Week 5: Phonology II - Beyond Phonemes Flashcards
What are contrastive phonemes?
Phonemes that when swapped for one another change the meaning of a word in that language e.g. /p/ and /b/ in ‘pet’ and ‘bet’
What is a minimal pair?
A word is a minimal pair if it’s exactly the same apart from one difference in either:
- Place of articulation
- Manner of articulation
- Voicing
What do minimal pairs provide evidence for?
They provide evidence for phonemic contrasts within a language
Define: PHONEMES
The consonants and vowels used within a language
Define: PHONOLOGY
The study of how sounds are organised/distributed in a language
How do we know if a sound is a phoneme of a language or not?
If it’s distinctive/contrastive in that language
Define: ALLOPHONES
The ways that phonemes are realised within a language i.e different kinds of certain phonemes
Example: ALLOPHONES
Butter:
- in formal speech: /bʌtə/
- in less formal speech: /bʌʔə/
Name: THREE REASONS FOR ALLOPHONIC VARIATION
- Speaker differences e.g. English/American speaking
- Speaker contexts e.g. formal/informal, fast/slow
- Position of phoneme within a word e.g. onset, next to vowel
Define: COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
Where particular allophones are restricted to a particular phonological environment
Example: COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
/n/: - [n̪] before a dental fricative /ð/ - [nː] before a voiced plosive/fricative - [n] everywhere else Only one can occur in one place
How do we write ALLOPHONES?
Using brackets: [ ]
Why are allophones written using brackets [ ]?
Because they represent phonetic production in real speech – they provide a narrow transcription of the way a word or sound is produced
Define: FREE VARIATION
Refers to different pronunciations of words that don’t change their meaning
Example: FREE VARIATION
Economics can be pronounced:
- with an /i:/ at the beginning
OR
- with an /ɛ/ at the beginning
