Phonetics & Phonology - Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft an der ...

Universität Tübingen
Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft
Phonetics & Phonology
Phonology
(Hall, Kapitel 3.3)
Christian Ebert
christian.ebert@uni-tuebingen.de
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Phonological Processes
phonological rules can be classified according to the type of
transformation they describe
often these rules are motivated by phonetic considerations to
facilitate articulation (i.e. to make the speaker's life easier)
we will look at the following phonological processes :
● assimilation & dissimilation
● epenthesis & elision
● metathesis
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Phonological Processes
assimilation
assimilations are processes where sounds are made more similar
that means that a segment adapts at least one aspect of a neighboring
segment
this makes articulation easier, since the sounds become phonetically
more similar
assimilations are the most frequent type of phonological processes
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Phonological Processes
assimilation
an assimilation is characterized by four parameters:
(1) affected sounds (targets)
which sounds are assimilated?
(2) triggering sounds (triggers)
which sounds cause the assimilation?
(3) phonetic feature
which feature(s) is/are changed on the target?
(4) direction
in which direction does the assimilation occur?
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Phonological Processes
assimilation
(4) direction
regressive assimilation
the process is directed backwards, i.e. from right to left
i.e. the target preceeds the trigger
progressive assimilation
the process is directed forwards, i.e. from left to right
i.e. the target follows the trigger
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
example:
assimilation in Plains Cree (cf. last session)
/p t k/ > [b d g] / V __ V
voiceless plosives become voiced between vowels
(1) targets: voiceless plosives
(2) triggers: vowels
(3) feature: voicing
(4) direction: (undecidable, could be both)
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
in the Bantu language Luganda there is a prefix meaning „I“ (the
speaker) with four (nasal) allomorphs [m], [n], [J] and [N]
[mbala] „I count“ [J�agala] „I like“
[mpa] „I give“ [JJumja] „I have a conversation“
[ndaga] „I show“ [Jcoppa] „I become indigent“
[ntema] „I cut“ [Nkola] „I work“
[nsika] „I draw“ [Ngula] „I buy“
[nneJa] „I reprehend“
given the underlying nasal /n/ one observes the following:
before labial sounds ([b p]) > [m]
before palatal sounds ([� J c]) > [J]
before velar sounds ([k g]) > [N]
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
hence the four parameters of the assimilations:
(1) target: /n/
(2) trigger: consonants
(3) feature: place of articulation
(ð place assimilation)
(4) direction: regressive
place of articulation place of articulation
/n+pa/ /n+Jumja/
â â
[mpa] „I give“ [JJumja] „I have a conversation“
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
in Hungarian there is a suffix meaning „over“ with two allomorphes
[r2:l] and [ro:l]:
[te:rke:pr2:l] „map“ [lA:Jro:l] „girl“
[f2:ldr2:l] „country“ [u:rro:l] „gentleman“
[y�r2:l] „business“ [fogro:l] „tooth“
[si:nr2:l] „colour“
[r2:l] contains the front vowel [2:] and occurs only after roots with
front vowel (left column: [e: 2: y i:])
[ro:l] contains the back vowel [o:] and occurs only after roots with
back vowel (right column: [A: u: o])
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
again, this is an instance of an assimilation
the vowel of the suffix is assimilated to the vowels of the root w.r.t.
horizontal tongue position (front vs. back)
(1) target: vowel of suffix
(2) trigger: vowel of root
(3) feature: horizontal tongue position
(4) direction: progressive
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
note that in this example the target is not adjacent to the trigger and
hence a case of distant assimilation as opposed to contact
assimilation
furthermore it is an instance of vowel harmony
vowel harmony is an distant assimilatory process that assimilates all
vowels of a domain (e.g. the word) wrt. at least one property
other languages with vowel harmony are e.g. Finnish and Turkish
example: allomorphes [lar] and [ler] of the plural suffix in Turkish:
[dal] [dallar] „branch(es)“ [jel] [jeller] „wind(s)“
[kol] [kollar] „arm(s)“ [g2l] [g2ller] „lake(s)“
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Phonological Processes
assimilation - examples
the language Toba Batak shows total assimilation
/maJan##baoa##an/ [maJabbaoaan] „each man eats“
/lean##lali/ [leallali] „give to a dog“
/boao##an##peddek/ [boaoappeddek] „each man is small“
in total assimilation, all phonetic features are adopted (as opposed to partial
assimilation where only some features are changed
in Toba Batak, word-final /n/ is totally assimilated to the subsequent sounds
(1) target: word-final /n/
(2) trigger: all
(3) property: all
(4) direction: regressive
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Phonological Processes
dissimilation
a dissimilation has the opposite effect wrt. to an assimilation
dissimilations are processes that make sounds more disimlar, i.e.
different
a dissimilation is hearer-oriented:
it makes it easier for a hearer to distinguish sounds
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Phonological Processes
dissimilation - examples
in the Bantu language Kirundi the allophones [tu] and [du] carry the
numerus & tense meaning 1. person singular present tense
the distribution is as follows:
imperative 1. pers. sing. present
[mwa] [tumwa] „shave“
[va] [tuva] „stem from“
[bona] [tubona] „see“
[soma] [dusoma] „read“
[te:ka] [dute:ka] „cook“
[seka] [duseka] „laugh“
[kubita] [dukubita] „beat“
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Phonological Processes
dissimilation - examples
observation:
the [tu] prefix starts with a voiceless consonant [t] and occurs only
before roots with inital voiced consonants ([m v b])
the [du] prefix starts with a voiced consonant [d] and occurs only
before roots with inital voiceless Konsonanten ([s t k]) vor
the consonant of the prefix must thus be dissimlar to the consonant of
the root wrt. voicing
this type of dissimilation of two obstruents wrt. voicing is common in
Bantu languages and known as Dahl's law
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis
epentheses are processes where additional segments are inserted into
a domain
Example: German
[p] Amt [ampt] Hemd [hempt]
[t] Gans [gants] rennst [rEntst]
[k] singst [ziNkst] fängst [fENkst]
schwa epenthesis (e.g. in the Rhineland dialect):
[@] fünf [fYn@f] Senf [zEn@f]
epentheses usually make articulation easier/possible since otherwise
well-formedness requirements would be violated
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
plural formation in English illustrates a more complex interplay of an
assimilation and an epenthesis
in English three productive forms of plural formation occur:
[Iz] [s] [z]
faces [feIsIz] hats [h{ts] seeds [si:dz]
phases [feIzIz] lips [lIps] labs [l{bz]
dishes [dISIz] snakes [sneIks] bags [b{gz]
beaches [bi:tþSIz] giraffes [dþZI£{fs] waves [weIvz]
bridges [b£IdþZIz] myths [mITs] lathes [leIDz]
aims [eImz]
fans [f{nz]
rings [£INz]
hills [hI5z]
bees [bI:z]
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
observations:
● [Iz] occurs after [s z S tþS dþZ]
● [s] occurs after [p t k f T]
● [z] occurs after [d b g v D m n N l]
the generalizations are as follows:
● [Iz] occurs after sibilants
● [s] occurs after other voiceless sounds
● [z] occurs after other voiced sounds
of these three allomorphs we again choose the one with widest
distribution as underlying, i.e. /z/
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
with underlying /z/ rules must be found that explain the following
derivations
faces /feIs+z/ > [feIsIz]
hats /h{t+z/ > [h{ts]
bags /b{g+z/ > [b{gz]
to derive [h{ts] it is enough to have an assimilation of the following
form (see also exercise 9):
/z/ > [s] / voiceless consonant __ #
(/z/ becomes voiceless after a voiceless consonant word-finally)
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
this rule gives us the following correct derivation:
/h{t+z/ underlying representation
â rule application: assimilation
[h{ts] surface form
but unfortunately, it also derives the following incorrect form:
/feIs+z/ underlying representations
â rule application: assimilation
*[feIss] surface form
we need yet another rule to correctly derive the form for faces
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
this additional rule must insert [I] between a sibilant and [z]
the following epenthesis does this:
the symbol Ø stands for „nothing“
Ø > [I] / Sibilant __ [z]
hence this rule says that the segment [I] is inserted between a sibilant
and [z]
epenthesis thus always have the form
Ø > B / X __ Y
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Phonological Processes
epenthesis - example
now the surface form for faces is derived correctly
/feIs+z/ underlying representation
â rule application: epenthesis
feIsIz
--- rule application: assimilation
[feIsIz] surface form
note that the epenthesis does not apply in the derivation of [h{ts]
note furthermore that the order of application of the two rules is
important (see exercise)
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Phonological Processes
elision
elisions are the counterpart to epentheses, because they delete
segments
like epentheses they usually facilitate articulation
in the australian language Lardil there are two case suffixes for marking
the accusative: one that carries non-future tense information [in]
and another that carries future tense information [u±]:
uninflected non-future future
[kentapal] [kentapal-in] [kentapal-u±] „dugong“
[ketÏar] [ketÏar-in] [ketÏar-u±] „river“
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Phonological Processes
elision - example
if the root ends in a vowel, the initial vowel of the suffix is omitted to
avoid a sequence of two vowels
uninflected non-future future
[mela] [mela-n] [mela-±] „sea“
[kuNka] [kuNka-n] [kuNka-±] „ledge“
the following elision does the job by deleting a vowel if preceeded by
another vowel:
again, Ø stands proxy for „nothing“
V > Ø / V __
elisions are always of the form A > Ø / X __ Y
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Phonological Processes
elision - example
further data of Lardil seem to indicate that a second elision is needed
uninflected non-future future
[yalul] [yalulu-n] [yalulu-±] „flamm“
[wiwal] [wiwala-n] [wiwala-±] „bush mango“
one observes that the uninflected form does not show a word-final
vowel as opposed to the inflected form of the root
a first guess might be another elision that deletes a word-final vowel
(the loss of word-final sounds is also called apocope)
V > Ø / __ #
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Phonological Processes
elision - example
unfortunately, this rule allows for incorrect derivations:
/#mela#/ underlying representation
â rule application: apocope
*[mel]
the environment of the rule must be refined accordingly, such that the
rule is applicable only for tri-syllabic (or even longer) words:
m
n
V > Ø / VC 1 VC 1 __ #
the symbol C stands proxy for a sequence of at least n & at most m
consonants; C1 hence stands for „one or more consonants“
the loss of a word-internal sound is called syncope
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Phonological Processes
metathesis
a metathesis is a process that swaps segments within a domain
the language Zoque can serve to illustrate metathesis; in Zoque the
possessive pronoun „his“ is realised as prefix /j /:
/j+pata/ > [pjata] „his mat“
/j+gaju/ > [gjaju] „his rooster“
/j+faha/ > [fjaha] „his belt“
/j+atsi/ > [jatsi] „his older brother“
to facilitate articulation, [j] and the inital consonant of the root swap
places
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