PHONOLOGY AND

MORPHOLOGY
 Class Activities

1.Presentations
2.Class discussions
3.Assignments
Reference
Google Classroom

https://classroom.google.
com/c/NzU3MjQ5ODMzMj
Ew?cjc=pdpsrw4

Class code: pdpsrw4

 Introduction
• The speech sound of a language is formed from vowels and
consonants.
• Vowels articulation doesn’t involve any obstruction of the
air.
• Consonants articulation involves obstruction of the air.
• The life of a sound consists of 3 steps or stages:
• Generation is the actual physical production of speech
sounds.
• Transmission requires a device able to carry the sound.
This device is naturally the air. It’s the latter which
transmits the sound to the human ear.
• Reception requires a device capable of identifying the
sound. This device is our ears.
 Phonetics
• The general study of the characteristics of speech sounds is
called phonetics.
• Phonetically: Speech is studied along 3 parameters:
• Articulatory phonetics is the study of how speech sounds
are made or articulated.
• Acoustic phonetics deals with the physical properties of
speech as sound waves in the air.
• Auditory phonetics (or perceptual phonetics) deals with the
perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.
• N.B. Focus will be on articulatory phonetics
 Phonetics vs Phonology
•The key Differences
•Phonology is concerned with the abstract,
whereas phonetics is concerned with the physical
properties of sounds.
•However, in phonology though every ‘p’ is
produced slightly different every time, the
actual sound is the same. This highlights a key
difference between phonetic and phonology as
even though no two ‘p’s are the same, they
represent the same sound in the language.
 Phonetics vs Phonology
• 1. Phonological Example:
• the plural morpheme "-s" has different pronunciations depending on
the final sound of the word:
• /s/ as in "cats" [kæts]
• /z/ as in "dogs" [dɒɡz]
• /ɪz/ as in "buses" [ˈbʌsɪz]
• Phonologically, these are all the same plural morpheme,
but phonetically, they are different sounds.

• 2. Phonetic Example:
• the /p/ sound in "pat" and "spat", has a phonetic difference:
• In "pat", the /p/ is aspirated [pʰ], it has a puff of air.
• In "spat", the /p/ is unaspirated [p], with little to no puff of air.
• though the /p/ sounds are phonetically different, phonologically they
are considered the same sound in English.
 Phonology

• Phonology is the description of the system and

patterns of speech sounds in a language.
• It is concerned with the abstract or mental
aspects of sounds in language rather than with the
actual physical articulation of speech sounds
(Phonetics).
 1. Consonants
• When linguists describe Consonants, they use three basic
criteria:
1. Voicing, (are the vocal cords vibrating)
2. Place of Articulation, and (where the sound is produced)
3. Manner of Articulation (how the sound is produced)
• Voicing
• Voiceless:
• When the vocal folds are spread apart/widely separated, the air
from the lungs passes between them freely (no vibration). Sounds
produced in this way are described as voiceless [s].
• Voiced:
• When the vocal folds are drawn together, the air from the lungs
repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a
vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are described as
voiced [z].
•
 2. Place of Articulation

• To find out the place of articulation of a specific consonant,

we have to locate the place where the contact between two
organs of speech takes place: that is, the location inside the
mouth at which the constriction takes place.

• N.B. The symbols of the phonetic symbol for specific sounds

will be enclosed within square brackets [ ].
 Place of Articulation
• Bilabial sounds are produced with the lips brought together or
touching each other. [p], [b], [m], [w], etc
• Labiodental sounds are articulated when the lower lip is in
contact with the upper front teeth. [f], [v].
• Dental sounds are produced when the tip of the tongue touches
the back of the upper teeth, as in the articulation of [θ] and [ð].
• Alveolar sounds are formed by raising the tip or blade of the
tongue to be in contact with the alveolar ridge. For example, [t],
[d], [s], [z], [n], [l] are alveolar consonants.
• Palatal sounds are produced by raising the blade, or front, of the
tongue toward or against the hard palate. In English, the only
palatal is the semi-vowel [j] sound like yes.
 Place of Articulation
• Palato-alveolars are the sounds that involve two places of articulation.
The tip of the tongue approximates the alveolar ridge, while its blade
approximates the palate. [ʃ], [ʧ], [ʒ], [ʤ] and [r] are palato-alveolars or
alveo-palatals.
• Velar sounds are produced when the back of the tongue approximates
the soft palate (velum). Examples of velars are [k], [ɡ] and [ŋ]. In
written English, [ŋ] is normally spelled as the two letters “ng” as in sing
• Uvular sounds are articulated by making the back of the tongue
approximate the uvula. Examples of uvulars are [q] and [ꭓ] as in
Arabic words /qərd/ “monkey” and / ꭓæmr/ “wine” respectively.
• Pharyngeal sounds are produced when the root of the tongue touches
the pharynx. Examples of pharyngeals are [ћ] and [Ҁ] as in Arabic
words /ћulm/ “a dream” and /Ҁæjn/ “eye” respectively.
 Place of articulation
• Glottals/laryngeal glides are formed by restricting the
airflow through the open glottis. The glottal voiceless
fricative [h] is found in have .
• Glottals are also produced at the level of the glottis. They
are produced when the vocal cords are held together
(closed) and then released, as in the glottal stop [Ɂ] found
in /biɁr/ “well” in Arabic.
 Manner of Articulation
• we check whether the consonants involve complete or
partial obstruction/ constriction of the airflow.
• Stops/plosives: These sounds are produced by stopping the
air completely (very briefly) at some point in the vocal tract
and then suddenly releasing it, which results in producing
plosives such as [p], [b], [t], [d], [k] and [ɡ].
• Fricatives: The production of these sounds involves
blocking the air at some point in the vocal tract, allowing it to
escape through a narrow opening, which causes friction
(frication). Fricative consonants are sounds such as [f], [v],
[θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ] and [h].
 Manner of Articulation
• Affricates share properties of both stops and fricatives. Initially, there
is a total obstruction of the air. But unlike stops, the blockage, instead,
is released gradually causing or producing a friction as in the
production of fricatives. English has two such sounds that are [ʧ] and
[ʤ].
• Nasals: Most sounds are produced orally, with the velum raised,
preventing airflow from entering the nasal cavity. However, when the
velum is lowered and the air stream is allowed to flow out through the
nose to produce [n], [m] and [ŋ]. English nasals are voiced.
 Manner of Articulation
• Liquids: The initial sounds in led and red are described as
liquids. They are both voiced. The [l] sound is called a lateral
liquid and is formed by letting the air stream flow around the
sides of the tongue as the tip of the tongue makes contact
with the middle of the alveolar ridge.
• Glides: The sounds [w] and [j] are described as glides. They
are typically produced with the tongue in motion (or
“gliding”) to or from the position of a vowel and are
sometimes called semi-vowels.
 Natural class
• Natural class: when a group of sounds share one or more
phonetic features, they are said to make up a natural class
(Phonetic similarity)

• Characteristics of a Natural Class:

• Shared Phonetic Features: The sounds in a natural class must
have common articulatory or acoustic properties.
• Exclusion of Other Sounds: A natural class includes all the
sounds in a language that share those features and excludes all
others.
• Phonological Patterning: The sounds in a natural class often
undergo the same phonological rules.
 Natural class
• Obstruent vs sonorant:
• Obstruent sounds produced with a significant obstruction of the
airflow in the vocal tract. They include stops
(plosives), fricatives, and affricates.

• Sonorant sounds are open and vowel-like, produced and

perceived with musicality. Vowels, semi-vowels, nasals, and
liquids are sonorant
 Natural class
• Coronal:
• Coronal sounds are produced with the front part of the tongue.
• Alveolar (e.g., /t, d, s, z, n, l/) Palato-alveolar (e.g., /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/ r)
in English

• Anterior:
• Anterior sounds are produced in the front part of the vocal
tract, in the region extending from the lips to the alveolar ridge.
This includes bilabial, dental, and alveolar sounds
• Labial: /p, b, m, f, v/
• Dental: /θ, ð/
• Alveolar: /t, d, s, z, n, l/
 Natural Class
• Sibilants sounds are produced a hissing or hushing noise. In
English, sibilants are typically associated with the following
consonants:
• /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/
International Phonetic Alphabet Chart
(Alaoui, Jmila, & Afkinich, 2019)
 Vowels
• Linguists describe vowel sounds according to the following
criteria:
• 1)Height how high/low the tongue in the mouth
• 2) backness refer to tongue position.
• 3) Roundedness refers to lip shape.
• For example, the sound that [i] is usually a “high front unrounded
vowels”.
 24

Vowels
• Following the chart is a list of the major vowels with examples of
familiar words illustrating some of the variation in spelling that is
possible for each sound.
• High vowels:
• /i/ seat
• /ɪ/ bit
• /u/ boot
• /ʊ/ put
• Mid vowels:
• /e/ say
• /ɛ/ bed
• /ə/ sofa (unstressed schwa)
• /ʌ/ cup
• /o/ go
• /ɔ/ saw
• Low vowels:
• /æ/ cat
• /a/ father (depends on dialect)
• /ɑ/ car
• 1. Front Vowels (Tongue is towards the front of the mouth)
• /i/ → seat
• /ɪ/ → bit
• /e/ → say
• /ɛ/ → bed
• /æ/ → cat
• 2. Central Vowels (Tongue is in the middle of the mouth)
• /ə/ → sofa (schwa, unstressed)
• /ʌ/ → cup
• /a/ → father (varies by dialect)
• 3. Back Vowels (Tongue is towards the back of the mouth)
• /u/ → boot
• /ʊ/ → put
• /o/ → go
• /ɔ/ → saw
• /ɑ/ → car
• 1. High Rounded Vowels:
• /u/ → boot
• /ʊ/ → put
• 2. Mid Rounded Vowels:
• /o/ → go
• /ɔ/ → saw
• 3. Low Rounded Vowel (less common in English):
• Some dialects pronounce /ɒ/ as in lot (e.g., British English)
• Unrounded Vowels for Comparison
• All front vowels like /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /æ/ are unrounded.
• Some central and back vowels like /ɑ/ and /ʌ/ are
also unrounded.
 Diphthongs
• a combination of two vowel sounds, known as diphthongs
• When we produce diphthongs, our vocal organs move from one
vocalic position [a] to another [ɪ] as we produce the sound [aɪ], as in Hi
or Bye. The movement in this diphthong is from low towards high
front.
• Alternatively, we can use movement from low towards high back,
combining [a] and [ʊ] to produce the sound [aʊ], as in [haʊ naʊ
braʊn].
• In some descriptions, the movement is interpreted as involving a glide
such as [j] or [w], so that the diphthongs we are representing as [aɪ] and
[aʊ] may sometimes be seen as [aj] or [aw].
 Diphthongs
•.
 Assignment 1
• 1. Exercise: Tick (✔) the correct answer(s) related to
consonants and vowels

• a. Consonants are produced with some degree of obstruction in

the vocal tract.
b. Vowels are produced with a complete closure of the vocal
tract.
c. Voicing is a key feature that distinguishes some pairs of
consonants, such as /p/ and /b/.
d. Diphthongs consist of a single, stable vowel sound.
e. Manner of articulation refers to how the airflow is modified in
the production of consonants.
 Assignment 2
• 2. Exercise: Tick (✔) the correct answer(s):
• a. Place of articulation refers to where in the vocal tract a
sound is produced.
b. Manner of articulation describes the degree and type of
constriction in the vocal tract during speech.
c. Voiceless sounds are produced when the vocal cords vibrate.
d. Nasal sounds are produced when air escapes through the
nose instead of the mouth.
e. Glides are consonant-like sounds that function as vowels in a
syllable.
 Assignment 3
• 1. Which of the following sets of sounds form a natural class? If
they do, specify their shared phonetic features.

1. [p, t, k]
2. [s, z, ʃ, ʒ]
3. [m, n, ŋ]
4. [i, u]
5. [f, v, θ, ð]
6. [b, d, g, p, l]
 Assignment 4
• 1. Completing the Natural Class
• Each of the following groups is a partially given natural class.
Add at least one more sound that belongs to the same class.

1. [b, d, g, _v_] --------- Voiced obstruents

2. [s, ʃ, __]
3. [p, k, __]
4. [æ, ɛ, __]
5. [m, __, ŋ]
 Assignment 5
• 1. For each of the following sounds, provide a feature
matrix using the standard distinctive features.

1. [k] [+consonantal, −voice, +stop, +velar]

2. [p]
3. [n]
4. [z]
5. [i]
 Assignment 6
• 1. Describe the sounds below in terms of the following features, in this
order:
• Nasal/oral, voiced/voiceless, place of art/manner of art
• [p]
………………………………………………………………………..
• [z]
………………………………………………………………………..
• [tʃ]
………………………………………………………………………..
• [j]
………………………………………………………………………..
• 2. What articulatory feature(s) do the sounds in each set have in
common?
• [d, n, l, z]
…………………………………………………………………..
 Assignment 7
• 1. Describe the sounds below in terms of the following features, in this
order:

Nasal/oral, voiced/voiceless, place of articulation, manner of

articulation
1. [b] ……………………………………………………………………….
.
2. [m] ………………………………………………………………………
..
3. [ʃ] ………………………………………………………………………..
4. [g] ……………………………………………………………………….
.
 Assignment 8
• 3. Give the sound corresponding to each of the following
descriptions:
• Voiceless, bilabial stop ……………….
• Voiced, alveolar fricative …………….
• Voiced, bilabial glide ………………...
• Mid, central vowel …………………...

• 4. Which sound is the odd one out?

• [p, t, z, k]
……………………………………………………………………
……
• [p, b, m, d, g]
…………………………………………………………………..
• [z, f, s, n, θ]
 Assignment 9
• 3. Provide the relevant consonants or vowels that have
these phonetic features:
• a. [+velar, -voice]: ……………………………………………..
• b. [+stop, + alveolar, - voice]: ……………………………
• c. [-back, +high] : ……………………………………………..
• d. [+ dental, -voice]: ……………………………………………..
 Assignment 10
• Exercise:
• Give the vowel sound corresponding to each of the following
descriptions:
1. High, front, unrounded vowel ………………
2. High, back, rounded vowel ………………
3. Low, central vowel ………………
4. Mid, back, rounded vowel ………………
 Assignment 11
• 1. Which vowel sound is the odd one out?
1. [iː, ɪ, e, æ] …………………………………………………
2. [uː, ʊ, ɔː, ɑː] ………………………………………………
3. [ɛ, eɪ, æ, ɒ] ………………………………………………
4. [aɪ, aʊ, ɔɪ, e] ………………………………………………

• 2. Which vowel sound is the odd one out?

1. [iː, ɪ, e, uː] ………………………………………………
2. [æ, aː, ɒ, ɔː] ………………………………………………
3. [ʊ, uː, ɜː, ə] ………………………………………………
4. [ɛ, ɪ, iː, ʊ] …………………………………………………
 Assignment 12
• 1. For each of the following words, describe the
coarticulation process happening.
1. "keen" [kʲiːn]
2. "cool" [kʷuːl]
3. "hand" [hæ̃ nd]
4. "shut up" → [ʃʌʔ ʌp] in some dialects
Thank you