Phonology PDF

Phonology: Studies how sounds function in a given language, deals with phonic substance (Human vocal sounds). Is concerned with how sounds are systematically organised in a language, how they are combined to form words, how they are categorised by and interpreted in the minds of the speakers. Studie...

Phonology: Studies how sounds function in a given language, deals with phonic substance (Human vocal sounds). Is concerned with how sounds are systematically organised in a language, how they are combined to form words, how they are categorised by and interpreted in the minds of the speakers. Studies the sound system of one or several Languages. Phonemes: The smallest units of sound capable of bringing about a change in Meaning. Allophones: The different realisations/variations of a phoneme. They don’t bring about a change in meaning. Phonemic symbols: Characters used in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent individual sounds in written form. Each symbol corresponds to a distinct sound in human speech. Phonetics: Studies how sounds are produced, is concerned with the description of his phonic substance, this description covers 3 aspects: ❖ How sounds are produced by the speaker (Articulatory phonetics). ❖ How sounds are transmitted in the form of sound waves (Acoustic phonetics). ❖ How sounds are perceived by the listener (Auditory phonetics). The speech mechanism: The entire speech apparatus is made up of a series of organs and cavities that form a passage from the lungs to the lips and nostrils (The vocal tract, the section extending from the larynx upwards). ➔ Functions: Production of sounds, eating and breathing. ➔ Organs of speech: Lungs, larynx, cavities and articulators. Articulators: Parts of the vocal tract that are used to produce speech sounds. These are the organs or structures that shape and modify the airflow from the lungs to create different phonetic sounds. The 7 main articulators: ★ Pharynx: Is the tube which begins just above the larynx, and at the top end it is divided into 2; one part is the back of the oral cavity and the other the beginning of the way through the nasal cavity. ★ Soft Palate (Velum): The air passes through the nose and mouth. Often in speech it is raised so that the air cannot escape through the nose. Can be touched by the tongue. ★ Hard palate: Also called "roof of the mouth," has a smooth curved surface you can feel with your tongue. ★ Alveolar ridge: Is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. Its surface is much rougher than it feels and is covered with little ridges. Sounds made with the tongue touching this area are called alveolar. ★ Tongue: Is a versatile articulator, divided into parts: tip, blade, front, back, and root. These divisions help describe its different roles in speech production. ★ Teeth: Immediately behind the lips, upper and lower, in the front of the mouth and to the sides of it. The tongue contacts the upper side teeth for most sounds. Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. ★ Lips: They can be pressed together, brought into contact with the teeth, or rounded to produce the lip-shape for vowels like U: sounds, in which the lips are in contact with each other (This action is called bilabial, and those with lip to teeth contact are called labiodental). Articulators above the larynx: The sounds that we make when speaking are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in the chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for all speech sounds. For the muscles in the larynx, the air goes through the vocal tract which ends at the mouth and nostrils, and the air escapes into the atmosphere. Larynx: Muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. Vocal tract: After passing through the larynx, the air goes through the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Oral cavity: Part comprising the mouth. Nasal cavity: Part that leads to the nostrils. Vowels: A speech sound that has no particular obstruction or obstacle to the airflow as it passes from the larynx to the lips. Differ mainly by tongue shape and position. Specifically, we consider the vertical distance between the tongue and the palate and which part of the tongue (front or back) is raised highest. Cardinal vowels are represented in [square brackets]. Vowels are classified in terms of: Quantity/length (Short and long) and quality. Opening between the jaws: Narrow, medium and wide. Tongue height: Open, close, half-close and half-open. Parts of the tongue raised highest: Front, central and back. Lip position: Spread (The corners of the lips are moved away from each other, lips in a smile, e.g. cardinal vowel [i]), neutral (Lips are neither rounded nor spread, as in the hesitation sound "er.") and rounded (The corners of the lips are brought towards each other and the lips pushed forward, e.g., cardinal vowel [u]). Muscular tension: Tense or lax. Short vowels: A vowel sound that is typically pronounced for a shorter duration, short vowels are usually produced with less tension and a more centralised tongue position. They often occur in stressed syllables but can also appear in unstressed syllables. There are 6 short vowels. Long vowels: A vowel sound that is pronounced for a longer duration, long vowels are often held longer and can differ in quality. Long vowels are typically indicated with a length mark (ː) in phonetic transcriptions. There are 5 short vowels. Vowel. Tongue Part of Lip Muscular Opening Distribution. height. the position. tension. between tongue the jaws. raised highest. ɪ Close. Between Neutral. The From Complete. front and tongue is narrow to Initial: central. lax. Laxer medium. enjoy, than /i:/. image. Mid: milk, built. Final: lady, tiny. e Between Front. Slightly Medium. Incomplete. half-close spread. Initial: and effort, else.  half-open. Mid: Thames, breath. Final: --- æ Just below Front. Neutrally From Incomplete. half-open Open. medium to Initial: axe, and open wide. add. position. Mid: balcony, plait. Final: --- ʌ Just above Central. Neutrally Wide. Incomplete. the open open. Initial: fully open uncle, position. upper. Mid: won, blood. Final: --- ɒ Between Back. Slightly From Incomplete. half-open rounded. medium to Initial: odd, and open wide. orange. position. Mid: lock, cough. Final: ---- Just above Between Closely Medium. Complete. ʊ the back but loosely half-close and rounded. position. central (Nearer to the centre than the back, back advanced). i: Close. Front. Spread. Tense. From Complete. Tenser narrow to Initial: than /ɪ/. medium. eagle, easy. Mid: teapot, machine. Final: key, sea/see. ɜ: Between Central. Neutral. Narrow. Complete. half-close Initial: and earth, err. half-open. Mid: first, curl. Final: purr, fur. ɑ: Fully Between Neutral. From Complete.  open. centre and medium to Initial: aunt, back. wide. ask. Mid: pass, clerk. Final: far, spa. ɔ: Between Back. Between Medium. Complete. half-close open and Initial: and close lip ought, all. half-open. rounding. Mid: born, broad. Final: more, four. u: Close. Back. Closely Tense. From Complete. rounded Tenser narrow to Initial: lips. medium. ooze, than /ʊ/. oodles (rarely found in initial position). Mid: rude, juice. Final: shoe, blew/blue. Weak forms: Are reduced pronunciations of words in unstressed positions. They often involve: Vowel reduction, unstressed usage (Weak forms appear in function words like articles, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs when these words are not emphasised) and simplified consonants. Examples: ❖ "Can": /kæn/ (strong) vs. /kən/ (weak). ❖ "The": /ðiː/ (strong) vs. /ðə/ (weak). ❖ "Have": /hæv/ (strong) vs. /həv/ (weak). Strong forms: Are full, stressed pronunciations of words used for emphasis or in stressed positions. They often involve: Full vowel quality (Vowels are pronounced clearly without reduction), stressed position (Used in emphasised or focal positions, often for content words like nouns and verbs) and distinct consonants (Consonants are articulated clearly). Which words have weak and strong forms: Prepositions, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, pronouns, possessives adj., possessives pronouns, conjunctions and articles. Which words only have strong: Nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Situations where weak forms become strong forms: The end of the sentence, auxiliary or modal substitutes or includes the main verb, negatives. The strong forms are used in the following cases: When the word is in final position (E.g. “of”: Swimming is what I’m fond of), when a word is being contrasted with another word (E.g. He likes her but does she like him?, a similar case is what might be called a coordinated use of function words: a work of and about literature), when a word is being emphasised (e.g. you must give me the money), when a word is being cited or quoted (e.g. you shouldn’t put “and” at the end of a sentence) and finally, when a word is stranded = Is between pauses (e.g. I love chocolate, and, honestly, who doesn’t?). Schwa: The schwa (ə) is an unstressed, neutral sound that appears in many words, especially in weak syllables. It is pronounced with a relaxed tongue and lips in the middle of the mouth, without any tension or emphasis. Examples of schwa sound in words:  ➔ About (The first syllable). ➔ Sofa (The second syllable). ➔ Banana (The second syllable). The schwa can be represented by different vowel letters in writing, but its sound is always the same, like a quick, weak "uh" sound. It's important in English because it helps maintain the rhythm of speech, especially in unstressed syllables. Diphthongs: There are 8 diphthongs, sounds that glide from one vowel to another. Unlike pure vowels, which stay constant, diphthongs shift slightly at the end. Typically, the first part of a diphthong is longer and louder, while the final glide is shorter and softer. Diphthongs can be organised into 3 groups: ★ Centring diphthongs glide toward the ə (schwa) sound: ɪə (e.g., beard, weird): Starts closer than ɪ in bit. eə (e.g., aired, scarce): Begins more open than e in get. ʊə (e.g., moored, lure): Starts like ʊ in put, though some speakers use ɔː instead. ★ Closing diphthongs glide towards a closer vowel. 3 glide towards ɪ: eɪ (e.g., paid, face): Starts like e in get. aɪ (e.g., tide, nice): Begins with an open, central sound similar to ʌ in cut. ɔɪ (e.g., void, voice): Starts slightly more open than ɔː in ought. ★ 2 diphthongs glide toward ʊ, involving a subtle lip-rounding as the tongue moves closer to the roof of the mouth: əʊ (e.g., load, home): Starts in the ə position (like the first sound in about) with slight rounding toward ʊ. aʊ (e.g., loud, house): Begins with an open vowel like a; the glide to ʊ involves minimal lip rounding, and the tongue often doesn't fully reach the ʊ position. Triphthongs: Triphthongs are complex vowel sounds that glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, pronounced quickly and without interruption. For example, in the word hour, the pronunciation starts with a sound similar to aː, glides to ʊ, and ends with ə (schwa). Triphthongs are essentially closing diphthongs followed by ə. They can be difficult to pronounce and recognize because the vowel movement is often minimal, especially in casual speech. Some triphthongs are felt as one syllable (e.g., fire/faɪə/), while others, like player/pleɪə/, are perceived as 2 syllables. Examples include: əʊə (e.g., lower, mower). eɪə (e.g., layer, player). aɪə (e.g., liar, fire). aʊə (e.g., power, hour). Consonants: Sounds in which the airflow is obstructed by one or more structures in the vocal tract. Can be described according to: 1. Force of articulation: It refers to the force made by the muscles and the force to release the air-stream. Fortis (Strong): Require a more forcefully expelled airstream (They are voiceless sounds). Lenis (Weak): Require a less forcefully expelled airstream than the Fortis (They are voiced). 2. Place of articulation (Exact place in the vocal tract where there is an obstruction to the air flow): It refers to where the consonants are produced and when articulators are used.  Bilabial: The lips are Labiodental: The lower lip Glotal: Use the glottis as pressed together, both are is in contact with the upper their primary articulation. used to form a closure. teeth. The narrowing that produces the friction is Alveolar: The tongue blade Dental: The tongue is between the vocal folds. is pressed against the normally placed behind the alveolar ridge (or close to teeth, with the tip touching Palato-Alveolar: The the roof of the mouth). the inner side of the upper tongue tip and blade are teeth. The air escapes raising toward the alveolar Velar: The back of the through the gaps between ridge and side teeth. tongue is pressed against the tongue and the teeth. the area where the hard Palatal: The middle of the palate ends and the soft Post-Alveolar: The tongue tongue is against the hard palate begins. is in contact with an area palate (or really close). slightly further back than that of the Alveolar. 3. Manner of articulation: Refers to the interaction between the various articulators and the airstream. The larynx: The larynx, located in the neck, is crucial for speech. It consists of cartilage, including the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, and houses the vocal folds (or cords). These folds are attached at the front to the thyroid cartilage and at the back to the arytenoid cartilages, which can move, altering the vocal fold position. The space between the vocal folds is called the glottis. 4 main vocal fold positions include: 1. Wide apart: For normal breathing and voiceless consonants like /p/ or /s/. 2. Narrow glottis: Produces a voiceless glottal fricative, like the sound /h/ in hahaha. 3. Vibration: When vocal folds nearly touch, air passing through causes vibration for voiced sounds. 4. Tightly closed: The vocal folds can be firmly pressed together so that air cannot pass between them, when this happens in speech we call it a glottal stop or glottal plosive, for which we use the symbol ?. These positions are important for controlling speech sounds. Respiration and voicing: The normal airflow for speech is egressive pulmonic, where air is pushed out of the lungs. The lungs expand when the rib cage lifts, filling with air. To expel air for speech, the rib cage presses down on the lungs. To produce speech sounds, the airflow is obstructed at different points in the vocal tract, especially at the larynx where the vocal folds can be brought together. This causes vocal fold vibration, known as voicing. Voicing can vary in 3 ways: 1. Variations in intensity: We produce voicing with high intensity for shouting, for example, and with low intensity for speaking quietly. 2. Variations in frequency: If the vocal folds vibrate rapidly, the voicing is at high frequency; If there are fewer vibrations per second, the frequency is lower. 3. Variations in quality: We can produce different-sounding voice qualities, such as those we might call harsh, breathy, murmured or creaky. Plosives: A plosive is a consonant sound produced by completely blocking airflow and then releasing it. It involves 4 phases: 1. Closing phase: The articulators move to block airflow. 2. Compression phase: Air is trapped behind the block. 3. Release phase: The articulators move to release the air.  4. Post-release phase: The air escapes, potentially producing a noise. English has 6 plosives: /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/. They occur at the beginning, middle, or end of words. The main differences between voiceless plosives (/p/, /t/, /k/) and voiced ones (/b/, /d/, /g/) are: Initial position: In the closing phase of plosives, the articulators move silently. During the compression phase, /p/, /t/, /k/ have no voicing, while /b/, /d/, /g/ have minimal voicing, which starts just before release. The release of /p/, /t/, /k/ is followed by audible plosion (a burst of noise), then aspiration (a soft "h" sound). The release of /b/, /d/, /g/ has weaker plosion, and voicing begins shortly after. The key difference is the aspiration of voiceless plosives (/p/, /t/, /k/), which is heard as a delay between the plosion and voicing. In initial position, /b/, /d/, /g/ cannot follow other consonants, but /p/, /t/, /k/ can, and are unaspirated when preceded by "s" (sp, st, sk). Medial position: The pronunciation of /p/, /t/, /k/ and /b/, /d/, /g/ in medial position depends to some extent on whether the syllables preceding and following the plosive are stressed. In general we can say that a medial plosive can behave like initial or final sounds, depending on stress. Final position: Voiceless plosives (/p/, /t/, /k/) have weak or no plosion. Voiced plosives (/b/, /d/, /g/) have minimal voicing. Fortis and Lenis: Fortis refers to consonants produced with more force or energy (e.g. /p/, /t/, /k/), while Lenis refers to those produced with less force (e.g. /b/, /d/, /g/). ❖ /p/: Fortis, voiceless, bilabial, plosive. ❖ /b/: Lenis, voiced, bilabial, plosive. ❖ /t/: Fortis, voiceless, alveolar, plosive. ❖ /d/: Lenis, voiced, alveolar, plosive. ❖ /k/: Fortis, voiceless, velar, plosive. ❖ /g/: Lenis, voiced, velar, plosive. Fricatives: Fricatives are consonants where air escapes through a narrow passage, producing a hissing sound, as in /s/ (Friction). They are continuant sounds, meaning they can be sustained as long as there’s enough breath. In contrast, plosives (like /p/ or /t/) cannot be sustained continuously. ➔ /f/: Fortis, voiceless, labiodental, fricatives. ➔ /v/: Lenis, voiced, labiodental, fricatives. ➔ /θ/: Fortis, voiceless, dental, fricatives. ➔ /ð/: Lenis, voiced, dental, fricatives. ➔ /s/: Fortis, voiceless, alveolar, fricatives. ➔ /z/: Lenis, voiced, alveolar, fricatives. ➔ /ʃ/: Fortis, voiceless, palato-alveolar, fricatives. ➔ /ʒ/: Lenis, voiced, palato-alveolar, fricatives. ➔ /h/: Glottal, fricative. Affricates: Affricates are complex consonants that begin as plosives and end as fricatives, such as the "ch" sound in "church," represented as /tʃ/. These consonants occur when a complete closure is made somewhere in the mouth and the soft palate is raised. Affricates like /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ are treated as single, independent phonemes in English, despite being made of a plosive and a fricative. For 2 sounds to be classified as an affricate, they must be homorganic (produced with the same articulators). ★ /ʈʃ/: Fortis, voiceless, post-alveolar, affricates.  ★ /dʒ/: Lenis, voiced, post-alveolar, affricates. Nasals: Consonants in which the air escapes through the nose. /m/: Lenis, voices, bilabial, nasal. /n/: Lenis, voiced, alveolar, nasal. /ŋ/: Lenis, voiced, velar, nasal. The consonant I: The /l/ phoneme, as in "long" /lɒŋ/ and "hill" /hɪl/, is a lateral approximant, meaning air flows along the sides of the tongue due to a complete closure at the centre of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. When pronounced, /l/ has 2 main variants, or allophones: 1. Clear /l/: Occurs before vowels (e.g. in "lea" /li:/) and has a raised front of the tongue, resembling an [i] sound. 2. Dark /l/: Occurs before consonants or pauses (e.g. in "eel" /i:l/) and has a raised back of the tongue, similar to an [u] sound. This "dark" quality also appears when /l/ follows sounds like /p/ or /k/, and it may become devoiced and slightly fricative. Approximants: Occurs when one articulator moves close to another but not close enough to cause friction or to stop the airflow. In this case, we are talking about the consonant /r/ (Lenis, voiced, post alveolar, approximant). No part of the tongue is in contact with the roof of the mouth; The tongue is usually slightly curved backwards with the tip raised. In the initial syllable following /p/, /t/, /k/ the /r/ sound is voiceless and fricative. The linking R: The phoneme /r/ does not occur in syllable-final position in BBC accent, but when the spelling of a word suggests a final /r/, and a word beginning with a vowel follows, the usual pronunciation is with /r/. The consonants J and W: /j/: Lenis, voiced, palatal, approximant. /w/: Lenis, voiced, bilabial, approximant. They are phonetically like vowels, but phonologically like consonants. /j/ is articulated in practically the same way as that of the front close vowel /i/, but shorter. /w/ is closely similar to /u/. They only occur before vowels /ju/-> you.