BBN–ANG–141 Foundations of phonology 3
Phonology 1: The consonant phonemes of English
Péter Szigetvári
Dept of English Linguistics, Eötvös Loránd University
25 February 2009
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
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outline
phonemic analysis
n and N in English
technical terms
n and N in NBE
n and N in SBE
weaknesses of the analysis
two kinds of transcription
consonant phonemes of Standard Southern British English
obstruents
sonorants
summary
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
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phonemic analysis
n and N in English
some questions
does Southern British English have the sound [N]?
yes, for example, in the word thing [TIN]
does Northern British English have the sound [N]?
yes, for example, in the word thing [TINg]
but (despite appearances) there is a huge difference!
SBE
NBE
thin [TIn]
thin [TIn]
vs. thing [TIN]
vs. thing [TINg]
the [n] vs. [N] contrast distinguishes words in SBE, but does not distinguish
anything in NBE: pronouncing [n] instead of [N] would cause no confusion
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
technical terms
some technical terms
minimal pair
two words (i.e., with different meaning) of equal length that differ in one
sound, e.g., thing and thin in SBE ([TIN] and [TIn])
free variation
a word with several possible pronunciations,
e.g., unkind [2nkaInd] and [2NkaInd], either [aID@] and [i:D@]
environment
the context in which a (linguistic) element occurs,
e.g., [TI ] is an environment of [N] and [n] in SBE,
[2 kaInd] is an environment of [N] and [n],
[ D@] is an environment of [aI] and [i:]
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
technical terms
some technical terms
distribution
the set of all the evironments of an element, a long list, but it can be
generalized: instead of [TI ], [l6 ], [sæ ], [r2 ], we can say V #
(after a vowel, at the end of the word)
complementary distribution
two distributions are complementary if none of their elements are common,
i.e., they do not overlap, e.g., A = {a, b, c}, B = {d, e, f }
overlapping distribution
two distributions are overlapping if some (or all) of their elements are
common, i.e., they are not complementary,
A = {a, b, c}, B1 = {c, d, e}, B2 = {b, c}, B3 = {a, b, c}
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
n and N in NBE
[n] and [N] in NBE
the distibution of [N] in NBE
k
g
that is, [N] occurs before [k] or [g] only,
e.g., ink [INk], king [kINg]
the distibution of [n] in NBE
 
t 



 
d
#



 
...
that is, [n] occurs before [t] or [d] or # (word boundary, i.e.,
at the end of the word) or in several other environments
(e.g., before vowels, [s], [r], [l], etc.), but not before [k] or
[g], e.g., tent, bend, ten, name, tense, Henry, only
the distibution of [n] and [N] in NBE
is complementary, the two distributions do not overlap: [N] occurs only
where [n] does not occur (or if they do cooccur (e.g., in unkind) there’s
free variation)
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
n and N in NBE
allophones of a phoneme
if two elements are in complementary distribution
◮
they cannot contrast
◮
there exist no minimal pairs (e.g., with [n] vs. [N] in NBE)
◮
their difference has no function
◮
their difference goes unrecognized by native speakers
◮
they are considered the same “sound” by native speakers
◮
it can usually be predicted which of the two occurs in a given
environment (e.g., before [k] or [g], it will be [N], elsewhere [n])
two such sounds
are allophones of the same phoneme; [n] and [N] are allophones of /n/
(or /N/ or /✾/, the symbol is arbitrary); this is true for NBE, not
necessarily in any other language (incidentally it is also true for Hungarian)
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
the father of the modern theory of phonemes
Jan Ignacy Niecislaw Baudouin de Courtenay (1845–1929)
(a.k.a. Ivan Aleksandrovich Boduen de Kurtene)
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
n and N in SBE
[n] and [N] in SBE
the distibution of [N] in SBE
 
k
g
 
#
that is, [N] occurs before [k] or [g] or #
e.g., ink [INk], younger [j2Ng@], young [j2N]
the distibution of [n] in SBE
 
t 



 
d
#



 
...
that is, [n] occurs before [t] or [d] or # or in several other
environments, just like in NBE
the distibution of [n] and [N] in SBE
is not complementary, the two distributions overlap, both [n] and [N]
occur word finally ( #)
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
9 / 16
phonemic analysis
n and N in SBE
separate phonemes
if two elements are in overlapping distribution
◮
◮
there exist environments in which both occur (both [n] and [N] occur
in #)
they may contrast (if they don’t we have free variation), if they do
◮
◮
◮
there exist minimal pairs (e.g., thin /TIn/ and thing /TIN/)
the difference has a function (e.g., distinguishing thin and thing)
which of the two occurs in a given environment is often unpredictable:
one cannot tell whether /n/ or /N/ occurs in the environment /TI /;
this is a lexical property of the word (it is an irregularity)
two such sounds
are two separate phonemes; /n/ and /N/ are two separate phonemes in
SBE
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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phonemic analysis
weaknesses of the analysis
weaknesses of the classical phonemic analysis
in SBE /n/ and /N/
◮
do not contrast in most environments: [TI k], [te t], [ et];
because the distribution of /N/ is defective
◮
in these environments the occurrence of /n/ vs. /N/ can be predicted
so why do we still treat them as two separate phonemes?
this is a necessity in taxonomic analysis, summarized as “once a phoneme
always a phoneme”
/N/ and /h/ are in complementary distribution
so why aren’t they allophones of a phoneme?
besides complementary distribution, phonetic similarity (whatever that
means) is also necessary for establishing a phoneme
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
11 / 16
phonemic analysis
two kinds of transcription
two kinds of transcription
narrow/phonetic transcription
◮
includes subphonemic detail, predictable information, allophones
◮
usually concentrates on a particular aspect of the pronunciation
◮
totally narrow transcription is impossible
◮
is enclosed in brackets (square brackets)
e.g., peeled [ph i@ ëd], twenty [twẼR̃I]
˚
broad/phonemic/phonological transcription
◮
includes only phonemes, unpredictable information
◮
is enclosed by slashes (a.k.a. virgules)
e.g., peeled /pi:ld/, twenty /twenti/, thing SBE /TIN/, NBE /TIng/,
but think is /TINk/ (not /TInk/) in SBE, although it predictably has /N/:
once a phoneme always a phoneme!
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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consonant phonemes of Standard Southern British English
obstruents
obstruents
stops (explosives)
labial (bilabial)
coronal (alveolar)
velar
p ∼ b: pan ∼ ban
t ∼ d: tan ∼ Dan
k ∼ g: con ∼ gone
voiceless (aspirated)
voiced (unaspirated)
affricates
p∼t∼k: pool∼tool∼cool
b∼d∼g: bay∼day∼gay
Ù ∼ Ã: choke ∼ joke
labial (labiodental)
dental
alveolar
f ∼ v: fan ∼ van
T ∼ D: thigh ∼ thy
s ∼ z: seal ∼ zeal
postalveolar
voiceless
voiced
S ∼ Z: Aleutian ∼ allusion
fie ∼ thigh ∼ sigh ∼ shy
breve ∼ breathe ∼ breeze
fricatives
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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consonant phonemes of Standard Southern British English
sonorants
sonorants & non-SSBE
nasals
m ∼ n ∼ N: Pam ∼ pan ∼ pang, p ∼ b ∼ m: pie ∼ bye ∼ my,
t ∼ d ∼ n: ton ∼ done ∼ nun, k ∼ g ∼ N: rack ∼ rag ∼ rang
nonnasals
l ∼ r ∼ w ∼ j ∼ h: lot ∼ rot ∼ what ∼ yacht ∼ hot
non-SSBE
û (= SSBE w)
w ∼ û: witch ∼ which, wear ∼ where, Y ∼ why
x (= SSBE k)
k ∼ g ∼ x: lock ∼ log ∼ loch
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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consonant phonemes of Standard Southern British English
summary
chart of English consonant phonemes
LABIAL
STOP
FRICATIVE
NASAL
APPROXIMANT
p/b
f/v
m
(û) w
DENTAL
T/D
ALVEOL.
POSTALV.
t/d
s/z
n
l
Ù/Ã
S/Z
r
PAL.
BACK
j
k/g
(x)
N
h
legend
◮
voiceless/voiced, sonorant, coronal, coronal sonorant
◮
some consider /j/ noncoronal, /h/ nonsonorant (a fricative)
◮
back means velar (/k g x N/) and glottal (/h/) here
◮
/Ù Ã/ are affricates
◮
/w/ is labiovelar, but behaves as a labial in English
◮
/l r/ are often referred to as liquids
◮
/w j/ (often /r/, sometimes /h/) are referred to as glides
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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next week
we are going to have a look at vowels
szp (delg)
intro phono 3/consonant phonemes of E
25 Feb 2009
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