approximants) - -continuant: blockage in the mouth (stops and nasals) Consonants and vowels: - +consonantal: constriction in the vocal tract (stops, nasals, fricatives, affricates - -consonantal: no constriction in the vocal tract (vowels, approximants, liquids)

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+syllabic – functions as the nucleus of the syllable (all vowels) -syllabic- doesn’t function as syllable nucleus (all consonants) nasals and lateals can be converted to +syllabic.

Vowels: - High +high -low - Mid -high -low - Low Tongue advancement - Front - Central - Back...