The sound patterns of
language
Dr.Ibtesam Al-Yahya
Phonetics VS Phonology
◄ Phonetics deals with the physical
properties of the elements of the sound
system( e.g. how the sound is physically
produced).
◄ Phonology deals with the sound systems of
languages (e.g. how sounds are combined).
What is Phonology?
◄ description of the systems and patterns of speech
sounds in a language
◄ abstract or mental aspects of speech sounds rather
than the actual physical articulation of speech sounds.
What is a phoneme?
◄ The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes
meaning
◄ An essential property of a phoneme is that it
functions contrastively (pack vs back)
◄ Slash marks are conventionally used ( e.g. /t/ is
different from /d/ since we have pairs like teem
vs deem mate vs. made)
Natural classes
◄ Natural class: a set of phonemes with certain phonetic
features in common (e.g. /p/ and /k/ in English are
voiceless stops [-voice, +stop] )
◄ Phonemes belonging to a particular natural class tend
to behave phonologically in some similar ways(e.g,
words beginning with /pl-/ and /kl-/ are common in
English, but words beginning with /vl-/ are not).
Phonemes, Phones & Allophones
◄ Phoneme is an abstract rather than a
pronounceable unit which is represented in slashes
e.g. /t/
◄ phone is a physically produced speech sound; the
smallest phonetic unit represented in brackets e.g.
[t]
◄ allophones are a related set of phones; the
different pronunciations of the same phoneme.
Allophones
◄ Each phoneme may have different realisations
(pronunciations) depending on the context in
which it is found.
◄ An example is the different articulations of /t/ in
the following words:
phonemes vs allophones
◄ changing one phoneme for another will result in
a word with a different meaning (fine & vine)
◄ changing allophones only results in different
(and unusual) pronunciation.
Minimal pairs
◄ A minimal pair is a pair of words that have
different meanings and which conform to
certain rules.
◄ Four golden rules for minimal pairs: having the
same number of sounds; being identical in every
sound except for one; being in the same position
in each word; having different meanings
Phonological knowledge
◄ What do you know about the phonological
rules in your language?
◄ Which sound sequences might be a word in your
language?(Phonotactics)
Phonotactics
◄ Constraints on the sequence or position
of phonemes
◄ Phonological knowledge of English will allow you
to find some combination of sounds as
acceptable (e.g lig, vig) and some as not (e.g.
fslg , nglsb)
◄ Such constraints operate on a unit larger than a
phoneme which is called the syllable
Syllable structure
1) onset (Consonant(s))
2) rhyme
a- nucleus (vowel)
b- coda (consonant(s))
Syllable
◄ Syllables must contain a nucleus (i.e. a vowel or a
vowel like consonant [w], [j]) but not necessarily an
onset/ a coda.
◄ Open syllables (me, no) only have an onset ; closed
syllables (Sam, up) have a coda.
◄ The onset and the coda can consist of a
consonant or more. When there are more than one
consonant, these are called consonant clusters
Two consonant cluster
Permitted CC in English
◄ /st/ as in stop, steep, store
◄ /bl/ as in black, bleed, blow
◄ /fl/ as in flat, fly, flee
◄ /br/ as in bread, break, brown
◄ /tr/ as in trick, trouble, true
◄ /tw/ as in twin, twin, twig
◄ /ɵr/ as in throw, three, through
Three consonant cluster
Permitted CCC in English
◄ /spr/ as in spring
◄ /str/ as in strong
◄ /skr/ as in scream
◄ /skw/ as in square
Co-articulation
◄ Our talk is often fast and spontaneous; articulators
move from one sound to another without stopping.
◄ The process of making one sound almost at the
same time as the next sound is called co-
articulation.
◄ There are two well-known co-articulation effects,
described as assimilation and elision
Assimilation
◄ When two sound segments occur in sequence and some
aspect of one segment is taken or “copied” by the other,
the process is known as assimilation.
◄ This process happens for the ease of articulation.
◄ E.g. the word /hæv/ in a phrase like ‘I have to’ is
pronounced as [hæftə] ( – V /t/ change the preceding +V
/v/ into – V/f/)
Nasalization
◄ a type of assimilation where a vowel becomes
nasal when it immediately precedes a nasal(e.g.
ma҇n vs. map / bob vs. bo҇mb).
◄ Another example for nasalization is seen in the
phrase I can go [aɪkəŋgoʊ]; the velar sound [g]
makes the preceding nasal sound come out as [ŋ]
(velar nasal) rather than the alveolar nasal [n].
◄
Elision
◄ not pronouncing a sound segment that might
be present in the deliberately careful
pronunciation of a word in isolation is described
as elision.
◄ Note the [d] in “you and me” [ju ənmi] or in
“friendship” [frɛn ʃɪp]
