Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetic description of language

Phonetic explanations for language sound patterns
To explain patterns we see in language sound
systems, we will make reference to two
phonetic systems
the talker -
articulation, aerodynamics
the listener -
acoustics, speech perception
The patterns we see in language sound systems
can be classified into two sets:
process -
sound alternations, conditioned changes
inventory -
set of contrastive sounds in a language
Some examples of this explanatory phonetics approach
to language sound systems.
Process Inventory
Talker-driven a. Assimilation c. Economy
Listener-driven b. Merger d. Dispersion
a. Assimilation - talker-driven sound change.
an old Latin morpheme in English in-
a newer (OE) morpheme in English un-
insoluble unsatisfying
intolerable untouchable
inharmonious unhappy
impossible unpopular
illogical unlearnable
irrefutable unreadable
in[p]congruent unkempt
in[p]frequent unfamiliar
In assimilation, adjacent or proximal sounds
become more similar to each other.
In these example two points of contact (e.g. lip,
tongue) are replaced by one. How does the older
prefix fare compared with the newer one?
This can be seen as simplifying the speakers task
- fewer movements need to be made.
b. Merger - listener-driven sound change.
Vowel merger before nasals (in OK and other
western states).
pen
[pin]
pin
Vowels before nasal consonants like [n] tend to be
nasalized.
Vowel height contrasts (like [i] versus [c]) are
acoustically reduced in nasalized vowels because
the lowest vowel resonance is hidden by nasal
resonance and anti-resonance.
This purely acoustical consequence of nasal
assimilation makes the listeners task harder.
Listeners are then likely to hear [c] as [ i ].
c. Feature Economy- talker-driven inventory
constraint.
Though redundant perceptual cues might be best
for the listener,
p t k1
b
n
!g g
p t k
b d g
Unattested stop inventory
Common stop inventory
A redundant code in which every contrast is signaled
along several dimensions is more robust.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
A B
group 1
group 2
D
a
t
a

v
a
l
u
e
condition
Little redundancy
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
A B
group 1
group 2
D
a
t
a

v
a
l
u
e
condition
More redundancy
So if redundancy is so useful, why dont we have more
of it in language sound patterns? Why this tendency
toward the economical use of the same features?
This is clearly not ideal for the listener but simplifies
the speakers task considerably.
Languages reuse motor programs/gestures, and thus
economize motor learning.
d. Adaptive dispersion - listener-driven inventory
constraint.
The most common vowel inventories in the
languages of the world are triangular
3 vowels i u vs. i
a c
a
5 vowels i u vs. i y
e o e
a
There is a space of possible vowel sounds which can
be produced by the human vocal tract. This is called
the acoustic vowel space. It is defined by the two
lowest resonant frequencies of the vocal tract.
The speakers task would be simpler if all vowel
sounds in speech were about the same - [c]. It has
been estimated that this is about what the Neanderthal
vowel space was.
Listeners seem to demand more of speakers and thus
there is a tendency in language for acoustic/
perceptual dispersion - to use as much of the acoustic
vowel space as possible.
These examples illustrate the phenomena in human
language that we will explore in this course.
language sound patterns - processes and
inventory constraints.
possible phonetic explanations of them -
emergent from the physical systems used to
implement linguistic communication.
Aims of the course
1. Descriptive Phonetics/phonology: Learn how to get an
accurate description of speech pronunciation.
use the International Phonetic Alphabet (symbols
above - p, t, k1, b
n,
!g, g, p, p, etc.)
ear training
computer visualization of speech
discover patterns of alternation among sounds
Descriptive phonetics can be very complicated. We
scratch the surface in this course and delve further in
Ling 113.
Aims of the course
2. Explanatory Phonetics/phonology: Investigate how
phonetic systems shape language sound patterns.
Physiology and speech motor control
Aerodynamics and sound generation
Acoustics and speech perception
Cognitive structure of language sound systems
Explanatory phonetics is also quite complicated. We
explore this area of linguistics further in Ling 210.