LING 15 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Acrophony, Aleppo, Semitic Languages
Sounds as segments
Segment: a speech event of a certain time length, over which the acoustic signal is of a
particular form
➔Displays in human communication are basically segments, combinable into words
Phonemes may present different acoustic forms in different contexts
➔K[ee]p ≠ p[ee]p
◆Different acoustics, same phoneme
➔[s]ue = [sh]e
◆Same acoustics, different phoneme
Written symbols
Symbol: a form that represents something other than itself
➔arbitrariness: absence of any connection between a word's meaning and its sound or
form
Conventions of visual representations of language
➔Phonographic: sound based
◆Symbols represent phonemes (sounds)
◆In terms of structure
◆Phonographic systems came from logographic systems
➔Logographic: word based
◆Symbols represent entire words rather than invoking sounds within those words
◆In terms of meaning
➔Writing is technology
◆A set of skills and tools that humans create and use
Writing systems
Visual symbols represent spoken symbols
➔
Logogram phonogram
Logographic systems
➔Logogram: symbol representing a word
➔Earliest hieroglyphs & cuneiforms
◆Originally logographic systems
● Glyph = word
◆Cuneiform: Sumerian, later Hittite & Akkadian
◆Later
● Glyph = word + homophones
➔Can only have lexical discreteness
Phonographic systems
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Document Summary
Segment: a speech event of a certain time length, over which the acoustic signal is of a particular form. Displays in human communication are basically segments, combinable into words. Phonemes may present different acoustic forms in different contexts. Symbol: a form that represents something other than itself. Arbitrariness: absence of any connection between a word"s meaning and its sound or form. Symbols represent entire words rather than invoking sounds within those words. A set of skills and tools that humans create and use. Letter: a glyph that represents a phoneme. The language uses vowels but does not write them. Adapted from cuneiform, hieroglyphics through contact with other cultures. Can have both lexical and phonological discreteness. Didn"t borrow the concept of ox borrowed specific symbol to represent their word (alep) Ph. acrophonic symbol for consonant. Borrowed symbol and use it to represent just the phoneme a .
