### Get your clickers ready!
--- ### Study Groups aren't always a good idea! - Sometimes it can help to teach and learn from others - Don't trust an answer you don't fully understand - "What's the answer?" is dangerous, "Why is that the answer?" might save you. - Bad answers often 'go viral' - I can usually tell a study group by the patterns of weird errors - "Somebody who was very wrong thought they were very right!" - The very best study group is office hours! ---
### A is 'Perfectly Grammatical', D is 'Not at all grammatical', E is 'I don't have any opinion here' - delulu - solulu - illulu (from 'illusion') - revolulu (from 'revolution') - trululu (from 'true')
---
### Testing continued - throululu (from 'through') - dreamlulu - positivelulu
--- # Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language are awesome ### Will Styler - LIGN 101 --- ### Today's Plan - Review - Common Phonological Processes - Natural Classes - Let's work some problems! --- # Reviewing Phonemic Analysis --- ## A Phoneme - The Smallest Contrastive Unit of Sound in a language, in a *contrastive distribution* with other phonemes in the language - Changing phonemes changes meanings, and is perceptible (and often confusing!) for listeners of a language - Changing between phonemes creates... --- ## Minimal Pairs - Two words with different meanings which differ by a single sound, indicating that those sounds are **different phonemes** - Think "boot" and "boon", or "Niña" and "Piña" --- ## Allophones of a Phoneme - Different surface-level expressions of the same phoneme, which *alternate* depending on the environment, in a *complementary distribution* - Which allophone you get is dictated by a rule - Think about [ej] and [ej:] or the many realizations of /t/ in English --- ## Underlying Form - The sound which you decide is the 'base' form, from which rules create the other allophones - This is a *strategic* decision. Choose the form that lets you write the fewest, cleanest rules. --- ## Allomorphs - Different versions of morphemes which are swapped predictably based on the sound environment. - Think the many plurals of English, --- ## Free Variation - Where a group of sounds can replace each other, or not, and there's no pattern, just chaos - **Don't worry about this for LIGN 101, we won't give you Free Variation on homeworks or exams** --- ### Sounds have relationships with one another - They can be *independent* phonemes - They can be *rule-governed* allophones - They can *chaotically switching* free variation --- ### Signs that two sounds represent different phonemes - **Minimal pairs** - Speakers hear them as 'entirely distinct' - There's *no pattern besides changes in meaning which predicts their distribution* --- ### Signs that two sounds are allophones of the same phoneme - Changing the environment causes the sounds to *alternate* - The two sounds are predictable - "Huh, this one always occurs in that environment!" - Speakers hear switching between them as 'a different way of saying' the same thing - Or maybe don't hear the difference at all --- ### We write phonological rules to describe where allophones occur - These rules tell us *when* some or all of the forms occur --- ### These rules have formatting conventions - '\_' replaces the sound which is being changed - '\#' means 'word boundaries' - Think of 'cat' as being like [\#kæt\#] - \_\# is at the end of a word - \#\_ is at the start of a word --- ### Aside: Schwa is always an allophone of another vowel - Schwa (/ə/) is a reduced form of a different vowel - Photograph, the, con'vict - Wedge (/ʌ/) is a specific vowel, with its own identity - Not a reduced form of something else --- ### So, now we know how alternations work! --- ### ... but why do alternations occur anyways? --- # Common Phonological Processes --- ### So, now we know how to describe all these crazy rules... - ## ... but what do languages actually DO with them?! --- ### Four Common Types of Phonological Processes - Assimilation - Dissimilation - Insertion / Epenthesis - Deletion / Elision --- ### 1) Assimilation - When sounds change to become more like one another - This is basically Peer Pressure -
--- ### Example: Nasal Place Assimilation - "Come on, we're all being dental, you should try it too!" - "Pine thugs" -> [pajn̪ θʌgz] - "Pine guys" -> [pajŋ gajz] --- ### Extreme Example: Nasal Harmony - When other phones in a word change to match the nasality of a nasal segment -
- "If I'm going to be nasal, you're all going to be nasal with me, damnit!" -
From Epeda Pedee, in Rose, S. and Walker, R. (2011). Harmony Systems. In The Handbook of Phonological Theory (eds J. Goldsmith, J. Riggle and A. C. Yu). doi:10.1002/9781444343069.ch8
- This also happens with vowels (e.g. Turkish) and elsewhere --- ### Extreme Example: Vowel Harmony When vowels change to match the other vowels in the word --- ### Turkish has back-front vowel harmony This means that vowels in a word must be either *all back* or *all front*
---
Turkish
Turkic - Turkey
*Türkiye’-dir* - ‘it is Turkey’ * *kapı-dır* - ‘it is the door’ * *gül-dür* - 'it is the rose’ * *palto-dur* - ‘it is the coat’ * *The vowel in the last syllable changes depending on the other vowels!* --- ### 2) Dissimilation - When sounds change to become *less* like one another -
--- ### Example: Liquid Dissimilation - The third rural bird juror murderer demurred. - "Colonel" is pronounced /kəɹnəl/ - "Purple" comes from "purpure" - “surprise” /səɹpɹajz/ is usually /səpɹajz/, same with “berserk” and "february" - This is deletion, done for dissimilation reasons --- ### 3) Insertion / Epenthesis - When a sound pops up to prevent an awkward or undesirable combination - Basically, showing up on a friend's bad date -
--- ### Example: Allomorphs with vowels - /dɪʃ/ + /s/ -> [dɪʃɪz] - /ɹat/ + /d/ -> [ɹaɾɪd] - The vowel 'pops in' to stop /ʃs/ and /td/ from being a thing - Languages also LOVE to epenthesize to stop VV --- ### 4) Deletion / Elision - When a sound is removed to stop an awkward or undesirable combination from occurring - Basically, uninviting your friend's ex from the party -
--- ### Example: Elision in English - Fifth, /fɪfθs/ -> [fɪθs] - Family, /fæmɪli/ -> [fæmli] - Natural, /næt͡ʃəɹəl/ -> [næt͡ʃɹəl] --- ### Four Common Types of Phonological Processes - Assimilation (Peer Pressure) - Dissimilation (Rebellion) - Insertion / Epenthesis (Showing up on a friend's date) - Deletion / Elision (Uninviting and unfriending) --- ### There are other phonological processes - They're all awesome - ... but those four are super common --- ### I'm humanizing these patterns for a reason - Before you start looking for a pattern, think about what’s changing, arising, or deleting, and what kinds of things might trigger it ---
### If a language changes /d/ to [t] next to a voiceless C, that's an example of... A) Assimilation B) Dissimilation C) Insertion / Epenthesis D) Deletion / Elision --- ### If a language changes /d/ to [t] next to a voiceless C, that's an example of... A)
Assimilation
B) Dissimilation C) Insertion / Epenthesis D) Deletion / Elision --- ### What kinds of things trigger these changes? --- # Natural Classes --- ### Plural Patterns in English - [z] after /j g d ɹ n w b m ð l i aj v u ow/ - [s] after /t p k f θ/ - [ɪz] after /tʃ dʒ s ʃ z/ --- ### A few reasons why listing sounds is no good - Lists are *inefficient* - Lists treat these phenomena as *unmotivated* - Lists *disguise relationships* among sounds - Lists aren't *graceful* --- ### Relationships among speech sounds are real - Phonology is not just algebra with symbols - Your IPA chart is not just an arbitrary scattering of sounds - Phonetic motivation for changes is often based on geography --- ### Relationships can be described in many ways - ... but the easiest way to start thinking is in terms of... --- # Natural Classes! --- ### Let's play a game!
--- ### One of these sounds is not like the other... ## /t/ /k/ /p/ /s/ - /s/ is the only fricative, all the rest are voiceless stops --- ## /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /b/ - /b/ is the only oral sound, all the rest are nasal sounds --- ## /b/ /a/ /ŋ/ /i/ /s/ - /s/ is the only voiceless sound, all the rest are voiced sounds - /n/ is the only nasal sound, all the rest are oral --- ## /l/ /s/ /ŋ/ /j/ /i/ - /i/ is the only vowel, all the rest are consonants - /s/ is the only voiceless sound - /ŋ/ is the only nasal --- ## /i/ /ɪ/ /ɛ/ /æ/ /ɔ/ - /ɔ/ is the only back vowel, all the rest are front vowels - /ɔ/ is the only rounded vowel, all the rest are unrounded --- ## /t/ /n/ /s/ /z/ /k/ - /k/ is the only non-alveolar sound - /n/ is the only nasal sound, all the rest are oral --- ## /p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ - /b/ is the only voiced stop --- ## Natural Class A set of speech sounds in a given language that is able to be uniquely, completely, and succinctly described in terms of the shared phonetic (“natural”) properties of its members. ---
--- ### Natural Class Examples - Voiceless stops (English & Spanish): [p, t, k] - Voiced fricatives (English): [v, ð, z, ʒ] - Voiced fricatives (Spanish): [β, ð, ɣ] - Front vowels (English): [iː, ɪ, eɪ, ɛ, æ] - Front vowels (Spanish): [i, e] --- ### Natural Classes in spoken languages are usually very IPA-like - Common rows, columns, or regions on the IPA chart - Anything where you can say 'these share a feature in speech production' - *Knowing the IPA is hugely helpful in phonology!* --- ### Phonological Rules *typically* involve natural classes - Natural classes can be the 'targets' of rules - [p t k] are aspirated in English - Natural classes can 'trigger' rules - [tʃ dʒ s ʃ z] trigger the [ɪz] plural - Very often, rules will act on groups of sounds which share features --- ### So, as you're writing your phonological rules... - ## Keep it classy! - (Naturally) --- ## Any questions? --- ## Now, let's try some datasets --- ### What is the relationship between [j] and [w] here?
Falsificato
English
Falsificato
English
iji
blacksmith
uwu
small
kaju
monster
jaja
laughter
howaj
sacred
buwe
marker
owowi
surprise
jobowni
person
--- ### DO NOT LOOK AT THIS UNTIL YOU'VE WORKED THE PROBLEM --- ### /j/ -> [w] / [rounded vowels]___ - This implies that '/j/ -> [j] / everywhere else' - You don't have to write the second part, it's assumed --- ### What is the relationship between [t] and [d] here?
Fakodata
English
Fakodata
English
taʃa
kitten
svitat
bird
pladna
tack
padme
princess
midna
companion
tatanka
buffalo
redmat
rhythm
krita
painter
sitka
tree
gjatzo
ocean
--- ### DO NOT LOOK AT THIS UNTIL YOU'VE WORKED THE PROBLEM --- ### /t/ -> [d] / ___[nasals] - This implies that '/t/ -> [t] / everywhere else' --- ### What's the relationship between [d] and [j]?
Falsificato
English
Falsificato
English
iji
blacksmith
dadeja
paternity
jadas
talking
jowonda
vision
kaju
monster
sijesda
sleep
hodil
invest
buwed
markers
meda
technocrat
jajas
laughing
--- ### DO NOT LOOK AT THIS UNTIL YOU'VE WORKED THE PROBLEM --- ### /d/ and /j/ are different phonemes - There's a minimal pair! --- ### What's the relationship between [t] and [s] here?
Beeyessa
English
Beeyessa
English
Beeyessa
English
tint
dark
asint
less dark
intint
darker
tas
fast
asas
less fast
intas
faster
tust
terrifying
asust
less terrifying
intust
more terrifying
tontin
cute
asontin
less cute
intontin
more cute
tejki
nerdy
asejki
less nerdy
intejki
nerdier
--- ### DO NOT LOOK AT THIS UNTIL YOU'VE WORKED THE PROBLEM --- ### /t/ -> [s] / V___ - This is the best answer - [t] shows up in many more contexts than [s], so it's underlying! - It is incorrect to say something like '/t/ becomes [s] in 'less' words'. - **Phonology just worries about sounds** --- ### Next time - We'll wrap up phonology, and talk about how words work ---
Thank you!