LINA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Canadian Raising, Underlying Representation, Phonotactics
Lecture 5
Phonology, Part II
Segments and above segments
Phonemes
- Mental, abstract units
Allophones
- their variants, respecting factors involved in actual pronunciation
when we discussed the classification of human language sounds, we noticed that:
o vowels, glides, liquids, and nasals are sonorant sounds
vowels are the most sonorous > glides > liquids> nasals
o stops, fricatives, affricates (obstruents) are not sonorant
their sonorous capacity, allows vowels (as well as glides, liquids and nasals) to support
segment groups, that is to form the peak of syllables
Syllables
when sounds are pronounced in human languages, they are also organized in groups
that is, if we need to pronounce a word that has 10 sounds, we organize these sounds
in specific groups, based on the characteristics of the sounds involved
the groups of segments with internal organization are called syllables
in this sense, syllables are suprasegmental (above the segment) units
since vowels are the most sonorous sounds, syllables usually require a vowel as their
nucleus, in order to be independent
less sonorous sounds might appear on either side of the nucleus
therefore, a word like unexpected has 4 syllables, because it has 4 vowels:
1 2 3 4
[ n . k. sp k.t d] (. = informal syllable division) ʌ ɛ ɛ ɛ
native speakers of English demonstrate their awareness of the sonority values of
segments and of the syllable as a unit of phonological structure
to take another example, in a word like sprint speakers know that the existence of the
vowel triggers the existence of a syllable ɪ
also, some consonants precede the vowel, while other consonants follow the vowel
let’s see how we can represent this information
the structure of syllables can be represented graphically
there are two major constituent parts: Onset and Rhyme
The Rhyme consists of the Nucleus (=syllable core) and a Coda
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Syllable structure
all languages have syllables
in all languages syllable structure is subject to constraints
universal tendencies are observable:
1). syllable nuclei usually consists of one vowel
2). syllables usually begin with onsets
3). syllables often end with codas
4). onsets and codas usually consist of one consonant
the most common types of syllables found across languages take the shapes CV and CVC
Syllable constraints
as we saw in the previous lectures, native speakers know what sound combinations are
allowed in specific positions of the syllable.
to go back to some examples, in English, native speakers are aware that a combination
vpr is never found in the onset.
when they first learn a language that has this combination, they adapt it (by deleting
one of the consonants, or by inserting a vowel between the consonants)
Phonotactics
the set of constraints on how sequences of segments pattern, and which forms part of
the speaker’s knowledge of her native language phonology = phonotactics
Example:
oin English, onsets are allowed that contain more than one consonant
o nevertheless, there are very strict phonotactic constraints on the shapes of
English onsets
if an onset in English contains three-consonants, the structure is the following:
o the first segment is always s
o the second segment is always a voiceless stop
othe third segment is either a liquid or a glide
Phonotactics
the sound pattern can be formally represented in this way:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Allophones their variants, respecting factors involved in actual pronunciation. [ n . k. sp k. t d] (. The structure of syllables can be represented graphically. There are two major constituent parts: onset and rhyme. The rhyme consists of the nucleus (=syllable core) and a coda. Syllable structure all languages have syllables in all languages syllable structure is subject to constraints universal tendencies are observable: 1). syllable nuclei usually consists of one vowel. 4). onsets and codas usually consist of one consonant the most common types of syllables found across languages take the shapes cv and cvc. When they first learn a language that has this combination, they adapt it (by deleting one of the consonants, or by inserting a vowel between the consonants) Phonotactics the set of constraints on how sequences of segments pattern, and which forms part of the speaker"s knowledge of her native language phonology = phonotactics.
