What 4 facts should a theory of
phonology account for?
Today
Allophones vs. phonemes
Contrastive vs. noncontrastive
Phonological rules
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1. What sounds do/do not occur in a
language
2. How sounds are distributed
3. How sounds function
4. Alternations
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English t
top
h
stop
[t ap]
butter
[stap]
[br]
phoneme
allophones
Phoneme vs. allophone
button
[b
n]
Phoneme:
An abstract, mental representation of a set of
sounds (allophones) that are considered by
native speakers to be the same sound
Allophone:
/t/
Predictable phonetic realizations of a
phoneme
h
[t ]
[t]
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[ ]
[ ]
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How do these sounds function?
meaning
e.g., English: [br] ~ [btr] butter
Allophones of different phonemes are
[stap] stop
contrastive they do distinguish meaning
after [s]
p] top
at the beginning of stressed
[b
r] butter before unstressed V
[b
n] button before [n]
[t
e.g., Spanish: [pao] I stop vs. [pato] duck
e.g., Thai: [ta:] landing place vs. [ta:] eye
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Allophones of the same phoneme occur in
complementary distribution separate,
non-overlapping, mutually-exclusive
environments
noncontrastive they do not distinguish
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How are these sounds distributed?
Allophones of the same phoneme are
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How are these sounds distributed?
Sum: Allophones vs. phonemes
Allophones of different phonemes have
contrastive distribution they can occur in
the exact same phonetic environment
(thereby forming a minimal pair)
Phonemes
e.g., English: [tp] tip,
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[dp]
may occur in minimal pairs
have contrastive distribution
are unpredictable (i.e., must be learned)
dip
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Sum: Allophones vs. phonemes
occur in complementary distribution
do not occur in minimal pairs
are noncontrastive
are predictable by rule
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Phonological rules
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Phonological rules
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Typically formulated in terms of natural
classes
e.g., English aspiration:
h
/p, t, k/ [p , t , k ]
voiceless stops aspirated
[-cont, -voi] [+spread glottis]
e.g., English aspiration: /t/ [th] / [ __ V
/t/ becomes aspirated at the beginning of a syllable before
a stressed vowel.
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Phonological rules
Formalism: A B / C __ D
Prose: A becomes B in the environment between C and D
A is the focus (or target)
B is the structural change
CAD is the structural description (or trigger, context,
environment)
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Account for predictable properties of
pronunciation
They mediate between the underlying,
phonemic level and the surface, phonetic
level.
Allophones (of the same phoneme)
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(please reread Odden pp. 155-160 on additional tips/formalism for
writing phonological rules)
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Identifying the allophonic vs.
phonemic status of sounds
Phonological rules
1. Look for minimal pairs
Allophonic rules:
Account for complementary distribution.
Neutralization rules:
Account for the merger of a contrast.
If yes, sounds are contrastive/phonemic.
If no, go to 2.
2. Determine the distribution of sounds (i.e., list
the environments) and state in terms of natural
classes. Are they the same or nonoverlapping?
Same: Contrastive distribution (phonemic)
Non-overlapping: Complementary distribution
(allophonic)
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Identifying the allophonic vs.
phonemic status of sounds
3.
Basic: Assumed to be phoneme, undergoes the rule
Often occurs in wider, more complex set of environments
Usually assumed to be plainer, less marked
Derived: The predicted outcome of the rule
Often occurs in simplest set of environments
Usually assumed to be more marked
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Markedness
Determine the directionality of the rule (i.e.,
Which sound is basic and which is derived?
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Related to crosslinguistic typology: sounds
that are typologically common are
unmarked compared to sounds that are
less common (i.e., marked)
Can be stated using implicational
relationships:
The presence of marked sounds in a language implies
necessarily the presence of their unmarked counterparts, but not
vice versa (e.g., a language with voiced obstruents will
necessarily have voiceless obstruents, but the reverse is not
always true)
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GEN: [l] and [r]
Gen
Examples of markedness relations
Marked
voiceless obstruents
stops
oral vowels
short vowels
voiced sonorants
plain consonants
Unmarked
voiced obstruents
fricatives
nasal vowels
long vowels
voiceless sonorants
labialized consonants
Remember: Markedness is a relative concept (e.g., voiced stops are less
marked than voiced fricatives, but more marked than voiceless stops
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Distribution of [l] and [r]
[l]
Environment following [l] and [r]
[r]
g__b
#__
d__
d__
__i
p__e
__
__
b__u
__
s__
t__e
a__
m__a
__
z__o
v__
w__a
s__a
t__o
x__
g__o
t__w
__o
h__
p__
k__
b__a
v__u
x__e
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[l] occurs before [a e o b i u ].
[r] occurs before [ a e o w ]
While the environments following [l] and [r]
do not overlap completely, they do contain
many of the same segments. Thus, the
segment following [l] or [r] cannot be
conditioning the change.
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Environment preceding [l] and [r]
[l] occurs after [ # p b m v k g x w h a ]
[r] occurs after [ d t s z ]
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Environment preceding [l] and [r]
Aha!
These sets are
complementary!
These sets are non-overlapping, indicating that [l]
and [r] are in complementary distribution. An
allophonic rule will account for their occurrence.
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[l] occurs after [ # p b m v k g x w h a ]
[r] occurs after [ d t s z ]
Which sound is basic and which is derived?
The set of segments occurring before [l] is
more complex, hard to describe it does
not constitute a natural class.
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The set of segments occurring before [r] is
simply stated defined by the feature
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[+coronal].
