Introduction to

English Linguistics (II)

Professor Seongha Rhee

[email protected]
 Chapter 5. Phonology (I)
(226-238)
1. What is Phonology?
2. Pronunciation of Morphemes
3. Phonemes

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 1. What is Phonology?

• the study of sound patterns in human

language

cf. phonetics vs. phonology:

properties vs. systems (= patterns)

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• Phonological knowledge is a part of linguistic
knowledge.

• It enables recognition and production of speech.

• It enables a speaker to know which sounds can

occur where.

• Application of the knowledge is unconscious.

cf. aspiration

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2. The Pronunciation of Morphemes

2.0 Minimal Pairs

2.1 The Pronunciation of Plurals
2.2 Exceptions to the Plural Rule
2.3 Allomorphy in English

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• minimal pairs:

two different forms that are identical in

every way except for one sound segment
that occurs in the same place in the string

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• cf. consonants...

bead vs. deed

bowl vs. dole
rube vs. rude
lobe vs. load
etc.

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• cf. vowels...
beat vs. bit vs. bait vs. bet vs. bat
vs. bite vs. boot vs. but vs. boat
vs. bought vs. bout vs. bot...

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• cf. glides...

bile vs. bowel vs. boil...

N.B. A diphthong is a single vowel.

• Contrastive sounds can be found by the

minimal pair test.

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• nonsense words, possible words, accidental gaps

• Finding contrastive sounds by means of

minimal pairs may not be easy because of
accidental gaps

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• cf. [ɵ] vs. [ð] contrast

ether vs. either

teeth vs. teethe
thigh vs. thy
mouth vs. mouthe
loath vs. loathe
wreath vs. wreathe
sheath vs. sheathe ....
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 2.1 The Pronunciation of Plurals
• dog, dogs, cat, cats, bus, buses

A: cab, cad, bag, love, lathe, cam, can, bang,

call, bar, spa, boy
B: cap, cat, back, cuff, faith
C: bus, bush, buzz, garage, match, badge
D: child, ox, mouse, criterion, sheep

• How do you know how to pronounce these words?

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• allomorphs for plural morpheme:

[z], [s], [əz]

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• Rule Formation 1:

Allomorph Environment (After x)

[z] [kæb], [kæd], [bæg], [lʌv], [leð],
[kæm], [kæn], [bæŋ], [kɔl], [bar],
[spa], [bɔɪ]...

[s] [kæp], [kæt], [bæk], [kʌf], [feɵ]...

[əz] [bʌs], [bʊʃ], [bʌz], [gəraʒ], [mæʧ],

[bæʤ]...
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• Rule Formation 2:

Allomorph Environment (After x)

[z] [b], [d], [g], [v], [ð], [m], [n],
[ŋ], [l], [r], [a], [ɔɪ]...

[s] [p], [t], [k], [f], [ɵ]...

[əz] [s], [ʃ], [z], [ʒ], [ʧ], [ʤ]...

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• Rule Formation 3:

Allomorph Environment (After x)

[z] voiced nonsibilant segments
[s] voiceless nonsibilant segments
[əz] sibilant segments

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• Phonological rules for plural suffix -(e)s: /z/

• Rule (1):
Insert a [ə] before the plural morpheme when
a regular noun ends in a sibilant — /s,z,š,ž,č,ǰ/
— giving [əz]

• Rule (2):
Change the plural morpheme to voiceless [s]
when a voiceless sound precedes it.

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• morphophonemic rules

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 2.2 Exceptions to the Plural Rule
• child, ox, woman, foot, mouse, sheep...

• mental representation of plural forms?

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 2.3 Allomorphy in English:
Additional Examples
[Past tense]
• A: gloat, state, raid, ... add [əd]

• B: grab, hug, seethe, love, buzz, rouge, judge,

fan, ram, long, kill, care, tie, bow, hoe...
add [d]

• C: reap, peak, unearth, huff, kiss, wish, pitch,

patch... add [t]

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[Past tense]
• A: gloat, state, raid, ... add [əd]
• B: grab, hug, seethe, love, buzz, rouge, judge, fan, ram,
long, kill, care, tie, bow, hoe... add [d]
• C: reap, peak, unearth, huff, kiss, wish, pitch, patch...
add [t]

• Characteristic features:
• A: non-nasal alveolar stops >> [əd]
• B: voiced, except for [d] >> [d]
• C: voiceless, except for [t] >> [t]

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• Phonological rules for past tense suffix: -ed: /d/

• Rule (1):
Insert a [ə] before the past-tense morpheme
when a regular verb ends in an alveolar stop
— /t, d/ — giving [əd].

• Rule (2):
Change the past-tense morpheme to a
voiceless [t] when a voiceless sound precedes it.

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• [Negative prefix]

• homorganic nasal rule

• [ĩn] before vowels: inexcusable, inattentive
before alveolars: intolerable, indefinable,
insurmountable
• [ĩm] before labials: impossible, imbalance,
immaterial
• [ĩŋ] before velars: incomplete, inglorious

※ Change the place of articulation of the nasal

negative morpheme to agree with the place of
articulation of a following consonant.

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 3. Phonemes
3.1 Vowel Nasalization and Allophones
3.2 Stop Aspiration and Allophones
3.3 Complementary Distribution

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[Phoneme]

• the phonological units of language

[Related concepts]
• phoneme, allophone,
‘individual’ sounds,
‘distinctive’ sounds,
‘contrastive’ sounds

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• phoneme:
the basic form of a sound that the
hearer's mind senses

• allophone:
actual sound corresponding to the
phoneme in various environments

• e.g. phoneme /p/

allophones [ph], [p]

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 3.1 Vowel Nasalization and Allophones

be [bi] bead [bid] bean [bĩn]

roe [ro] robe [rob] roam [rõm]
lay [le] lace [les] lame [lem]

cf. Non-words:
*[bĩ]*[bĩd] *[bin]
*[lĕ] *[lĕs] *[lem]
*[bǣ] *[bǣd] *[bæŋ]

• Rule: Nasalize a vowel or diphthong before

a nasal segment.
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• Oral/Nasal vowels do not contrast in English.

• Allophones are predictable phonetic variant of

a phoneme (because their occurrences are
rule-governed.)

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• Unlike nasality modulation, tongue height
modulation for vowels contrasts in English.

beat [bit] [i] boot [but] [u]

bit [bɪt] [ɪ] but [bʌt] [ʌ]
bait [bet] [e] boat [bot] [o]
bet [bɛt] [ɛ] bought [bɔt] [ɔ]
bat [bæt] [æ] bout [baʊt] [aʊ]
bite [baɪt] [aɪ] bot [bat] [a]

• ※Any two of these words form a minimal pair.

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• phone:
a particular realization (= pronunciation)
of a phoneme

• The collection of phones that are the realizations

of the same phoneme are called the allophones
of that phoneme.

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phoneme /t/

allophones [th] [t] [ɾ]

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3.2 Stop Aspiration and Allophones

• allophones of the phoneme /t/: [th] [t] [ɾ]

tick [thɪk] stick [stɪk]

hits [hɪts] bitter [bɪɾər]

※ Pronouncing tick as [thɪk], [tɪk], [ɾɪk] will not

change meaning, but only awkward for the last two.

※ Most phonemes have more than one allophone, and

the phonological rules dictate when the different
allophones occur.
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 3.3 Complementary Distribution

[Free variation: no meaning contrast]

cf. don't, can't, butter, water, button,....

cf. rope, target, cake,....
cf. economics, ....

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[Complementary Distribution]

dead - alive
present - absent

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[Complementary distribution]

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• When sounds are in complementary distribution,
they do not contrast with each other.

• A phoneme is a set of phonetically similar sounds

that are in complementary distribution.

• Speakers of a language generally perceive the

different allophones of a single phoneme as the
same sound or phone. << valuable misconception!

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 Thank you!

See you next week!

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