Phonology Flashcards
phonologically constrained distribution
when a phone is limited in where it can occur in a word. for example, a glottal stop can only occur in some varieties of English, and only in some places.
- matter (includes glottal stop)
- mature ([t], not glottal stop)
2 levels of analysis in Phonological Theory
two levels of analysis
- phonemic
- allophonic
Phonemic
underlying. represents perception of contrast
- the difference between two sounds that represents a difference between two words
[n] and [m] contrast
Allophonic
surface level. represents something close to articulation (glottal stop is an allophone of /t/)
[n] and dental [n] are allophonic
/n/ realised as [n] and dental [n]
transcription of phones (speech sounds)
[…]
transcription of phonemes
/…/
complementary distribution
allophones that cannot occur in the same phonological environment
[n] and dental [n]
pot [p] and spot [p^h]
predictable distribution
generalisations that allow us to predict which words will contain what allophone (dental [n] occurs next to a dental. [n] occurs with everything else)
The Phonemic Principle
In normal allophony, allophones of one phoneme are in complementary distribution and are expected to be phonetically similar.
if the phones belong to different phonemes, they are in parallel distribution and are semantically contrastive
parallel distribution
when the difference between two phones signals a contrast in meaning
minimal pairs
if a pair of words only differ in terms of one phone
cap and cab thigh and thy net and met cat and hat laugh and half
#
word boundary
_
segment in question
_
start of word
_#
end of word
V_V
intervocalic
Phonological Rule
/…/ -> […] / …_…
only accounts for derived allophones
derived allophones
different from the phoneme
non-derived allophones
the default
Aitkens Law
certain vowels in SSE can be long if they occur in from of: v, ð, z or r, or at the end of the word
/i/ -> [i:] / … v, ð, z, r, #
σ
syllable symbol
components of syllable
onset
rhyme
components of rhyme
nucleus coda
onset
bit before the rhyme
can contain nothing, 1 segment, 2, or more
typically contain consonants
rhymes
normally contain a vowel
- nucleus (obligatory)
- coda (bit after - optional)
closed syllables
syllables with a coda
open syllables
syllables without a coda
coda
typically contain consonants
syllabic consonants
occur in the nuclei
the dark l at the end of syllable
transcribed [,]
Czech allows /r/ and /l/ to be syllabic in any syllable
systemic gap
a segment that cannot occur in a language due to phonological constraints
/h/ cannot occur in the coda of a rhyme, only in the onsets of syllables: hat, behave, alcohol
accidental gaps
a segment that does not exist but would still be permitted due to the rules of that language
Sonority Sequencing Principle
sonority increases from the edge of the syllable towards its nucleus.
onsets: increases from left to right
codas: decreases from left to right
sonority hierarchy
correlates to some extent with loudness, openness. the more sonorous the segment, the closer to the nucleus
(most sonorous) vowels, approximants, nasals, fricatives, oral stops (plosives) (least sonorous)
Maximal Onset Principle
“if anything can be in the onset, it will be in an onset”
syllable boundaries represented using ‘full stop’
stressed syllables
louder and longer
typically intuitive
primary stress
most stressed syllable in a word
transcribed with [’] at the start of the relevant syllable
secondary stress
indicated by [,] at the start of the relevant syllable
free stress language
where any syllable in a word can be stressed
fixed stress language
where syllable stress has a pattern
heavy syllables
long vowel
diphthong
short vowel + consonant
light syllables
short vowel (in trisyllabic nouns with only short vowels, the antepenultimate (third last) syllable gets the stress)
stress in English nouns
if the penultimate syllable is heavy, we expect primary stress
if the penultimate syllable is light, we expect the antepenultimate syllable to have primary stress
