Phonology: functioning and patterning of sounds Flashcards
phonology
study of how sounds vary and pattern in a language
study of phonology includes studying:
segment contrasts
minimal pairs
complimentary distributions
features
contrast
segments contrast when their presence alone is responsible for different meanings
minimal pairs
two phonetic forms that differ by one segment in the same position gives different meanings
/p:b/ pat / bat
distribution is complimentary when
never occur in same context
not same context = comp distr. = same sound
distribution is NOT complimentary when
occur in same phonetic context
same context = not comp distr. = different sounds
distinctive features
20 features that permit description of all sounds of all of the languages in the world
binary features
present or absent
distinctive features can help describe phonological rules
know distinctive set of sounds for language
learn rules that describe changes that take place in sounds when they occur with other sounds
natural classes
smaller number of features required to define class of phoneme
more features required to define individual phoneme
phonetic representation
used to show how a speaker produces a sound
phonemic representation
show underlying phonological rule
formal phonological rules
relate phonemic representation to phonetic representation
part of speakers knowledge of language
part of mental grammar but not represented in symbols
written for all languages
tone language
syllables or words are contrasted by pitch
intonation languages
pitch and suprasegmentals distinguish meaning
phonemes and allophones
units of representation in phonology
used to capture speaker knowledge of how sounds behave in language
phoneme
way sounds are stored in mind
underlying representation
allophone
way sounds are produced
individual members of the languages sound system
surface representation
separate phonemes
contrastive
unpredictable distribution
easily perceived by native
may not be phonetically similar
same phoneme
non contrastive
predictable
not easily different perceived
always phonetically similar
Problem solving flow chart
minimal pairs?
- yes - allophones of separate phonemes
- no
- complimentary distribution?
- yes - allophones of same phoneme
- no - allophones of separate phonemes