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14.3 Metrical analysis Relates to measurements. This form of analysis gives speech a plus or minus value of a phonetic/ phonological feature. Looking at individual sounds is artificially cutting up the speech continuum into series of segmental sounds. However, some phonetic and phonological phenomena are characteristic of the relations sounds have with each other. The stretches that are greater than the segments. Such features are called the prosodies or suprasegmentals. They are related to three basic components of speech a. initiation b. phonation c. articulation prosodic/ suprasegmental features types of phonation or production of sound. Voiced and creak Voiceless and whisper The other units above the single segment are important/ significant in stating phonological generalization e.g. arrangements or tactic behavior of phonological units. 42
Organization and distribution of segments is language specific. However the segments are arranged to give the following syllable structures V Zero onset CV onset VC termination CVC onset and termination 43
Lecture 15 Phonemes and phones 15.1 Phoneme and the phone/allophone The historical perspective Def: the component of language that deals with phonemes and their possible combination There is no strict chronological description of phonological theory since each school of phonology could be seen as a new step in a continuously progressive evolution. Forerunners (not attached to any school but still influential) of phonological theory The term phoneme The term had been introduced in 1873(by the French linguist Dufriche - Desgenettes) De Saussure used the term to refer to a common prototype in parent language, which is reflected by different sounds in the languages derived from this parent language. Countenery and Kruszewski (1870s and 1880s) also used the term to mean a – linguistic unit, which underlies an alternation between sounds in etymologically related forms (both in cognate languages and written similar languages. Edward Sapir: contributed in a decisive way to the development of phonological theory. His work greatly influenced a) The American, the Bloomfield school b) Generative phonology because of his views on i. phoneme combination ii. And his emphasis on the psychological pattern and on alterations and underlying forms. 44
THE PRAGUE SCHOOL A structural linguistics school that came up in the 1920’s. It was influenced by thoughts from the east of Europe, Moscow and America i.e. from linguists such as de Courtenery and Scerba. Some of the ideas incorporated were i) The phoneme as a sound ii) The formal view of grammatical description (propounded by the Fortumator School in Moscow). Jakobson (the most creative and dynamic), Trubetzkoy – the Linguistic Circle of Plague founded in 1926 by Mathesius. According to the Prague circle, the aim of phonological theory should be 1. to set up phonological systems 2. to account for significant differences 3. to find correlations e.g. contrasts such as t/ d/d p/b 4. to formulate general laws concerning the structure of phonological systems 5. To account for historical change. (The theses were discussed and accepted by schools such as – the French Dutch School of linguistics) The aim of the Prague school The main aim was to create an entirely new discipline which would be independent of phonetics. This however, was not feasible because in description of languages it is not possible to separate form from function i.e. describe the phonetic features of a sound in a 45
language without presupposing phonological classification – phones, phonemes, and allophones. The definition of a phoneme The Prague school phonologists first defined the phoneme as a i) Psychological unit i.e. a sound image or sound intention. ii) However, under the influence of de Saussures’ work, the Prague School established – phonological opposition as the fundamental concept in defining the phoneme. Phonological opposition – a difference of sound which in a given language may serve to distinguish intellectual meaning i.e. meanings which belong to the linguistic content that is communicated – sounds marking For Example, dialect or social group etc are eliminated I. Note Due to its functions in the distinctive pairs/ non-distinctive pairs the phoneme has two definitions: a) The smallest phonological unit, which cannot be decomposed into smaller successive units. b) Its characterized as the totality of the phonologically relevant properties of a sound unit. In both definitions the property of distinction or opposition is important. It is this property which gives the phoneme a positive function of recognition or identification(in actual speech) deviating from Dufrische’s (1873) definition. Trubetzkoy since a phoneme 46
contains only the relevant properties, a speech sound may not therefore be equaled to a phoneme – it should be considered the realization of a phoneme. Speech sound = phone/ allophone. Phoneme and variant A phoneme may be realized as different speech sounds. These sounds are the variants of the phoneme. There are two types i) combinatory variants- variants that are predictable in terms of stress, pitch, juncture, the vowel in the preceding or the following syllable, the preceding or following consonant etc. e.g. /n/ can be n. nasalization of vowels before nasals /r/- [r ],[r] ii) facultative variants: predictable in terms of position in a word i.e. word initial, medial and final e.g. the voiceless stops in English ai/I – in either, s/z – analyze recognize. Three rules are used in determining in which case different sounds are variants of the same phoneme or are distinct phonemes. i) If two sounds in the same environment may be interchanged without a change in the meaning of a word, then the sounds are facultative variants of the same phoneme variants. E.g. tn in /tin/ or t ii) If the two sounds cannot be interchanged without altering the meaning (or making the word unrecognizable) then they are realization of two different phonemes e.g. t in /tin/. iii) If two articulatory and acoustically related sounds never occur in the same environment they are combinatory allophones variants of the same phoneme (phonetic similarity) e.g. the [n] [n] both are nasal, stops, alveolar but [n] is dentalised because of its occurrence before a dental sounds e.g. in teeth length /ð/ or / / i.e. the sounds should have common properties which distinguish them from all other sounds in the language. 47
Distinctive oppositions Opposition : this is a central concept in Prague phonology. Oppositions are classified (Trubetzkoy) according to three different aspects (of the phonemes phonetic qualities) 1. A phoneme’s relation to the entire system (i.e. to other members of the system) gives two classifications i) Dimensions of opposition a) Bilateral (one dimensional) oppositions. These give only 2 members e.g. the phonetic quality voice. b) Multilateral (multidimensional) opposition – they have more than one member e.g. place of articulation oppositions alveolar, labial. ii) Isolated and proportional oppositions a) Isolated: the relationship does not recur in other oppositions in the language. E.g. r/l trill lateral (approximant fricative) b) Proportional: the same relation recurs in other oppositions e.g. p/b t/d k/g 2. The classification corresponding to the relation between phonemes that are members of an opposition. 3 types a) Privative b) Gradual c) Equipollent oppositions a) Privative: one member is characterized by the presence of a property which the other members lacks e.g. voicing, nasalization, rounding. If a member has the quality it is said to be marked unmarked if doesn’t have the quality. 48
e.g. /u/ vs. / / /t/ vs. /d/ b) Gradual opposition: there is the appearance of different degrees of the same quality(e.g. vowels) e.g. u – o /u uo/ i.e. lip rounding quality c) Privative: 3. The classification according to the phoneme’s constant validity or suspendability. In both definitions, the property of distinction or opposition is important. It is this property that gives the phoneme a positive function of – recognition or identification. 15.3. Phone a) The smallest phonological unit, which cannot be decomposed into smaller successive units. Or b) Phonetically: the smallest phonological unit that is characterized as the totality of the phonologically relevant properties of a sound unit. 15.3 Allophone A phoneme may be realized as different speech sounds. These sounds are variants/ allophones of the phoneme. There are two types of allophones, namely:- i) Combinatory variants The variants that are predictable in terms of stress, pitch, juncture, the vowel in the preceding or the following consonant etc. i.e. phoneme in combinations e.g. the 49
shortening of a long vowel because it is followed by a consonant: e.g. sea [i:] seen[i]or the vowel in the stressed syllable being shorter than the one in the unstressed syllable. ii) Facultative variants These are predictable in terms of position in word i.e. word – initial, medial, final e.g. the aspiration of the voiceless stops in English in word initial position. Can be – allophones – free variants e.g. ai/i – in either, s/z in analyze. 50
Lecture 16 Distinctive oppositions 16.1 Opposition Opposition is a central concept in phonology. Oppositions between phonemes are classified according to three different aspects of the phoneme’s phonetic qualities. 16.1 A phoneme’s relation to the entire phonetic system This is the phoneme’s opposition to other members of the phoneme system. It can be in terms of Dimensions of opposition a) Bilateral opposition – one – dimensional oppositions. These give only two members of an opposition. E.g. the phonetic quality [voice] gives [±voice] or the phonetic [±nasal]. b) Multilateral opposition – multidimensional opposition. These give more than one number of an opposition. E.g. manner of articulation gives stops, trills, tap or flap, fricatives, approximants. Isolated and proportional oppositions a) Proportional opposition. The same phonetic relationship that classifies one opposition recurs in other oppositions e.g. [plosion] classifies pb td kg qg etc [fricative] b) Isolated opposition. The phonetic quality that classifies an opposition does not recur in other oppositions e.g. B/r/R – [trills] [pharyngeal] h, approximant. Both – alveolar, tip of the tongue. 51
16. 2. The opposition corresponding to the relation between phonemes that are members of an opposition There are three types – privative, gradual, equipollent. a) Privative opposition One member is characterized by the presence of a property that the other member lacks. The member with the quality is said to marked [the phonetic quality] the other member is unmarked. E.g. [t, d] (voice) or [n, d] (nasal) b) Gradual opposition Where there is appearance of different degrees of the same quality e.g. horizontal tongue position of vowels. It is not meaningful to say [±back] because a vowel could be [central] or [front] c) Equipollent opposition In this opposition there is no question of a ‘mark’ or ‘degree’ to which some property is present e.g. if one were to explain the opposition between p/t - Both are voiceless i.e. saying that they are unmarked for voice is not relevant. - Both are stops - They do not have different degrees of the same quality. The two members are considered to be logically equal in terms of the state of the glottis/ manner of articulation. 16.3 The distinctive validity of the phoneme Constant and suspendable oppositions 52
16.3.1 Constant : both members occur in the same environment without restrictions e.g. open/ close vowels e.g. /i/ /æ/ /kit/ /kæt/ 16.3.1 Suspendable In some positions, no opposition exists between two members = neutralization. It can be i) context – determined : depends on surrounding phonemes in German Danish /p/ /b/ in word final position e.g. neutralization of [t voice] in consonants before fricatives or stops in Russian. ii) Structure – determined in which the neutralization depends on position in word or syllable or on accent. E.g. the opposition between voiced and unvoiced consonants in word final position – German and Russian. Or in German - the long and short vowels in final word position. The concept of neutralization covers minimal contrasts – it is only possible where there is a bilateral opposition between members e.g. s/z, p/b, t/d, i/l: The sound realized represents an archiphoneme. This can be a) Realized as a sound which is phonetically identified to one of the members of the opposition e.g. boud/ bout in German [t] or [d] could be realized. b) Realized as sound intermediate between the two members. Often transcribed by use of a capital letter /t/, /d/ - [T] 16.4 Systematization of phonological member units Oppositions were analyzed according to the distinctive qualities utilized; therefore, phonemes are arranged in systems 
53 2. vowels: vocalic properties They are set up in two-dimensional system in the shape of a quadrangle. There are two main types of vocalic properties. a) localization (an acoustic property) that gives the position of formant and lip rounding e.g. for /u/ high us / / low back b) Degree of aperture = tongue height. 3. consonantal properties: consonant a) according to place of articulation b) According to presence or absence of sharp frictional noise. a. Strident vs. mellow(labials/labial dentals) b. Sibilant vs. non-sibilant c. Velar, affricates vs. uvular. Note The Prague phonologists chose the concept of opposition as their starting point. They defined the phoneme and phonological unit. Therefore ‘distinctive function’ was stressed on. 1) The arrangement of phonemes into properties. The Prague school differs from other phonology schools in this respect. The prague differs from other schools. 54
The theory of relevant properties became very important to other schools especially the generative phonologists. 2) Universal laws – the Prague phonologist propounded universal laws, e.g. those of systematising phonological units into phonemic inventories (this was also taken up by Generative phonology) e.g. by use of substitution (commutation) one can establish the phonemes in any language they know. 55
Lecture 17 The syllable 17.1 The structure of the syllable A syllable is defined as a minimal pulse of initiatory activity bounded by a momentary retardation of the initiator. 17.1.1 The phonological shape of the syllable Syllable Onset Rhyme Nucleus Coda 17.1.2 Open and closed syllables Open – no termination i.e. no coda. Closed – terminated by coda. 17.1.3 Complex and simple Complex – more than one consonants sound in the onset or in the coda Simple when the onset or coda has only one sound. 17.2 Syllable structure types 56
Based on the onset and coda 1. V only = zero onset 2. CV - onset 3. VC – termination 4. CVC – onset – termination Restrictions of sounds that can occupy any of these syllable parts. – using rules or phonotactics e.g. in English S Ptk for the maximum number in the initial position r/l 17.3 The phonetic and phonological syllable The syllable as a unit is posited at both the phonetic and phonological levels of analysis. a) Phonetically – the syllable is a construct that is useful in explaining a number of co- ordinatory relations between segments e.g. the combinatory allophones. c) Phonologically- the syllable i) Acts as the domain of linguistically relevant prosodic properties such as pitch and stress. (ii) It gives the basis for organizing and expressing constraints on possible phoneme sequences e.g. the phonotatic rules. CV CCV in English CCCV 
57 The phonetic syllable is therefore, a framing concept. It makes it possible for one to show a variety of co-ordinatory relationships with the contexts in which they are embedded. These relationships involve phenomena in the control of speech production such as articulation and phonation e.g. the devoicing process /r/ - pray – [r] This is a co-ordinatory relationship that involves the *** of voicing relative to that of articulatory events. It reflects the interplay between – contextual factors and – options of phonetic control. The devoicing process is an instance of inter- segmental co-ordination. The phonological syllable is a complex unit, made up of a – nuclear elements and – marginal elements. Nuclear elements, as phonological entities, are called vowels. The marginal elements are called consonants. Phonetic segments that manifest nuclear elements of the phonological syllable are called syllabic segments. Those that manifest marginal elements of the phonological syllable are called syllabic segments. Those that manifest marginal elements of the phonological syllable are called non-syllabic segments e.g. stops, fricatives, lateral resonant. /k/ and /t/ in [kat] are non-syllabic. But /n/ in garden [gadn] is syllabic or /l/ in cattle [katl] 17. 4 Presentation of the syllable Metrical syllable tree a) notional triangle b) 58
Lecture 18 Stress 18.1 The phonetic and phonological features of stress An initiatory supra segmental feature of utterances that applies to whole syllables. It is produced when a speaker pushes more air out of the lungs for one syllable than she does for an adjacent one. This greater push of air has three results: a) An increase in vowel length. b) An increase in pitch. c) An increase in loudness. 18.2 Stress in strings of words 18.2.1 Normal On content words. John kicked the ball. 18.2.2 Emphatic Overrules normal stress. For emphasis or focus on something. Used to give meanings that the speaker wants to highlight. John kicked the ball. 18.3 Stress in words Bi-syllabic, polysyllabic 59
Used to differentiate words that are phonetically similar in terms of word classes. Project, produce. Stress placement in words depends on 1. word class Verb nouns 2 1 syllable. nd st 2. morphological shape of the word `f u t u `f ut gra:f f ut gra:fik f togr fi 3. Whether a word is bisyllabic or disyllabic. Disyllabic words have double stressed syllables. E.g. Fifteen pre paid fif ti:n pri: peid Example: intellectual Intellect Intellectuality Summary: stress placement depends on 1. sentence/word 2. Word – class, morphological shape, disyllabicity, number of syllables. 
60 Presentation of stress 2. The above the stressed syllable or word. E.g. John kicked the ball 3. Stress numerical numbers used to differentiate between content words that are all stressed. 4. Binary branching – s, w. Formulae for stress numbers. a) If a terminal node t is labeled w, its stress number is equal to the number of nodes that dominate the lowest w plus 1. EXAMPLE a) the NARC government has to change. b) The hungry boys ate quickly. a)   
61 b) 62
Lecture 19 Pitch 19.0 Introduction Pitch can be low or high as in music. It is a phonatory prosody. It is an auditory property that enables a listener to place a sound on a scale going from low to high. It refers to the highness or lowness of voice, determined by the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords. Its utilization in speech includes tone and intonation. The pitch of a sound depends on the rate of vibration of the vocal cords. In a sound with a high pitch, there is higher frequency of vibration than in a sound with a low pitch. Frequency is a technical term referring to the number of complete repetitions of vibrations in air pressure occurring in a second. The unit of frequency measurement is the hertz (Hz) e.g. if the vocal cords make 220 complete opening and closing movements I a second, then the frequency of the sound is equal to 220 Hz/s. In practice, when a speech sound goes up in frequency, it also goes up in pitch. 19.1 The phonetic and phonological features of pitch A phonation prosodic features Vocal cords vibrate at different frequencies and thus voice can be produced at different pitches. Pitch variation is caused by a) Stretching and tensing the vocal chords – the more tense the higher the pitch. 63
b) Change the pressure below the vocal cords – the higher the sub glottal pressure the higher the pitch. Example 1a – from low to high Many kinds of information can be conveyed by variation in pitch i.e. 1. Personal characteristics of the speaker e.g. sex, age, emotional status. 2. To mark the boundaries of syntactic units. We use pitch to mark the completion of a grammatical sentence. The last syllable is a lower pitch than it would have been if it had been in a non-final position. Depending on how it is said, the sentence, “I am late” can be a statement of fact or an expression of surprise. But generally, if the word “late” comes at the end, it is rendered in a low pitch. But if in a medial position, it is higher. Questions are marked with a higher pitch. Incomplete utterances also often have higher pitches. 3. To teach the meaning of a word. In tonal languages, pitch varies meaning e.g. Chinese Ma(mother) Ma (cold) Dholuo Tho (death) Tho (dew) Tho (exclamation) Kendo (fire place) Kendo (again) Kendo (to marry) Mara (mine) Mara (mother in law) Ora (brother in law) Ora (send me) Speakers of language vary the pitch continuously when they talk. Pitch and pitch changes are utilized in language in two distinct ways. 64
Variation of pitch may be related to relatively long stretches of speech which may be mainly syllables in length and which correspond to relatively large grammatical units such as the sentence e.g. What did you put in my drink, Jane? (unhappiness) What did you put in my drink, Jane? (name of the drink) Pitch variation used this way is called intonation i.e. it covers a whole sentence. Intonation refers to the voice or pitch contour that can be utilized to change a sentence e.g. from a statement to an interrogative. Intonation therefore is meaningful pitch variations often characterizing long stretches of speech which may be many syllables in length and usually large grammatical units such as a sentence and is often used to distinguish statements from certain kinds of questions. Two sentences in English can be exactly the same phonetically except for the overall pitch contour or intonation of the utterance. He left for you to follow (falling pitch means statement of fact) He left direction for you to follow (rising pitch means surprise) Forms of intonation Particular speech patterns in sentences are refereed to as intonation groups. They are also called tone units. In a stretch of words or syllables, the intonation group is marked by different boundaries namely: 65
Pause: This can be filled or unfilled. The unfilled pause is marked by silence. The filled pause is marked by different sounds such as /a/ and /m/ in RP. These sounds are usually used at the end of boundaries. If they are placed where there are no boundaries, it symbolizes hesitation. The pause occurs as the speaker changes from one pitch pattern to another. It is often very brief and is unfilled, it is hardly noticeable. The intonation pauses occur at different places in an utterance. • At major constituent boundaries e.g. between subject and predicate or between two sentences. The more prominent the boundary is the longer the pause. Pauses tend to be longer when constituent boundaries involve a new topic. • Before words occurring to lexical content. The words preceded by a pause are often difficult to guess in advance e.g. high lexical content words in nouns, phrases, verb phrases or adverbial phrases. For instance, in “The boy went home”, “boy”, “went” and “home” are the high content words. The intonation boundary is marked by lengthening the final syllable of the intonation contour. The lengthening acts as a pause substitute and carries a final pitch movement e.g. on his way to the station, he saw a boy. 19.2 Utilization of pitch Utilized in languages in two different ways. 19.2.1 Intonation 66
Pitch variation that is related to relatively long stretches of speech. The stretches correspond to sentences. Gives intonation contrasts (contours) the intonation contours signal distinct kinds of meaning. E.g. i) I am informing you ii) I am sure you do not know iii) I am not pleased with this information iv) Continue v) I agree vi) different functions of a string of words Statement ¯ .. Question _ .. Exclamation ___ . 19.2.2 Tone Pitch variation that is related to short stretches of speech – syllable length, words Gives tonal contrasts. Used to indicate different meaning of words. / / \ ___ Rise fall fall-rise rise – fall Mandarin Chinese 1. ba __ - eight 67
2. ba / - to uproot 3. ba - to hold 4. ba \ - a narrow Kikuyu One – yes, see He – give, there is Iria – those (near), those (of long ago), darken, sea 68
Lecture 20 Sonority 20.1 The phonetic and phonological features of sonority is an articulatory prosodic feature. It is a sound’s loudness relative to that of the other sounds with the same length stress and pitch. 20.2 Calculating the degree of sonority a) It is closely linked in articulatory terms with the degree of blockage of the air stream. Vowels have the least blockage (open approximation) and therefore are the most sonorous speech sounds. Stops are the least sonorous. b) Voicing is also a determining factor of the degree of sonority. Voiced sounds are therefore more sonorous than their voiceless counterparts. It is therefore possible to postulate a sonority hierarchy among segments using the > (greater than) more sonorous than symbol. E.g. a. .i the more open vowel has the highest degree of sonority a is greater than and is greater than i, a> >i. dsl, l>s>d. Example l, m, u, t, b, n, a, z, i, , e. a>e>i,u>z, >š>m,n,b>t 20.3 Sonority hierarchy Most sonorous vowels low, mid , high Glides Liquids Nasals 69
Obstruents Fricatives Affricatives Stops - least sonorous 70
Lecture 21 Articulatory process beyond the single segment 21.1 Why beyond the single segment b) the relationship of a segment to a stressed vowel – choc ‘late c) When the sound is combined with others and it is word initial, medial or final. d) when morphemes are added to a root e.g. electric, electricity /k/ - /s/ e) When words are put together in phrase or sentence e.g. r in a car is the parking, a car park. Or good night but good orange. 21.2 The bases of the processes The processes can be explained as 1. Articulatory phenomena they involve – place, manner e.g. lateral release, labialization. State of the glottis (voice) devoicing of /l/ or /r/ 2. Perceptual phenomena – they involve the perceptibility of the sound segments. Some segments are more perceptually opposed than others and therefore more stable than those that are less differentiated e.g. in word, stressed vowels are more perceptually opposed than the unstressed ones. For this reason the stressed ones are normally diphthongized and more perceptible. 3. Syllable structure processes- because they affect segments that are - in combinations/ syllables - the processes also affect the syllable structure. e.g. [saikl] Instead of [saik l] 71
- the processes are determined by the stress patterning in the syllable. E.g. chocolate – choc’ late 21.3 Types of processes Two broad divisions/ types. 21.3.1 Assimilatory processes ASSIMILATION This refers to the modification of a sound in order to make it more similar to some sound in the neighbourhood. It is the influence that is exercised by one sound segment upon articulation of another so that the sounds become ore alike or identical e.g. ten bikes (tembikes). In this case {n} is nasalized and bilabialised in assimilation with {b} which is oral. In ten mice (temice), thee is total assimilation because {n} and {m} are fully merged. In other words, assimilation can be partial or total. In total assimilation, the two sounds become identical. In partial assimilation, one sound is influenced by the other but not completely. Another classification of assimilation is in terms of whether the change of sound involved is the result of the influence of an adjacent sound or of one further away. Where the immediate sound segment causes the change, it is called contact or contagious assimilation. Where there is influence of a later sound, it is called distance or non- contagious assimilation. For instance, “rehe” (bring) but “rehaga” (be bringing) where the last vowel in the second word influences the medial vowel from {e} to {a}. A further classification of assimilation is in terms of the direction in which the assimilation works. There are three possibilities. 72
a) Regressive or anticipatory assimilation. In this, the sound changes because the influence of the following sound e.g. ten mice. b) Progressive assimilation. First sound influences the next e.g. big head c) Reciprocal or coalescent assimilation. There is mutual influence or fusion of the sounds e.g. don’t you. Vowels may take features of consonantal sounds e.g. there can be nasalization of oral vowels when they occur before nasal constants. In nasalized vowels, the air escapes through the nose and mouth simultaneously. The vowels are transcribed with a diacritic mark to show nasalization e.g. in articulating “man”, the vowel is influenced by the {n}. It is thus transcribed [mæn]. English has not distinct vowels but nasalization if often heard in English vowels when they display the articulatory influence of an adjacent nasal consonant. One consonant inside the mouth is not heavily compressed. The combination of the air in the glottis leads to some vibration and implosive sounds are produced. They are transcribed with a right facing hook attached to the consonant symbol e.g. In assimilation, sounds become more similar e.g. a) labialization b) nasalization c) velarisation e.g. ka ki d) devoicing/ voicing r/ 73
e) Umlauting – vowels in one syllable affecting those in another syllable e.g. kol arm kolum my arm /u/ similar in backness and roundness to /o/, diš tooth dišim my tooth coalescence, wa uka – woka, a and o – Kikuyu [rIkia] [rIkagia] [rehe] [rehage] [oka] [okaga] f) Dentalisation in teeth length. 21.3.2 Non – assimilatory Where the segments become less similar e.g. 1. Breaking/ diphthongization of long vowels so that they become diphthongs, egg e:g, ei, hang height = two shorter vowels 2. Metathesis – two segments interchange positions in a word. E.g. in Haminoo – spoken in the Philippines. A sequence of a glottal stop plus a consonant becomes a consonant | t |. The glottal stop. ?usa one kas?a once ?upat four kap?at four times 3. Major class change – when a sound segment changes class membership electric – electricity, permit – permission. 4. Neutralization This involves the suspension of the phonological contrast between sound segments in particular word positions or contexts. This can happen after the addition of a morpheme. In some language dialects (e.g. American English), there is neutralisaion 74
of /t/ and /d/ as in “waiting” and “wading” which are pronounced similarly with the arch-phoneme /D/. In writing, the words are different but in articulation and transcription they are the same. ARTICULATION: LOCATIONS We should remember various articulatory stricture types, representing the ‘vertical’ and ‘time’ (prolongable/non-prolongable) dimensions of articulation, and the location of the oral air-path, representing the “transverse’ dimension of articulation (median/lateral). Now we turn to the very important quasi-longitudinal dimension of articulation, namely, the location of articulatory strictures within the vocal tract. For the purpose of describing articulatory locations the vocal tract is divided into three areas: nasal, oral, and pharyngeo-laryngeal. There is a clear natural division between the nasal area and the others constituted by the orifice at the back of the nose, which can be closed by raising the velum or soft palate. For phonetic purposes, the oral area consists of mouth cavity, bounded by the whole of the under surface of the roof of the mouth, back to the uvula, and by the whole of the surface of the tongue back to the tip of the epiglottis. The pharyngeo-laryngeal area consists of the pharynx, the space behind the mouth and down to the larynx, and the larynx itself. 75
1. The Nasal Area The nasal area consists of the nasal cavity, which is for the most part a complex but immobile chamber coated with mucous membrane which may swell pathologically, as when we have a cold, but is not capable of voluntary movement. Some voluntary control, and hence some variety of articulation, is possible only at the two ends of the nasal cavity, the nostrils and the pharyngeo-nasal orifice-the ‘nasal port’, as it is sometimes called. The nostrils can be narrowed, or widely opened (‘flared’), and can thus modulate airflow out of the nose, but this potentially is not known to be exploited for articulation in any language. It may be noted in passing, however, that when you devoice a nasal sound such as [m] or [n] you can hear a slight hiss-noise of turbulent airflow through the nostrils. Since these nasal sounds are quite free of turbulence when voiced, the airflow becoming turbulent when voiceless, they are typical approximants, and might well be called ‘nostril’ (or, better, using the Latinate term) ‘narial’ approximant’. All sounds articulated with the velum lowered (the ‘nasal port’ open) so that air flows through the nose are simply called nasal or nasalized. In nasals, such as [m] [n] [ ] as in mum, nun, and the final sound of lung, the velum or soft palate is lowered, but there is a complete closure in the mouth (at the lips for [m], between tongue-tip and teeth or teeth-ridge for [n], between tongue-back and soft palate (velum) for [ ]). Consequently all the air used in their production is shunted through the nose. 76
In nasalized sounds, the nasal port is open (exactly as for nasals), but at the same time the passageway through the mouth is also open, so that the air flows out through both mouth and nose. Typical nasalized sounds are the nasalized vowels of French, as in un bon vin blanc . These sometimes called, simply, ‘nasal’ vowels-but it is clear that they differ from the nasal consonants [m] [n] etc. as indicated above. Experiment 49 explores the differences between nasal consonants, nasalized vowels, and purely oral vowels. Say a prolonged [m m m……] and note how air is flowing out of the nose. If you hold your hand just below the nostrils you can faintly feel the warm air gently flowing out. If you suddenly devoice {m} the nasal airflow becomes much more obvious: [m m m m m]. To get the feel of raising and lowering the velum – closing and opening the nasal port – say a prolonged [m] punctuated by inserted [b] stops. Keep the lips tightly closed throughout the entire experiment merely flipping the nasal port momentarily shut for each [b] then opening it again for the nasal [m]: [m m b m b m b m b m b m…….]. Do the same with [n] and [ ] (the nasal heard at the end of long) : [n d n d n d n d…..] [ g g g g g ], etc. Finally, do the same sequence of experiments completely silently – that is, with no initiatory air-stream. In this silent experiment you can feel, even more clearly, the proprioceptive sensation of opening and closing the nasal port: [ ] (silent), etc. 77
2. The Oral Area: Upper and Lower Articulators We turn now the oral area. In purely oral sounds (that is, in the majority of all speech- sounds) the velum is raised, closing the entrance to the nose, and the air flows solely through the mouth. Articulations in the oral area are carried out by the juxtaposition of lower and upper articulators. The lower articulators are those attached to the lower jaw- the lower lip, lower teeth, and tongue. The upper articulators are the upper lip, the upper teeth, and the whole of the roof of the mouth. We will examine all of these in some detail, and get to know them by feel, tactilely and pro-prioceptively, but first the reader should examine what he can see of his mouth in the mirror. We now consider the upper and lower articulators and the zones where articulation can take place within the mouth. It will be useful to have a quick look at Figs. , 24, and 25 before we carefully work through various articulations. The upper articulatory area is subdivided, first into the natural distinction between a labial and a tectal division, the latter embracing the entire roof of the mouth (from Latin tecta ‘roof’ from the upper teeth back to the uvula. The labial division includes an outer (exo-) and an inner (endo-) part of the lips. The tectal division breaks down naturally into two regions: a dentalveolar region, which includes the upper teeth and the teeth- ridge or alveolar ridge, and a domal region, which covers the whole remaining ‘domed’ Download 1.01 Mb. Share with your friends:
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