Phonology 4: February 2nd, 2005 Basic phonology (consonants) Handout

Course author: Hubert Truckenbrodt Course teacher: Arnim von Stechow

1 The phonological rule

V -> [-back] / [-back] C₀ ___

one or few only one feature: [G. Umgebung; hier nicht Umwelt]

features: the one that is the sounds that have to sourround

features added; the opposite the sound in question, in order for the

that the feature value is eliminated rule to apply; the 'environment bar' ___

sound has in the sound indicates the position of the sound that

to have in changes.

order for the

rule to apply
Notice: A rule of the form A -> B / X __ Y

could also be written: XAY -> XBY

C any consonant

C₀ 0 or more consonants
(...) an optional element; for example:

A -> B / C (D) ___

is a unification of the two rules:

A -> B / C ___

A -> B / C D ___
+ a morpheme boundary

# a word boundary; for example:

A -> B / # ___

'A becomes B at the beginning of a word.'

[Cino] 'pour' [xano] 'lose'

[Celi] 'eel' [xali] 'plight'

[Ceri] 'hand' [xori] 'dances'

[oCi] 'no' [xrima] 'money'

[xufta] 'handful'

[x] occurs _______

[x] -> [C] / ??__?? (please complete the rule)

a. which class of vowels likes to have which sound next to it?

b. position of the relevant vowel relative to [C/x]

What is similar to German, what is different?

similarity: ...

difference: ...

[x] occurs after back vowels, [C] occurs anywhere else.

see [si˘] sew Am. [soU] Br. [s´U]

she [Si˘] show Am. [SoU] Br. [S´U]
Here we want to say that [s] and [S] are both phonemes of English, are both in the inventory of English, and can thus both be used in the lexical entries of words ('underlying forms): /si˘/ for the verb 'see', and [Si˘] for the pronoun 'she'.

A minimal pair like 'see' and 'she' demonstrates in a very clear way that these two sounds cannot be allophones. If they were allophones, they would have to occur in different environments, but never in the same environment. However, in a minimal pair like 'see'/'she', these two sounds occur in exactly the same environment, namely: [#__i˘] .

We can also put this differently, in terms of the explanation for allophones that we have seen: We said when there are two allophones, they are derived from the same underlying sound (phoneme) in such a way that a rule leaves certain occurrences of the sound unchanged, but changes other occurrences of the sound. For example:

"ich" "ach"

UR /IC/ /aC/

FB -- [ax]

PR [IC] [ax]

Here the rule is written to change [C] after back vowels. It therefore leaves [C] in 'ich' alone, but changes [C] to [x] in 'ach'.

Now, if there is a minimal pair, with the two sounds in the same environment, it is impossible to formulate a rule that similarly derives the two sounds from a single underlying sound:

"see" "she" (wrong theory!)

UR /si˘/ /si˘/ (assumed underlying forms with a single phoneme [s]

rule ??? -- [Si˘]

PR [si˘] [Si˘]

But there cannot be such a rule, because the URs would have to be identical, and no rule could distinguish them, and apply in one case, but not in the other.

Therefore, when we have a minimal pair involving two sounds like [s] and [S], we have good evidence that [s] and [S] are different phonemes in the language in question. For example, [s] and [S] are different phonemes in English.

They are also different phonemes in German, compare 'sein' [saIn] and 'Schein' [SaIn].
4 Korean [s] and [S]
Note: [tS] is an afficate, and thus a different sound from [S]. When we consider the distribution of [s] and [S], the affricate [tS] is not directly relevant.
(6) a. b.

[sal] 'flesh' [Si] 'poem'

[tSasal] 'suicide' [miSin] 'superstition'

[kasu] 'singer' [Sinmun] 'newspaper'

[sanmun] 'prose' [tHaksaNSikje] 'table clock'

[kas´l] 'hypothesis' [Silsu] 'mistake'

[tS´Nsonu´n] 'adolescents' [oSip] 'fifty'

[miso] 'smile' [tSaSin] 'shelf'

[susek] 'search' [paNSik] 'method'

[tapsa] 'exploration' [kanSik] 'snack'

[so] 'cow' [kaSi] 'thorn'
(7) [S] occurs before [i]

[s] occurs elsewhere

to complete the rules and the example derivations that use these ruls

"flesh" "poem" "flesh" "poem"

UR /sal/ /si/ UR /Sal/ /Si/

rule 1 -- Si rule 2

PR sal Si PR
(compare the first example each in (6a) and (6b). Can these be derived?)
---------- end of in-class exercise -----
Thus: [s] and [S] are different phonemes in English and in German, but they are allophones of the phoneme [s] in Korean. Thus, if two sounds occur, they may be different phonemes in one language, and allophones of the same phoneme in another language.
5 English aspiration
(9) When we transcribe more precisely, we can distinguish [p, t, k] from their aspirated

versions [pH, tH, kH]. The following examples concern the difference between [p] and [pH].

[pHIn] pin [spIn] spin

[pHaI] pie [speIs] space

[pHUS] push [spi˘tS] speech

[pHi˘s] piece [splQS] splash
(10) Using the symbol # for word-boundary (see p.1), write a rule that turns /p/ into [pH]

Aspiration: [p] -> [pH] / ...
(11) Give derivations for two cases, assuming that /p/ but not [pH] is part of the inventory

"pin" "spin"

UR / / UR / /

Aspiration Aspiration

PR PR

(12) Notice: a similar relation holds between [t] and [tH], and between [k] and [kH]:

[tHIn] tin [stIN] sting

[tHi˘] tea [sti˘m] steam

[tHç˘l] tall [stçl] stall

[kHu˘l] cool [ski˘] ski

[kHeIk] cake [skIp] skip

(13) Minimal pairs in Hindi

[pHal] 'knife blade' [t5Hal] 'plate' [kHan] 'mine'

[bal] 'hair' [d5al] 'lentil' [gan] 'song'

[bHal] 'forehead [d5Har] 'knife' [gHan] 'bundle'

/p, pH, b, bH, t5, t5H, d5, d5H, k, kH, g, gH/

[zahset] 'hide it!' [oli˘de?] 'dove'

[ohjotsah] 'chin' [odahsa] 'tail'

[labahbet] 'catfish' [sdu˘ha] 'a little'

[degeni] 'two'

[desda?n•] 'get up!'

[d] occurs ______

[t] occurs ______
b. Postulate an underlying sound (/d/ or /t/) and write a rule to derive the

other sound. The rule should be based on your result in a.

[oli˘de?].

phoneme? Give your reasoning.

The data in (ii) illustrate.

[wisk] 'five' [oja˘gala] 'shirt'

[dZiks] 'fly' [ga˘lis] 'sock'

[degeni] 'two'

[aplam] 'Abraham' [labahbet] 'catfish'

a more general version of a. above:

Generalization: [voiced stops] occur _____

[voiceless stops] occur ____

nor are [k] and [g] allophones, nor are [p] and [b] allophones. For each of these pairs

of sounds, demonstrate this by giving two minimal pairs that show that these are each

separate phonemes. You may want to use a dictionary for this. Be sure to give both the pronunciation and the spelling of your words, and make sure that the minimal contrast is in the pronunciation in each case.