INTRODUCTION TO PHONOLOGY

Although phonetics and phonology share the same subject matter, they deal
with speech sounds in a different manner. Phonetics is general and deals with the
actual physical realization of the elements of the sound system. Phonology is
particular because it deals with the sound systems languages and the function of
speech sounds. It’s concerned with abstract or mental aspect of speech sound.

The study of speech sound

Phonetics Phonology

Actual Abstract

Physical Mental
realization aspect

Phonology is the branch of linguistics which studies the ways in which sounds
are used in different languages to form syllables and later words by following some
system. So, Phonology is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of
speech sounds in a language
There are some conventional notations in the field of phonology that must be
learned first.
- If we refer to any physical sound of a language, we put it under two slashes
i.e. /p/, /t/ and /k/.

- If we talk about the representation of a sound in the mind as an abstract unit

called phone, we put it in square brackets such as [p], [t] and [k].
What should be the distinction of physical VS mental sounds? In other words, what is
the difference between a phone and a phoneme?
The phone
A phone is the physical realization of a speech sound in a language that
distinguishes it from the other sounds.
The phoneme
The phoneme is the smallest speech sound that has a linguistic value. It’s an
abstract form of a sound that is located in human mind and specific to a particular
language. Thus phonemes are the phonectic alphabet of the mind. That is phonemes
are how we mentally represent speech and how we store the sounds in our
memory.They are minimal units of the sound able to distinguish words from each
other./p/ and/b/ are phonemes because they make a meaning difference.
Big and pig differ in only the initial sound as well as cap and cab differ in the
final sound.
Minimal pairs
When we find a pair of words that differs in only one sound, and they mean
different things, such contrast of sounds is called ‘minimal pairs’. Thus phonemes
are the smallest distinctive element of a language.
If a sound is distinctive, it has the ability of changing the meaning of a word.
Single sounds cannot change the meaning. /p/ and /b/ for example are meaningless,
but when they are combined in a word, each of them gives a different meaning. For
example: hit and hat mean different things and are called minimal pairs: /I/ and /æ/
contrast and represent phonemes.
Minimal pairs consists of a pairs of words that have different meanings and which
differ in only one sound. As the difference between the two sounds is meaningful,
the sounds must be stored differently in the memory.
These minimal difference can be spotted at three places of a word:

Initial medial final

pin-bin put-pit side-site

Phonemic distinction in a language can be tested via pairs and sets of words.
Minimal pairs:
fat/vat pan/ban fine/vine
ten/pen site/side car/bar.
When a group of words can be differentiated from each other by changing one
phoneme, we have a minimal set : big, fig, rig, pig, dig, wig.
 The test performed to identify the phonemes is called “commutation test”.
Here are some examples of Moroccan Arabic phonemes :
/ma:t/ ‘he died /fa:t/ ‘he passed’ /
/fiq/ ‘wake’ /fin/ ‘ where’
/kla/ ‘he ate’ /kra/ ‘he rented’.
N.B. Be careful! Phonemes are not sounds themselves, they are mental
units representing sounds.
Allophones
Not all sounds in a languague are necessarily distinctive sounds, there are
some phonetic forms that don’t contrast or make a difference in meaning. These
sounds are called ‘allophones’.
If we compare the English and the American pronunciation of ‘dance’[d ɑ:ns]
[dæns], we find that there are different sounds in the pair, but the meaning doesn’t
change. The [ ɑ:] [æ] are not phonemes in this case, but allophones or subphonemic
as they belong to the same phoneme. We call the phenomenon ‘free variation’.

Free
variation’

[d ɑ:ns] [dæns],

Allophones lack the ability to distinguish the different sounds in a given

language.
Free variation can be found in different dialect of the same language. For
example, in Moroccan Arabic [q] and [g] in [qal] and [gal] both mean ‘say’, but are
used in different parts of the country.
To give more examples, if a person pronounces in Moroccan Arabic
:[Kawkaw]or[qawqaw] ‘peanut’, [qerʔa]or[gerʔa], [bettiX]or[beŧŧiX], then we talk
about free variation.We can have a different type of free variation when we deal with
realizations of different phonemes in the same context without a change of meaning.
In English, the phoneme [t] in the word ‘little’ has its variant glottal stop [ʕ]as it’s
sometimes pronounced [liʕl] and is in free variation.
 Other examples of sounds in free variation in English can be illustrated in the
distinction between English and American pronunciation:
[aið ə] [daɪrekʃn] UK
Either direction
[I:ðə] [dɪrekʃn] US

Ecomonics [I: kənəmiks] ;[ekənomiks]

Associate: [əˈsəʊ.si.eɪt]; [əˈsoʊ.ʃi.eɪt]
[I:] and [e] mean the same thing and do not contrast; they are allophones of the
phoneme /e/.
/e/ phonemic (abstract/mental) category
in your mind
[I:] [e] allophonic (phonetic) realizations
what you actually say

Complementary Distribution
When two phones appear in different environments and can not be
interchangeable, we say that they are in complementary distribution. This means
that when one sound occurs, the other does not.
Aspiration is a good example : the phoneme /k/ when used in the initial
position is aspirated, but when it’s preceded by the consonant /s/as in “skill”, it’s
unaspirated. And so [k] or [k ]ͪ are considered as allophones of the same phoneme.
When sounds are in complementary distribution, we can predict as to where we get
each of these sounds, i.e. we know the environment.

Clear and dark /l/ is another example of allophones : In English, [læmp] and
[liŋk] consist of light /l/, whereas in [tIł] and [puł] the /l/ is considered as dark as in
field and shield.
 Allophone

Complementary Free variation ,

distribution, ex.[t] ex.[s] [ʃ] for /c/ in
[t ͪ]in ‘still’ and ‘till’ ‘association’

The syllable.
A syllable is a basic unit of speech sound studied on both phonetic and
phonological levels of analysis. Some linguists consider the syllable as a ‘unit’ which
is larger than a segment and smaller than a word.
Vowels are considered as the nucleus; the central part of a syllable. Therefore,
‘big’ consists of one vowel and one syllable, ‘father’ includes two vowels and two
syllables, ‘happiness’ contains three vowels and three syllables and so on.
From a phonetic point of view, a syllable consists of three elements : the
nucleus, the coda and the onset.
The onset is the first part which begins a syllable; it may be a consonant or a
consonant cluster (br),( tr) as in ‘bring’ and ‘tree’. If a syllable begins with a vowel, it
has zero onset, ex ‘eat’, ‘opt’.
The nucleus (i-e the vowel) is , in general, the central part of of the syllable.
The coda is the final element in the syllable.
At the phonological level, the syllable is first divided into the onset and the
core which itself is divided into the peak or nucleus and the coda.
 Syllable

Onset Core

Nucleus Coda
peak

B i g

The coda may be empty as in French noun “cri”.

Syllable

Onset Core

Nucleus Coda

c r i ᴓ

Syllables are divided into close and open syllables . Open syllables are those that
end with a vowel, whereas close syllables end with a consonant or a coda.
Syllables

Close as in‘criterion’ Open as in ‘criteria’

Distinctive features.
Distinctive features, which are the smallest and basic units of phonological
analysis, are individual properties of a phoneme. These features are binary in nature
[+] vs [-] and are used to express the phonemic contrasts of a language.
[consonantal] : is the consonant?
[soorant] : does the sound resonate?
[nasal]: is the sound coming out ofthe nose?
[continuant]: is the sound coming out of the mouth?
[labial : are the lips actively involved?
VOWELS
[Back] : is it a back vowel?
[high]
[low]
[round]
[tense]

Exercises

1) Broadly speaking how does phonology differ from phonetics?

2) Which of the following words would be treated as minimal pairs?
Pat, pen more, heat, tape, bun, fat, ban, chain, tale, bell, far, meal,
vote, bet, pit, heel.
3) How does an allophone differ from a phoneme? Give examples from
languages other than English.
4) What distinction is there between complementary distribution and free
variation. Give examples to illustrate your answer?
What are distinctive features? What are their functions in phonology?
5)Discuss the similarities and the differences between the properties of
each of the following segment. /t/, /d/, /b/, /m/.
6)What is assimilation? What are the types of assimilation you know?
Give examples from two languages.
7)Transcribe phonemically the following pairs:
sun, son: / /, / / heat, hot: / /, / /
dam, damn: / /,
8). When are allophones said to be :
In free variation?

In complementary distribution?

/ / not, knot: / /, / /
colour, collar: / /, / / gone, gun: / /, / /
monkey, donkey: / /, / / very, bury: / /, / /
ram, lamb: / /, / /though, rough: / /, / /

Which of them are minimal pairs?

9. Give examples of minimal pairs in English in which /p/ and /b/
contrast in initial, medial, and final positions:
Initial medial final
/ / /

10. If two language elements never occur in the same environment,

are they in a.contrast, b. free variation, or c. complementary
distribution? Circle the correct answer.
11. Use (+) or (-) to specify the features of the following consonants.
The first feature has been done as an example.

P b m
consonantal + + +
labial
voiced
nasal

12. . Combine the following phonemes in as many ways as you can to

form existing English words: /s/, /p/, /t/, /ɑ/. Point out some
impossible combinations too.