Phonetics & Phonology II (Syllables, Phonological Processes, Word Stress, Intonation)

Question 1

Syllables

Answer 1

= suprasegmental units that impose an organisation on phonemes

Question 2

Onset

Answer 2

= longest sequence of consonants to the left of the nucleus that does not violate any phonotactic constraints of the respective language
- optional in English
- English allows onsets with up to three consonants
- onsets have primacy over codas, as captured by the Maximal Onset Principle

Question 3

Nucleus

Answer 3

= core in the middle of each syllable
- the most sonorous sound
- the only obligatory element in English
- head of the rhyme

Question 4

Coda

Answer 4

= consonant (cluster) to the right of the nucleus
- optional in English
- coda-less syllables: open syllables
- syllables with coda: closed syllables
- up to 4 consonants

Question 5

Phonotactics

Answer 5

= branch of phonology that deals with permissible combinations of phonemes, including their distribution within syllables
- many phonotactic constraints concern sequences of consonants, known as (consonant) clusters

Question 6

Sonority

Answer 6

amplitude of a sound, its acoustic “carriying-power”, its relative loudness

Question 7

Sonority Scale

Answer 7

• obstruents < sonorant consonants < vowels
• plosives < affricates, fricatives < nasals < liquids < glides < vowels

Question 8

Sonority Sequencing Generalisation

Answer 8

= principle of syllable structure
- the nucleus (aka peak) is the most sonorous element
- the onset tends to increase in sonority towards the nucleus
- the coda tends to decrease in sonority away from the nucleus

Question 9

Identifiying a syllable

Answer 9

1) Nucleus-formation: after transcribing the word, identify the most sonorous segments (usually vowels)

2) Onset-formation: Assign the onsets i.e. consonants to the left of each nucleus; pay regard to phonotactic constraints

3) Coda-formation: remaining consonants form codas

Question 10

Phonological Proccesses

Answer 10

• affect pronunciation of words, making speech production easier and efficient
• have occured regularly in some words/phonetic environments → historical language change
• can occur optionally (rapid speech) in other words

Question 11

Assimilation

Answer 11

• one sound influences the articulation of another

Question 12

Progressive Assimilation

Answer 12

• one sound influences a following sound
• rapid: happen /ˈhæpən/ > /ˈhæpm̩/
• conv: -s and -ed suffixes (voice assimilation)

Question 13

Coalescence

Answer 13

two or more adjacent sounds fuse into one (aka reciprocal assimilation)
fusion of an alveolar plosive (/t, d/) or fricative (/s, z/) and a following /j/ into /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ/

-rap: did you /dɪd ju/ > /ˈdɪdʒu/
-conv: musi-ci-an

Question 14

Elision

Answer 14

removal of a sound that ought to be in a word

rap: suppose /səˈpəʊz/ > /spəʊz/
conv: Chris-t-mas

Question 15

Compression

Answer 15

two syllables become compressed into one

opening /ˈəʊ.pə.nɪŋ/ > /ˈəʊ.pn̩.ɪŋ/ > /ˈəʊp.nɪŋ/

Question 16

Epenthesis

Answer 16

insertion of a sound into a word

rap: chance /tʃɑːns/ > /tʃɑːnts/
mumble compared to German mummeln, Danish mumle

Question 17

Stress in Perception

Answer 17

• stressed syllables are perceived to be more prominent (e.g. sister, rely)
• acoustic factors contributing to the perceived prominence:
  a) pitch: stressed syllables have a different pitch than neighbouring syllables
  b) length: stressed syllables have a longer duration than unstressed ones
  c) loudness: stressed syllables tend to be louder
  d) quality: stressed syllables contain vowels that are different in quality from neighbouring vowels (strong/weak syllables)

Question 18

Stress in Production

Answer 18

stressed syllables are articulated with more muscular energy than unstressed syllables

Question 19

Levels of Word Stress

Answer 19

• unstressed: syllables have no prominence relative to the surrounding syllables
• primary stress: most prominent syllable of a word
• secondary stress: words with three or more syllables may contain syllables with intermediate stress - indicated by a lower vertical stroke
  (mathematics /ˌmæθəˈmætɪks/; magazine /ˌmæɡəˈziːn/)

Question 20

Factors that Influence Stress Placement in English Words

Answer 20

• morphological structure: word consist of one morpheme (“simple word”) or multiple morphemes (“complex word”)
• grammatical category
• number of syllables
• phonological structure of the syllable: strong - can be stressed or unstressed, weak - always unstressed

Question 21

Stress Rules in Morphologically Complex Words - Derivates

Answer 21

effects on word stress:
1) no change in stress placement
2) stress shift within the base
3) affix receives primary stress

Question 22

-Weakening-

Answer 22

• speech sounds in stressed syllables have a different quality
• vowels & consonants are fully articulated rather than reduced
• unstressed syllables contain reduced vowels due to undershot articulation
• tongue height & position far from ideal articulation target
• /ə/ and /ɪ/ appear in unstressed syllables

Question 23

Intonation

Answer 23

• melody of speech
• intonation studies → how speakers use pitch variation (=tone) to convey linguistic and pragmatic meaning

Question 24

Tonality

Answer 24

• division of speech into phonetic chunks, known as intonation phrases (IPs)
• each IP has its own intonation pattern (tune), shaped by tonicity and tone

Question 25

Tonicity

Answer 25

every IP will have one word which receives the strongest accent = nucleus of the IP, also called pitch accent

Question 26

Tone

Answer 26

• what tones (= pitch movements) are to be used
• fall → information/ utterance completed
• rise → more to come
• fall-rise → more to come, signals particular implications

Question 27

Functions of Intonation

Answer 27

• attitudinal function
• grammatical function
• focusing function
• discourse function
• psychological function
• indexical function