Cours LNG 1400A: Règles de dérivation

Introduction to LNG 1400A Course

• The course is titled LNG 1400A and covers Derivation Rules.
• Upcoming assignment: TP2 due next week.

Linguistic Analysis

• Vowel and consonant sounds contrast in certain positions (e.g., intervocalic).
• Consonant contrasts are absent in obstruent groups. Obstruents consistently cooccur with those of the same voicing.
• Alternations in past morphemes indicate a process.
• Neutralization of some contrasts in past tense contexts.
• The past tense form /dǝ/ is confirmed by logical analysis.

Background

• Modern phonology frequently employs sub-phonemic levels for representation.
• Distinctive features, used since the last century, remain common.
• These features have evolved in their definitions (acoustic vs. articulatory aspects, binary vs. scalar values).
• The system used is simplified for French distinctions.
• Differences with other systems are disregarded.

Usage

• Features are employed for phonemic representation and phonological process formalisms.
• Phonemes lack pronunciation until fully "spelled-out" in a phonetic module.
• The concept of a set of features (e.g., "plosive coronal non-voiceless") effectively defines sound properties.

Motivation

• Distinctive features are valuable when observing natural classes (similar sound behaviours).
• These behaviours, broadly similar across languages, can be represented by parameters that are usually minimal.
• Vowel inventories are frequently encountered in balanced ways (e.g., in certain contexts), but not in others.
• This is also seen in consonant inventories.

Motivation (continued)

• Features offer a practical means for representing sound classes with similar behaviours, across languages.
• The behaviour of sound classes and phonological operations often exhibit regularity linked to parameterization.
• Feature settings can provide a minimal description for sound inventories.

Motivation (continued)

• Phonological classes and processes can often be reduced to basic sets of fundamental parameters, or feature types.

Properties

• Acoustic and articulatory correlates are often tied to linguistic features (traits).
• These features are frequently represented as binary (positive/negative).
• Trait matrices (sets of features) are not best displayed on single lines.
• Using word processors (like Word) can aid in creating/editing the matrices

Major Classes

• [vocaliques]: Vowel degree of constriction (vowels and /i/)
• [consonantique]: presence of obstruction (plosives, fricatives, nasals, liquids (/l/,/r/); vowels & semi-vowels
• [sonantique]: naturality of spontaneous voicing (vowels, semi-vowels, liquids, nasals; plosives, fricatives).

Modes & Diversification

• [continu]: airflow in the oral cavity (fricatives, liquids, semi-vowels, vowels, plosives, nasals).
• [nasal]: airflow via nasal cavities (nasal consonants , nasal vowels).
• [voisé]: vocal cord vibration (voiced consonants, voiced vowels).
• [arrondi]: lip rounding (rounded vowels, rounded consonants).

Vocal Traits

• [antérieur]: anterior vowels (anterior vs. posterior & central vowels).
• [postérieur]: posterior vowels (posterior vs. anterior & central vowels).
• [haut]: high vowels (high vs. mid & low vowels).
• [bas]: low vowels (low vs. high & mid vowels).
• [tendu]: tense vowels (tense vs. lax vowels).

Consonant Traits

• [coronal]: tongue body position (coronal vs. non-coronal consonants)
• [antérieur]: anterior position (anterior vs posterior consonants)
• [postérieur]: posterior position (posterior vs anterior consonants).
• [strident]: strident sounds (strident vs. non-strident sounds).
• [fermé]: closed configuration (closed- vs open-configuration position).

B&N p. 92 Distinct Consonant Place Traits

• Bilabial: [-ant, -post, -cor, -str].
• Labiodental: [+ant, -post, -cor, +str].
• Dental: [+ant, -post, +cor].
• Alveolar: [-ant, -post, +cor]
• Velar: [-ant, +post, -cor, +fermé]
• Uvular: [-ant, +post, -cor, -fermé]

Comments

• Most features are relatively straightforward.
• Focus on common feature groups for better recall.
• Pay attention to exceptions or tricky cases (e.g., nasals being non-continuous).
• Vowels, like mid vowels, and central vowels have specific traits.

Example Ex. 1

• Example exercise asking for traits representation of sounds with possible multiple answers.

Example Ex.2

• Example exercise asking to represent sounds/sound classes using a traits matrix, but excluding other sounds not in the French language phoneme set. Includes answers.

Principles Introduction

• Derivations are formalisms emerging around generative phonological theory.
• They function as tools to analyze and describe sound operations.

General Format

• Describes a general structure for representing phonological rules. A (segment undergoing change), B (the change or modification), C (preceding context), and D (subsequent or following context)
• Features change, but it's important to understand the context.

Example of a Phonological Rule (Example)

• Example showcasing how to apply a phonological rule and the outcome, with some linguistic entities specified.

Practice Exercises (Examples)

• Rules (Examples) on how to convert descriptions to phonological rules.

Epenthesis

• Introduction to the insertion of segments between other sounds.
• Rules and examples are presented
• Instructions and examples are given on how to form a phonological rule.

Elision (Exercise)

• Explanation of segment deletion (elision) rules.
• Examples and instructions are presented for creating phonological rules accounting for elided segments.

Application Exercise

• Provides an application example (Nuu-chah-nulth language) on using rules with examples of possible answers and an explanation.

Advice to Students

• Use exclusion when describing contexts and segments of sounds/words.
• Use grouping / categories to organize analysis.
• Do not include features not relevant or absent in the analysis language.

Ce quiz couvre les règles de dérivation dans le cadre du cours LNG 1400A. Il traite également de l'analyse linguistique des sons vocaliques et consonantiques, ainsi que des alternances dans les morphèmes du passé. Préparez-vous pour l'évaluation TP2 à rendre la semaine prochaine.