Phonology

Agenda
• Narrow transcription (using diacritics to represent
other features of phones)

• Articulatory processes

• phones vs. phonemes

• Phonological analysis

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 Narrow
transcription

Transcribing phonetic variations

in more detail
 English vs. Spanish

English Spanish

pin [ph] poco [p]

pool [ph] peso [p]
pace [ph] papa [p]

tool [th] todo [t]

tea [th] te [t]
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Aspiration

Period of silence between the release of the closure

(e.g. stop) and the beginning of the following sound
(e.g. vowel)

[th] = aspirated [t]

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Aspirated vs. unaspirated
consonants in English

pin spin
[phɪn] [spɪn] Unaspirated
consonants occur
after [s] in English
tall stall
[thɑl] [stɑl]

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Aspiration

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Aspiration in English

[ph], [th], [kh]

…anything in common?
(hint: think about the articulatory features)

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All voiceless stops (natural class)
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Articulatory processes
as rules in the mind
 (Narrow) Transcription

time [thaIm] aspirated

tree [tʃɹi] palatalized
pot [phat̚] unreleased

stop [stap] unaspirated

water [waɾɚ] flap (voiced)

glottal stop
button [bʌʔṇ]

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But we have the intuition that they are
all “t” sounds…

(in fact, they are all spelled with ‘t’ in English)

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 How do we store the pronunciations of
“water” and “button”?

[waɾɚ] or [watɚ]
[bʌʔṇ] or [bʌtṇ]

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Hypothesis A: [waɾɚ] must be stored as a
special pronunciation of “water” (i.e.
simple memorization)

Hypothesis B: the pronunciation of “t” as a

flap [ɾ] is derived by a rule

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Is the pronunciation
predictable?
[th] [ɾ] [ʔ]
time water button
top little kitten
table butter carton
notable

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Patterns (Generalizations)
[th] occurs at the beginning of stressed
syllables

[ɾ] occurs between two vowels

[ʔ] occurs in the middle of words before a

syllabic nasal ([ən] or [ṇ]).

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Articulatory Processes

• Sounds are pronounced differently in

different environments

These are RULES in mental grammar

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 Phonological Rule
The sound /t/ changes to [ʔ] before a syllabic
nasal

/t/ → [ʔ] / __ [ṇ]

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Phonological Rule

The sound /t/ changes to [ɾ] between

vowels

/t/ → [ɾ] / ’V __ V

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 Different pronunciations of /t/
in English
[ɾ]
Phonological rules MAP
[tʃ] mental representations
/t/ to surface forms
[t]
Why do we all think that
[th] these surface forms are “the
same sound” ?
What’s stored in
the mind Surface forms
(i.e., actual articulation) 20
The way words are stored in the
Mental Lexicon
time /taım/
tree /tɹi/
pot /pat/
stop /stap/
water /watɚ/
button /bʌtən/
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 [waɾɚ] and [wɑɾəɹ] are both acceptable transcriptions
and refer to the same pronunciation

Lexicon Rules Output

/wɑtɚ/ /t/ → [ɾ] / ‘V_ V [wɑɾɚ]

Phoneme Allophone

Note: // (phonemic) vs. [ ] (phonetic) 22

 Phoneme
• the abstract representation of a sound
• the way the sound is stored in word in the
mental lexicon

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 Allophone
• how the sound is actually produced in a given
environment
• an instance of a phoneme

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Allophone

Environment =
the phonological context of a sound
position in a syllable/word
neighboring sounds

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Summarizing so far…

There are RULES in the mental grammar

that determine the pronunciations of
sounds

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Building a Grammar
What is stored What we hear
Lexicon Output

/tɑım/ RULES [thaIm]

/tɹi/ [tʃɹi]
/pɑt/ [phat̚]
/stɑp/ [stap]
/wɑtəɹ/ [waɾɚ]
/bʌtən/ [bʌʔṇ] 27
Different pronunciations of /t/
in English
[ɾ]
[tʃ]
/t/
[t]
[th]
Phoneme
Allophones
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Articulatory processes are
• Rules in the mind
• Not automatic reflexes of the vocal tract

Different processes in different languages and

dialects

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Note for this class

• Focus on understanding
• WHY we think there are rules
• HOW we find and state those rules

• It is less important to remember

• WHAT those rules are, or what the relevant language data
looks like

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 How to find
phonemes and rules
across languages
Inventory of Phonemes
• What are the phonemes and allophones in a
language?
• We need a way to identify/distinguish
phonemes and allophones

• Steps in finding out the phonemic status of

sounds (Phonemic Analysis)

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Phonemic analysis steps

1. Look for minimal pairs (contrastive

distribution?)
2. If no minimal pairs, then is there a
complementary distribution for particular
sounds? → Search for generalizations
3. Generalizations → Rules

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 Phonemic Analysis - 1

First step: look for minimal pairs

• if difference between sounds causes a difference in
meaning
=> contrastive
=> different phonemes

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 Phonemic Analysis - 1

• Are [p] and [b] different phonemes in English?

pin vs. bin [pɪn] vs. [bɪn]

tap vs. tab [tæp] vs. [tæb]
→ contrastive distribution

Conclusion:
/p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes 35
Phonemic Analysis - 1
[wɑɾɚ]
[wɑtɚ]
... no difference in meaning!
→ free variation; optional rules

[ɾ] and [t] are allophones of /t/

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 Phonemic Analysis - 1
• Lexicon – collection of Sound + Meaning pairs

• Sound information in lexical items is encoded

in terms of phonemes

• That’s why only phonemes affect meanings

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Phonemic Analysis - 2

Second step:
If no minimal pairs, look for a pattern
(distribution of the two sounds)
• What environments does sound X occur in?
• What environments does sound Y occur in?

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Phonemic Analysis - 2
can /k(æ)n/
I can ask [aɪ kn æsk]
I can see [aɪ kn si]
I can bake [aɪ km beɪk]
I can play [aɪ km pleɪ]
I can go [aɪ kŋ goʊ]
I can gather [aɪ kŋ gæðəɹ]
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Phonemic Analysis - 2

I can ask [aɪ kn æsk] k_æ

I can see [aɪ kn si] k_s
I can bake [aɪ km beɪk] k_b
I can play [aɪ km pleɪ] k_p
I can go [aɪ kŋ goʊ] k_g
I can gather [aɪ kŋ gæðəɹ] k_g

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Phonemic Analysis – 3
Generalizations
[m] occurs before a bilabial consonant
[ŋ] occurs before a velar consonant
[n] occurs everywhere else (elsewhere)

→ Complementary distribution (they do not

occur in the same environment)

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Phonemic Analysis – 3
Generalizations => Rules
/n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial consonant
/n/ → [m] / ___ bilabial stop (nasal & oral)
/n/ becomes [ŋ] before a velar consonant
/n/ → [ŋ] / ___ velar stop
elsewhere /n/ is pronounced [n]
/n/ → [n] / elsewhere 42
 Important notes

• Generalizations ≠ Rules!!!

• Generalizations: patterns you see in the data (e.g. x

occurs in y environment)

• Rules: statement about the mental operations that

convert phonemes to allophones (e.g. x becomes y
in z environment)

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Question 1: Which is the
underlying phoneme?

[m] occurs before a bilabial stop

[ŋ] occurs before a velar stop

[n] occurs everywhere else

→ [n] has a wider distribution; likely to be the

default for Tuesday)
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Question 2:
But don’t [m] and [n] belong to
separate phonemes in English?
• How can you show that [m] and [n] are
separate phonemes?

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[m] and [n]

/n/ /m/

[n] [m] [ŋ] [m]

Some phonemes have overlapping surface

realizations
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Allophones and distributions
/p/

[ph] [p]
a) Superman and Clark Kent
How do we know that they are actually the same person?
→ They can NEVER occur in the same environment at the
same time.
b) Ice, water, steam:
Are all H2O but have a different manifestation depending on
the environment they occur in:
<0C → occurs as ice
> 0 C and < 100 C → occurs as water
> 100 C → occurs as steam
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Phonemic analysis steps

1. Look for minimal pairs (contrastive

distribution?)
2. If no minimal pairs, then is there a
complementary distribution for particular
sounds? → Search for generalizations
3. Generalizations → Rules

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Natural class
Earlier example: /n/
can /k(æ)n/
I can ask [aɪ kn æsk]
I can see [aɪ kn si]
I can bake [aɪ km beɪk]
I can play [aɪ km pleɪ]
I can go [aɪ kŋ goʊ]
I can gather [aɪ kŋ gæðəɹ]
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Generalizations => Rules

/n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial consonant

/n/ → [m] / ___ bilabial stop
/n/ becomes [ŋ] before a velar consonant
/n/ → [ŋ] / ___ velar stop
elsewhere /n/ is pronounced [n]
/n/ → [n] / elsewhere 51
 More data: /t/ and /d/
• hat trick [hæt tʃɹIk]
• hit batsman [hIp bætsmən]
• night class [nɑIk klæs]

• bad dream [bæd dʒɹim]

• head band [hɛb bænd]
• bad guy [bæg gaI]

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 More rules
• /n/ → [m] / ___ (bi)labial consonant
/n/ → [ŋ] / ___ velar consonant
/n/ → [n] / elsewhere
• /t/ → [p] / ___ (bi)labial consonant
/t/ → [k] / ___ velar consonant
/t/ → [t] / elsewhere
• /d/ → [b] / ___ (bi)labial consonant
/d/ → [g] / ___ velar consonant
/d/ → [d] / elsewhere
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 Back to features…
• /n/ = voiced, alveolar nasal (stop)
• /t/ = voiceless, alveolar stop
• /d/ = voiced, alveolar stop

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 Back to features…
• /n/ = voiced, alveolar nasal (stop)
• /t/ = voiceless, alveolar stop
• /d/ = voiced, alveolar stop

• Are there any other alveolar stops in English?

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56
• /n/, /t/ and /d/ form a Natural Class of alveolar
stop.
• Natural class: group of sounds in a language that
share one or more articulatory property to the
exclusion of all other sounds in that language.

• Revised rule:
Alveolar stop → velar stop / __ velar stop

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 Why natural classes?
• For the following data, what’s wrong with stating a rule like
(1) instead of (2) or (3)?
I can bake [aɪ km beɪk]
I can play [aɪ km pleɪ]
(1) /n/ becomes [m] before [b]; /n/ becomes [m] before [p]
(2) /n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial stop
(3) /n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial consonant

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 Stating Rules
• Whenever possible, you MUST use natural class in
your rule statement!

• The more general the rules are, the better

• Makes strong, easily-testable predictions

e.g., /n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial consonant

Prediction: The same change in e.g. “I can wink”?

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 Stating Rules
• Whenever possible, you MUST use natural class in
your rule statement!

• The more general the rules are, the better

• Makes strong, easily-testable predictions
• Fewer rules to store in the mind (simpler, parsimonious theory)
• Fewer rules for children to learn (remember the paradox)

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Natural Class Exercise
• Which phones belong to the following
natural classes?

• high vowels
• back vowels
• voiceless fricatives
• voiced bilabial
• labial consonants

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Assimilation

• /n/ → [m] / ___ bilabial stop

• /n/ → [ŋ] / ___ velar stop
• /n/ → [n] / elsewhere

• What feature assimilates?

• Place of articulation

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Dissimilation
Greek
/epta/ → [efta]
/ktizma/ → [xtizma]

What dissimilates here?

Manner of articulation

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Insertion
Plural forms of…
fox, ditch, bush, orange, maze

• Schwa insertion (epenthesis) in English

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Deletion
• He handed her his hat.

• /h/ - deletion

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