PHONOLOGY

Lecturer :
KADEK HENI OKTARINA
WISUDAWATI,S.PD.M.PD
By :
I LUH TIKA SULESA WITRI (12)
0201319

STKIP AGAMA HINDU

SINGARAJA
Jl. Pulau Timor no.24 Singaraja, Banyuning, Kec. Buleleng, Singaraja, Bali 81113
Essential Terms in Phonology

1. Phonemes

Phonemes refer to sounds that distinguish the meaning of the words in a

language. A phoneme /ˈfoʊniːm/ is one of the units of sound that distinguish one
word from another in a particular language. Example: kill-dill.

It is the smallest phonetic unit in a language that is capable of conveying a

distinction in meaning, as the /r/ of rat and the /b/ of bat in English.

Phoneme functions contrastively. This contrastive property is the basic

operational test for determining the phonemes which exist in a language. If we
substitute one sound for another in a word and there is a change of meaning, then
two sounds represent different phonemes

2. Allophones

When we have a set of phones, all of which are versions of one phoneme, we
refer to them as the allophone of that phoneme. Each phoneme has one or more
sounds called allophones associated with it.

Examples:

The basic distinction between phonemes and allophones; substituting one

phoneme for another will result in a word with a different meaning, but substituting
allophones only result in a different pronunciation of the same word.

3. Minimal Pairs

Minimal Pair is when two words such as 'pat' and 'bat' are identical in form
except for a contrast in one phoneme, occurring in the same position. More
accurately, they would be classified as a minimal pair in the phonology of English.
Other examples of English minimal pairs are fan-van, bet-bat, and site-side. Such
pairs have been used frequently in tests of English as a second language to
determine non-native speaker's ability to understand the contrast in meaning
resulting from the minimal sound contrast.
4. Distinctive features

Distinctive feature is a feature that distinguishes one phoneme from another,

hence one word from another. For example : two phones to contrast meaning, there
must be some phonetic difference between them. The minimal pairs 'seal' [sil] and
'zeal' [zil] show that [s] and [z] represent two contrasting phonemes in English.
They can't be allophones of one phoneme because one can't replace the [s] with the
[z] without changing the meaning of the word (two different phonemes). The words
'feel' and 'veal' [f]/[v], 'cap' and 'cab' [p]/[b]. When a feature distinguishes one
phoneme from another, hence one word from another, it is a distinctive feature or,
equivalently, a phonemic feature.

5. Syllable structure

A syllable is composed of one or more phonemes and it must contain a

vowel sound. Every syllable has a nucleus, usually a vowel-liquid or nasal. The
basic elements of the syllable are the onset (one or more consonants) and the
rhyme. Plus any following consonants treated as the coda.

The most common type of syllable also has a consonant (C) before the
vowel (V) and is represented as CV. The basic elements of the syllable are the
onset (one or more consonants) followed by the rhyme . The rhyme (sometimes
written as “rime”) consists of a vowel, which is treated as the nucleus , plus any
following consonant(s), described as the coda .

Syllables like me, to or no have an onset and a nucleus, but no coda.

They are known as open syllables . When a coda is present, as in the syllables
up, cup, at or hat , they are called closed syllables . The basic structure of the
kind of syllable found in English words like green (CCVC), eggs (VCC), and
(VCC), ham (CVC), I (V), do (CV), not (CVC), like (CVC), them (CVC), Sam
(CVC), I (V), am (VC)
6. Phonotactics

There are definite patterns to the types of sound combinations permitted in a

language. We can form nonsense words which are permissible forms with no
meanings.

They represent identical gaps in the vocabulary of English. E.g. “lig” or

“vig” ( not English words but possible these are not English words, but they
could be viewed as possible English words. That is, our phonological
knowledge of the pattern of sounds in English words would allow us to treat
these forms as acceptable if, at some future time, they came into use. They
might, for example, begin as invented abbreviations (I think Bubba is one very
ignorant guy . ~ Yeah, he’s a big vig! ). Until then, they represent “accidental”
gaps in the vocabulary of English. But “sing” or “mig” are not obeying same
constraints on the sequence. Such constraints are called the Phonotactics of a
language.

The phonology of a language also includes sequential constraints

(phonotactics) that determine which sounds may be adjacent within the syllable.
These determine what words are possible in a language, and what phonetic
strings are impermissible. Possible but non occurring words constitute
accidental gaps and are nonsense words, e.g., blick [blɪk].

7. Morphophonemics

Morphophonemic rules apply to specific morphemes, e.g., the plural

morpheme /z/ is phonetically [z], [s], or [əz], depending on the final phoneme of
the noun to which it is attached.

Morphophonemic rules are the particular phonological rules that

determine the phonetic form of the plural morpheme and other morphemes of
the language. Such rules concern the pronunciation of specific morphemes. Thus
the plural morphophonemic rules apply to the plural morpheme specifically, not
to all morphemes in English.

Just as /z/ was the basic form of the plural morpheme, /d/ is the basic
form of the past-tense morpheme, and the rules for past-tense formation of
regular verbs are much like the rules for the plural form of regular nouns. These
are also morphophonemic rules as they apply specifically to the past-tense
morpheme/d/. As with the plural rules, the output of Rule 1, if any, provides the
input to Rule 2, and the rules must be applied in order.

1. Insert a [ə] before the past-tense morpheme when a regular verb ends in
a non-nasal alveolar stop, giving [əd].

2. Change the past-tense morpheme to a voiceless [t] when a voiceless

sound precedes it.
 Two further allomorphs in English are the possessive morpheme and the
third-person singular morpheme, spelled s or es. These morphemes take on the
same phonetic form as the plural morpheme according to the same rules! Add
[s] to ship to get ship’s; add [z] to a woman to get woman’s; and add [əz] to
judge to get judges. Similarly for the verbs eat, need, and rush, whose third-
person singular forms are eats with a final [s], needs with a final [z], and rushes
with a final [əz].