turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

[s]
/s/ [z]
[´z]
The differences in the surface realization are systematic regularities in that
they are predictable. They are predictable because they are rule governed. A
native speaker of English knows that the plural suffix of chair would be realized
as [z] because in English, the plural suffix is realized as [s] after root-final voiceless
consonants, as [z] after root-final voiced consonants and vowels, and as [´z] after
root-final s, z, S, Z, tS, and dZ. As the root-final sound of chair is a voiced consonant,
the plural suffix is realized as [z]. Similarly, a native speaker of Turkish knows that
the plural suffix of, say, ‘masa’ would be realized as ‘–lar’ as in ‘masalar’, but the
same suffix would be realized as ‘-ler’ in ‘sebzeler’. The choice of the appropriate
realization is determined by the last vowel in the root, therefore it is predictable.
Some properties are idiosyncratic in that they are not predictable. The fact that
the initial sound of ‘sap’, for example, is an idiosyncratic property of that word as
there is no way of predicting that particular word should have ‘s’ as the initial
sound. The same word could have been ‘rap’, ‘tap’, ‘map’, etc. and a native speaker
would have no way of knowing which sound would occur in the initial position
for that particular word. Such sounds which cause a change in the meaning are
called phonemes. If we take ‘sap’ as an example again, changing the initial sound
to ‘k’ would result in a different word ‘kap’. ‘Kap’ and ‘sap’ are two separate words
with different meanings. The difference between the two words is the difference
in the initial sound. This difference is not predictable, therefore an idiosyncratic
property of these words.
Pairs such as ‘kap’ and ‘sap’ are called minimal pairs because the difference
is only in one sound. This difference in one sound can be in other positions to
form a minimal pair. ‘Kel’ and ‘kal’ are minimal pairs showing that /e/ and /a/ are
phonemes. ‘Sap’ and ‘sat’ are minimal pairs showing that /p/ and /t/ are minimal
pairs. In each of these pairs, a change in one sound, the other sounds being the
same, changes the meaning of the word. Thus those sounds are phonemes as they
change the meaning. There are sound changes which do not change the meaning
of words. Consider the following Turkish examples.
(2)
(I) kil (II) k›l
kel kal
köle kol
kül kul
Unit 1 - Why Study Sounds?
Compare the production of the initial consonant /k/ in different words. Where
in the mouth do you form the /k/? For the words in the first column, /k/ is produced
towards the back of the mouth. /k/ in the second column is produced even further
back in the mouth. The places of articulation (discussed in detail in Unit 2) of the
/k/’s in the two columns are different resulting in different surface realizations of
the /k/’s in the first column and the second column. /k/ in the first column is a
palatal sound indicated as [c], and a velar sound in the second column indicated as
[k]. Although the surface realization of these two /k/’s are different, using one for
the other does not cause a change in the meaning in Turkish (but it may in other
languages). Thus, if the /k/ in ‘kil’ is produced further back in the mouth as a velar
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