Introduction to

Linguistics
Session 8: Phonology
Edi Brata
http://edibrata.com

What is Phonology?

The subeld of linguistics that

studies the structure and systematic
patterning of sounds in human
language (Akmajian et.al, 2010:110)

What is Phonology?

Essentially the description of the

systems and patterns of speech
sounds in a language (Yule,
2006:43)

What is Phonology?

Governs

both sound patterns and

systematic phonetic variation found in
language (OGrady et.al, 2005: 57)
The study of how speech sounds form
patterns (Fromkin et.al, 2011:267)
It is a study about phonemes.

Phoneme

The smallest contrastive unit in

the sound system of a
language.

Phone Vs. Phoneme

Phone

Phoneme

One of many possible sounds in

the languages of the world.

A contrastive unit in the sound

system of a particular language.

The smallest identiable unit

found in a stream of speech.

A minimal unit that serves to

distinguish between meanings of
words.

Pronounced in a dened way.

Pronounced in one or more ways,

depending on the number of
allophones.

Represented between brackets

by convention.

Represented between slashes

by convention

[b], [j], [o]

/b/, /j/, /o/

Phoneme

Phoneme can be identied by contrastive

analysis called as minimal pairs.
Two sounds are said to be contrastive if
replacing one with the other results in a
change of meaning.
Two sounds are said to be noncontrastive
if replacing one with the other does not
result in a change of meaning.

Minimal Pairs

A minimal pair consists of two forms

with distinct meanings that differ by
only one segment found in the same
position in each form.
Which one(s) of these pairs are minimal
pairs?
a. [] and []
b. [] and []
c. [] and []

// and // are
phonemes

Same Sound or Different

Sound?

Within a given language, some sounds

are considered to be the same sound,
even though they are phonetically
distinct.
Same or different?
pool [phul] spool [spul]
phonetically different (aspirated vs.
unaspirated)
native speakers perceive the same sound
It is called as allophones.

English Phoneme

Allophone

One of a set of non-distinctive

realizations of the same phoneme.
Corresponds to something physical
produced by a speaker.
It is variants of a phoneme.

Articulatory Processes

Assimilation:
Two sounds becoming more alike

Regressive Assimilation

Assimilation in which a sound influences

the preceding segment.
E.g. indenite, impossible, incomplete

Progressive Assimilation

Assimilation in which a sound influences

the following segment.
E.g. books, bags

[-z] or [-s]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Bananas
Grapes
Lemons
Cookies
Cakes
Tarts
Potatoes
Carrots

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

[-z]
[-s]
[-z]
[-z]
[-s]
[-s]
[-z]
[-s]

[-d], [-t], or [-id]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Studied
Kicked
Eliminate
d
Erased
Looked
Typed
Measured
Surrounde
d

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

[-d]
[-t]
[-id]
[-d]
[-t]
[-t]
[-d]
[-id]

Dissimilation:
Two Sounds Becoming Less Alike

o
o

Fifths: [f f s] [f f t s]
Three fricatives
fricative+stop+fricative

Deletion

o
o

A process that removes a segment

from certain phonetic context.
In English, a schwa [] is often
deleted when the next vowel in the
word is stressed.
suppose: [spz] [spz]

Epenthesis

o
o

A process that inserts a segment into

a particular environment.
For example:
(in careful speech) something is
pronounced
[smp] instead of [sm]

Metathesis

o
o
o

A process that reorders a sequence of

segments
Commonly, in speech of children
For example:
o
o

spaghetti is pronounced pesgheti

first become frist

Vowel Reduction

The articulation of a vowel moves to a

more central position when the vowel
is unstressed.
For example:
considerate vs. consideration
Canada vs. Canadian

Thank You!
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