MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Phonology: The Sound Patterns of

Language Canacan, Sharlyn
Daligdig, Kieth Bryan
Estopia, Mae
Jomento, Christelle Nicole
Lagud, Charlon
Saligumba, Samantha
Tortor, Ayessa Jade
 MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Objectives:

1.To determine what is phonology and its

unalike parts.
2.To present what's in phonology.
3.To pinpoint the importance of phonology
 MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Phonology

according to David Odden (2012) is one of the core fields that

composes the discipline of linguistics which is defined as the
scientific study of language structure.
Phonology is the study of sound structure in language which is
different from the study of sentence structure (syntax) or word
structure (morphology), or how languages change over time
(historical linguistics).
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The Pronunciation of Morphemes

Sometimes certain morphemes are pronounced differently depending on
their context. The English plural morpheme has three different pronunciations
depending on what noun you attach to it. For example: It gets pronounced as a
[z] for words like cab, bag and bar. It gets pronounced as a [s] for words like
cap, back and faith. It gets pronounced as a [əz] for words like bus, garage and
match.
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A minimal pair is same place in each word. Minimal pairs whose

member take different forms of two words with different meanings
that are identical except for one sound that occurs in the f the plural
allomorph are particularly helpful for our purposes.
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1. Insert a [ə] before the plural morpheme [z], when a regular noun ends
with a sibilant, giving [əz].
2. Change the plural morpheme [z] to a voiceless [s] when preceded by
a voiceless sound.
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 MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Additional Example of Allomorphs The formation of

the regular past tense of English verbs parallels the
formation of regular plurals. Like plurals, some
irregular past tenses conform to no particular rule and
must be learned individually, such as go/went,
sing/sang, and hit/hit. And like plurals, there are three
phonetic past-tense morphemes for regular verbs: [d],
[t] and [əd].
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1. Insert a [ə] before the past-tense morpheme when a regular verb

ends in a non-nasal alveolar stop, giving [əd].
2. Change the past-tense morpheme to a voiceless [t] when a voiceless
sound precedes it.
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Two further allomorphs in English are the possessive morpheme and third-
person singular morpheme, spelled as s or es.
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Phonemes: The Phonological Units of Language

Phonemes, often known as the basic form of a sound, are sensed

in your head as opposed to being spoken or heard. Each phoneme is
connected to one or more sounds, known as allophones, that
represent the phoneme's actual sound in diverse contexts.

What is Allophone?
Allophone is any of the various phonetic realizations of a phoneme
in a language, which do not contribute to distinctions of meaning.
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Vowel Nasalization in English as an Illustration of

Allophones English contains a general phonological rule
that determines the contexts in which vowels are nasalized.
Note that both oral and nasal vowels occur phonetically
in English.
m, n, and ng are the nasalized consonants. Its preceding
vowel becomes nasalized also as preparation to the
nasalized consonants.
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Distinctive Features of Phonemes

For two phones, or sounds, to contrast meaning in minimal pairs ,

there must be some difference between them.
For example, the phonetic feature of voicing distinguishes [s] from [z] in
minimal pairs such as [sip vs [zip]
For two phones, or sounds, to contrast meaning in minimal pairs,
there must be some difference between them and that is a distinctive
feature or a phonemic feature.
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Feature Values
Features carry two values: [+ feature] and [- feature] to indicate the
presence and absence of that particular feature. At least one feature difference
must distinguish each phoneme of a language.
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Phonemic Patterns May Vary Across Languages

The same phones may occur in two languages but pattern differently
because the phonologies of the languages are different
While aspiration is not distinctive in English, it is distinctive in Hindi
and Thai too, for instance:
[kaal] ‘time’ [k haal] ‘skin’ [taal] ‘beat’ [thaal] ‘plate’
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Natural Classes of Speech Sound

Natural Class is a group of sound described by a small

number of distinctive feature. In phonology, a natural class is a
set of phonemes in a language that share certain distinctive
features.

Natural Classes can be defined by +/- feature values.

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For example:

/p/ /t/ /k/ form a natural class as they share laryngeal state
(voiceless) and manner (stop).

All three undergo the same phonological process (Aspiration) in the

same environment (at the beginning of the stressed syllable: pill, till,
kill but not on spill, skill and skill.
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Feature Specifications of Major Classes of Sounds

This illustrates how + and – features of values combine to define

some major classes of phonemes. The presence of +/- indicates
that the sound may or may not possess feature depending on its
context.
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[+high] in the vowel feature chart of Table 2.2.; the natural class
of voiced stops /b, m, d, n, g, n, / are the ones marked [+voice] [-
continuant] in the consonant chart of Table 2.3.
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Voice Features
 
[ Voice] [+ Voice] voiced
[- Voice] voiceless
 
[ Spread Glottis] [+ Spread Glottis] aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ]
[- Spread Glottis] unaspirated
 
[ Constricted Glottis] [+ Constricted Glottis] ejectives, implosives
[- Constricted Glottis] everything else
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Manner Features
 
[ Continuant] [+ Continuant] fricatives [f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, θ, ð]
only for [- Sonorants] [- Continuant] stops [p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ]
 
[ Nasal] [+ Nasal] nasal consonants [m, n, ŋ]
[- Nasal] all oral consonants
[ Lateral] [+ Lateral] [l]
[- Lateral] [r]
[ Delayed Release] [+ Delayed Release] affricates [ʧ, ʤ]
[- Delayed Release] stops [p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ]
[ Strident] [+ Strident] “noisy” fricatives [f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ]
[- Strident] [θ, ð]
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Place Features
 
[Labial] involves lips [f, v, p, b, w]
 
[Coronal] alveolar ridge to palate [θ, ð, s, z, t, d, ʃ, ʒ, n, r, l]
[ Anterior] [+ Anterior] interdentals and true alveolars
[- Anterior] retroflex and palatals [ʃ, ʒ, j]
 
[Dorsal] from velum back [k, g, ŋ]
 
[Glottal] in larynx [h, ʔ]
 
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Vowels Diacritics
   
Height [ high] [ low] Labialized [+ round]
Backness [ back] Palatalized [- back]
Lip Rounding [ round] Syllabic [+ syllabic]
Tenseness [ tense]
 

V = Vowel C = Obstruent Consonant

[- Cons] [+ Cons]
[+ Son] [- Son]
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The Rules of Phonology

Assimilation Rules- an feature-changing rule that makes neighboring segments
more similar by adding the feature [+nasal] to the vowel. Assimilation rules stem
from articulatory processes. There is a tendency when we speak to make
articulation easier. It is easier to lower the velum while a vowel is being pronounced
before a nasal stop than to wait for the completion of the vowel and then require the
velum to move suddenly.
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The Rules of Phonology

To the left of the arrow is the class of sounds that is affected. To the right of the arrow is the
phonetic change that occurs. The phonological environment follows the slash. The underscore _ is
the relative position of the sound to be changed within the environment, in this case before a nasal
segment. The dollar sign denotes a syllable boundary and guarantees that the environment does not
cross over to the next syllable.
This rule tells us that the vowels in such words as den /dεn/ will become nasalized to [dέn], but
deck /dεk/ will not be affected and is pronounced [dεk] because /k/ is not a nasal consonant. As well,
a word such as dental /dεn$tǝl/ will be pronounced [dεn$tǝl]: we have showed the syllable boundary
explicitly. However, the first vowel in denote, /di$not/, will not be nasalized, because the nasal
segment does not precede the syllable boundary, so the "within a syllable" condition is not met.
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Dissimilation Rules- When a sound changes one of its features to become less
similar to an adjacent sound , usually to make the two sounds more distinguishable.
Example of this is: toy boat being more difficult to articulate repeatedly than sail
boat, because the [ᴐı] of toy is more similar to the [o] of boat than to the [e] of sail.

Segment Insertion and Deletion Rules- The process of inserting a consonant or

vowel is called epenthesis. It is required in all English when forming regular plurals,
possessive forms, and third-person singular verb agreement.

Segments deletion rules are commonly found in many languages and are far more
common than segment insertion rules. One such rule in English occurs in casual or
rapid speech. We often delete the unstressed vowels in words such as the following: -
Segments deletion rules are commonly found in many languages and are far more
common than segment insertion rules. One such rule in English occurs in casual or
rapid speech. We often delete the unstressed vowels in words such as the following:
 MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Prosodic Feature

Syllable Structure
Syllable is a phonological unit composed of one or more phonemes. Every syllable
has a nucleus which is usually a vowel (but can be a syllable liquid or nasal) the
syllable may be preceded and/or followed by one or more phonemes called onset
and coda.
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Prosodic Phonology
Example:
Jack and Jill
Went up the Hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
For this reason, the nucleus+coda constitute the sub-syllabic
unit called a rime.
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Word Stress

In many languages, including English, one or more of the

syllables in every content word are stressed. A stressed
syllable, which can be marked by an acute accent (’), is
perceived as an unstressed syllable.
Example:
pérvert (noun) as in "My neighbor is a pervert"
pervért (verb) as in "Don't pervert the idea"
sùbject (noun) as in "Let's change the subject"
subjéct (verb) as in "He'll subject us to criticism"
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Some words may contain more than one stressed vowel, but exactly one of the
stressed vowel is more prominent than the others. The vowel that receives primary
stressed is marked by an acute accent ('). The other stressed vowels are indicated by
grave accents (') over the vowels (these vowels receive secondary stress).

Example:
résignátion língùistics systèmatīc
fúndàmental íntrodùctory rèvólution

Stress is a property of a syllable rather than a segment. It is a prosodic or

suprasegmental feature
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Sentence and Phrase Stress

"What can I do Tertius?" said Rosamond, turning her eyes again from him. That little speech of
four words like so many others in all languages, is capable by varied inflexions of expressing all
states of minds from helpless dimness to exhaustive argumentative perception. From the
completes self-devoting fellowship to the most neutral aloofness (Eliot,1872).
Compound Noun Adjective+Noun
tīghtrópe (" a rope for acrobatics") tíght rópe ("a rope drawn traut")
rédcóat (" a british soldier") rèd còat ("a coat that is red")
hótdóg ("a frankfurter") hót dòg ("an overheated dog")
whīte hóuse ("the President's house") whíte hóuse ("a house that is white")
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Intonation
- contrasting tone
- pitch contour/intonation
In English intonation may reflect syntactic or semantic differences.
Example:
What is your middle name David?
A sentence that is ambiguous in writing may be unambiguous when spoken because of the
differences in the pitch contour.
Tristan left directions for Isolde to follow.
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Sequential Constraint of Phonemes

Suppose you were given the following four phonemes and asked to arrange them to form
all possible English words:
/b/ /I/ /k/l/
You would be likely produce the following;
/blik/, /klib/, /bilk/, /kilb/
These are the permissible arrangement of the phonemes in English. */Ibki/ */ilbk/ */bkil/,
and */ilkb/ are not possible English words. Although /blik/ and /klib/ are not now existing
words, if you heard someone say:
“I just bought new blick” – You might ask “whats’s a blick?”
If, on the other hand, you might heard someone say:
“I just bought a beautiful new lbik” – you might reply, “You just bought a new what?”
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This part tests your English phonology which includes information about the sequence of
phenomes are permissible, and what sequence are not. After a consonant such as
/b/,/g/,/k/,/p/, another stop consonant in the same syllable is not permitted by the phonology.
If a word begins with an, /l/, or an /r/, the next segment must be a vowel. That is why */lbik/
does not sound like an English word. It violates the restrictions on the sequencing of
phonemes. People who likes to work crossword puzzles are often more aware of these
constraints than the ordinary speaker, whose knowledge, as we emphasized, may not be
conscious. Other such constraints exist in English. If the initial sounds of chill or Jill begin a
word, the next sound must be a vowel. The words /tfvt/ and /tfon/ and /tfaek/ are possible in
English (chut, chone, chack) as are /dzael/ and /dzil/ and /dzalik/ (jal,jeel,jolick), but */tflct/
and /dzpurz/ are noy. No more than three sequential consonants can occur at the beginning
of a word and these three are restricted:

/spl/ splay /spr/ spruce/ *spw _ /spj/ spew

/skl/ sclerios /skr/ screen /skw/ squat /skj/ skew
*stl --- /str/ streak *stw ----- *stj -----
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Other languages have different sequential restrictions in Polish, zl and kt are

permissible syllable-initial combinations, as in /ziev/, “a sink” and /kto/, “who.” Croatian
permits words such as the name Mladen. Japanese has severe constraints on what may
begin a syllable; most combinations of consonants (e.g,/br/,/sp/) are impermissible. In Twi,
a word may end only in a vowel or a nasal consonant. The sequencing rules of the
language, whereas /mba/ is not a possible word in English, although it is a word in Twi.
The limitations on sequences of segments are called, Phonotactic constraints.
Phonotactic constraints have as their basis the syllable, rather than the word. That is, only
the clusters that can begin a syllable can begin a word, and only a cluster that can end a
syllable can end a word. In multisyllabic words, clusters that seem illegal may occur, for
example, the /kspl/ in explicit /eksplisit/. However, there is a syllable boundary between
the /k/ and /spl/, which we can make explicit using $: /ek $ splis $ it/. Thus, we have
permitted syllable coda /k/ that ends a syllable adjoined to a permitted onset /spl/ that
begins a syllable. On the other hand, English speakers know that “condsluct” is not a
possible because the second syllable would have to start with an impermissible onset,
either /stl/ or /tl/.
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All languages have constrains on the permitted sequences of phonemes,

although different languages have different constraints. Just as spoken
language has sequences of sounds that are not permitted in the language, so
sign languages have forbidden combinations of features. For example, in the
ASL compound for “blood” (red flow) discussed earlier, the total handshape
must be assimilated, including the shape of the hand and the orientation of
the fingers. Assimilation of just the handshape but not the finger orientation is
impossible in ASL. The constraints may differ from one sign language to
another, just as the constraints on sounds and sound sequences differ from
one spoken language to another. A permissible sign in ASL, and vice versa.
Children learn these constraints when they acquire the spoken or signed
language, just as they learn what the phonemes are and how they are related
to phonetic segments.
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Why do Phonological Rules Exist?

●Phonotactic constraints specify which sounds sequences are

permissible in a particular language, so that in English “blick” is a
possible word but “lbick" isn’t.
●Many linguists believe that phonological rules exist to ensure that
the surface or phonetic forms of words do not violate phonotactic
constraints. If underlying forms remained unmodified, they would often
violate the phonotactics of the language.
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For example, the English past-tense rule and recall that it has two sub rules.
1. First insert a schwa when a regular verb ends in an alveolar stop (/t/ or /d/), as in “mated"
2. The second devoices the past-tense morpheme /d/ when it occurs after a voiceless
sound, as in “reaped" [ript] or “peaked" [pikt].
Notice that the part of the rule that devoices /d/ reflects the constraint that English words
may not end in a sequence consisting of voiceless stop -d.
More generally, there are no words that end in a sequence of obstruents whose voicing
features do not match.

Thus, there appears to be a phonotactic constraints in English, stated as follows: (A)

Obstruent sequences may not differ with respect to their voice feature at the end of a
syllable. *We can see then that the devoicing part of the past-tense rule changes the
underlying form of the past-tense morpheme to create a surface form that conforms to this
general constraint. *English does not generally permit sequences of sounds within a single
syllable that are very similar to each other, such as [kk], [kg], [gk], [gg], [pp], [sz], [zs]. (The
word spelled “egg" and “puppy" are phonetically [eg] and [papi].)
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(B) Sequences of obstruents that are alike with the possible exception
of voicing are not permitted within a syllable. *Constraints such as (A) and
(B) are far more general than any particular rule like the past-tense rule.
*An adjective such as “smooth” turns into the abstract noun “smoothness",
rather than taking the affix -th, an in wide/width, broad/breath, and
deep/depth. Suffixing “smooth" with -th would result in a sequence of too-
similar obstruents, “smoo", which differ only in their voicing feature. This
suggests that languages may satisfy constraints in various grammatical
situations.
Thus, phonological rules exist because language have general
principles that constrain possible sequences of sounds. The rules specify
minimal modifications of the underlying form that bring them in line with the
surface constraints. Therefore, we find different variants of a particular
underlying form depending on phonological context.
MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Thank you for listening!