ASSORTED

PHONOLOGY

NOTES
Assembled by

Solomon Luvonga

@2023

TOPIC ONE:
1
What is Phonetics?

Phonetics is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making;

especially those sounds used in speech and provide methods for their description,
classification and transcription.
.Phonetics has three branches :
1. Articulatory
It studies how speech sounds are produced and how the vocal
organs are used to produce sounds.
2. Auditory phonetics
It is concerned with how people perceive speech sounds and
how sound waves activate listeners eardrums concerned with
hearing.
.It clarifies how the message is transferred to the brain in
form of nerve impulses.
.It deals with hearing which detects sounds. How brain
process speech sounds once it hears them and derives the
meaning from such sounds is the concern of auditory
phonetics.
3. Acoustic phonetics
Is the transmission of sound waves in form of speech sounds,
accounting for how sounds travel from the source to the ear.
.Accounts for how sound is transmitted through the air to the
hearer.
.Generally speaking, it is involved with physical properties
of speech sounds.

What is Phonology?

Phonology deals with the organization, grouping, patterning and distribution of the
basic sounds of natural languages (vowels and consonants). It studies the
restrictions and regular patterns of sound combinations. Hyman (1975) says that
Phonology is the study of how speech sounds structure and function in
languages. It is the task of phonology to study which differences in sound are
related to differences in meaning in a given language. It is, hence, a branch of
linguistics which studies the sound system of languages.

Hyman adds that phonology is the study of sound system. The reference to
‘system’ suggests that one is dealing with a complex whole whereby each part of

2
the system has a function. A system, therefore, has a structure because there are
functionally distinguishable parts.

Also, can be defined as the study of the inventory of sounds in a language and
of how speech sounds may pattern together, or contrast.

IMPORTANCE OF PHONOLOGY

We need phonology
 to account for how sounds are grouped together despite being phonetically
distinct.
 to explain how regular sound alternations occur (e.g. aspiration of /p t k/)
 to explain how we extend these alternations to novel words
 to explain how we extend these alternations to mistakes like
spoonerisms(misplacement of sounds in word pronunciation e.g.
ecexpt instead of except or expect, proscratination instead
of procrastination. Transposition)
 to explain how we determine what possible words of our language are
 to pronounce the sounds in the word correctly with respect to
stress, intonation and aspirated sounds.
 to build confidence in speeches through correct
interpretation of sound basing on the fact that there are
silent and abstract sounds.
 Teachers of foreign language uses the knowledge of phonology
to correct the pronunciation errors in learners
 Speech therapist treats patients with speech defects or sound
failures to produce certain allophones of phonemes. pg76


The Relationship between Phonetics and Phonology

 Phonetics is objective and is concerned with the physical properties of all

speech sounds (in any language). It is concrete and involves the raw,
uninterpreted data, an outsider’s view of the sound.

3
  However, Phonology studies the patterns of sounds within the system of
individual languages. It is concerned with the structure and function of
sounds. It is abstract and involves analyzing raw data to get a unified picture
of how sounds behave in the framework of a whole language system. It
refers to an insider’s view of the sound pattern.

 Phonetics is the point of departure for phonology while phonology is the

interface between phonetics and syntax (grammar).

 Phonetics deals with nonsystematic surface forms while phonology deals

with an abstract, systematic level of structure for example [t aspirated]
vs /t/

 A phonological analysis attempts to capture the native speaker’s implicit

knowledge of his or her language and how we know how to use the rules
of the language when confronted with a novel form or a novel utterance in
order to produce these correctly for example the plural of wug or glarm

 A phonetic study tells us how the sounds of a language are made and
what the acoustic features are while in phonology, speech sounds cannot
be resolved by the study of phonetics alone. Speech sounds have both
psychological and physical dimensions. Phonetics only accounts for the
physical dimensions. The idea that speakers perceive words as discrete
sounds which occur in a sequence is not evident at the phonetic level.

 Phonetics concerned with how humans manipulate articulatory physiology

to produce speech sounds while phonology is how speech sounds pattern in
an individual language.

 Phonetics is concerned with actual pronunciation concerned with articulation

while Phonology focuses on mental representations of sounds and has rules
mapping mental representations to pronunciations e.g call [kh]; key [kh]
phonetically distinct (phonetics) but same mental representation (phonology)
TOPIC TWO:

THE CONCEPT OF THE PHONEME

4
Most linguists, until recently at least, have regarded the phonemes as one of the
basic units of a language. The term phoneme was first used by Kruzenski in late
1870s. Some linguists like Bloomfield and Daniel Jones have described phonemes
in purely physical terms. Others like Sapir have preferred psychological definition.
Some regard phonemes only as abstract fictitious units and argue that these are not
phonemes but allophones that exist in reality. Thus, we do not find the definition of
phonemes in the same way.

A phoneme can be defined as "the smallest contrastive linguistic unit which

may bring about change in meaning". For example, the series of words - pin,
bin, chin, gin, fin, kin, din, sin, shin, tin, min, win, etc. supplies us with twelve
words which are distinguished simply by a change in the first consonantal element
of the second sequence.

The change in phonological unit may be anywhere in the word which can bring
about a change in the meaning of the word. For example

b + in bi + n
p + in pi + n
t + in ti + n
s + in si + n
w + in wi + n

These elements of contrastive significance or phonemes are symbolized as /p, b, t,

d, k, t , d, dz, , w/. Similarly in the series of words hat, heat, hit, hat, heart, etc,
the elements of contrastive significance are /a , i:, i, , :/.

The phoneme according to Bloomfield is a minimum unit of contrastive sound

feature. Now we can define phoneme as the minimum meaningless unit of a word.
Minimal, for example, pin=p + i + n. Here the sound /p/ cannot be broken into
parts because it is the minimal unit of the word 'pin'. This minimal unit p or i or n
has separately no meaning.

Allophone

Members of phonemes are often called phones or allophones. Any objective

speech sound, considered as a physical event and without regard as to how it fits
into the structure of a given language, is a 'phone'. Hence a 'phone' in phonology is
the smallest possible segment of sound abstracted from the continuum of speech. It

5
is a common practice to write phone symbols between square brackets and
phonemes symbols between oblique brackets. Thus in English [t] and [th] are
allophones of the phoneme /t/. The variations of phoneme which cannot change
the meaning is called allophones. For example, ph, kh, th, etc are called aspirated
sounds in English. It does not bring about a change in meaning but only changes
the initial position in a word. PRACTICE: top[th] , stop[t], little [tr] and kitten
[t?].

Hence an allophone is a speech sound which is one of the number of variants of

a phoneme. For example, the 't' sound in 'take' is different from the 't' sound in
'stake'. Such a variant can be either in complementary distribution or in free
variation. The occurrence of particular allophone may be determined by its
environment or it may be in free-variation. For example, in the word 'little' the
initial 'l' sound is different from the final 'l' sound. These two sounds are known as
clear [l] and dark [l]. Clear and dark l's are allophones of the same phoneme /l/.
From the phonetic point of view, therefore, these are two quite distinct sounds
for /l/ in English and once we have learnt to listen for the difference, we can
distinguish one from another quite readily.

FORMS OF PHONEME DISTRIBUTION

(contrastive vs non-contrastiveness)

1. Minimal Pair

Contrastiveness is when interchanging two phonemes can change meaning.

For example cab [b] and cap [p] . They can also be said to be a minimal pair.
Minimal pair can be two or more words that differ only by a single sound in the
same position and that have different meanings for example sum and sun; kill and
gill;messy and meshy; feel, fell and fill; sue and zoo. Sounds in minimal pair
contrast, are unpredicatable and belong to different phonemes.
2. Complementary Distribution

When two sounds are in complementary distribution, they are barred from
occurring in identical environments. One sound appears in certain contexts and
the other in some different clearly defined contexts. This is when two or more

6
phonetically similar sounds never occur in exactly the same environment but in
complementary or mutually-exclusive environments. For instance:
Spat [p] – pool [ph]
Speak [p] – peak [ph]
tea [t] - too [tw] - eighth [tn].

Sounds in complementary distribution are:

 Allophones of a single phoneme
 Do not occur in minimal pairs
 Non-contrastive
 Predictable based on environment

The word “complementary” actually refers to the fact that the contexts in which the
allophones of a phoneme appear can never be the same and they cover the whole
range of possible environments in which the sound can occur.

ANALOGY: same person but different in different environments!!! Appears in

complementary distribution e.g. Superman during emergency and during no
emergency. Hence, [p] = [ph] and [p] pot, spot

3. Free Variation

Sometimes two different sounds can be freely used in the same position
without changing the meaning. Free variation is the ability of one sound to be a
substitute for another within a word without it affecting meaning. A substitution of
one for the other does not produce a different word but merely a different
pronunciation of the same word. Hence, two sounds are in free variation when:
 they occur in the same environment, and
 replacing one with the other does not change the meaning

Free variation, also referred to as free fluctuation is intended to account for

random interchangeability in language. The concept of free variation can be
applied to phonemes, for example the word economics with either [e] or [i:] as the
first vowel; either with [i:] or [aI]. In some Kiswahili dialects [r] and [l] as in
kula/naleta and kura/nareta. Some other examples are: The voiceless alveolar
fricative /s/ and the voiceless palato alveolar fricative /S/ in the word issue /isu:/
and /iSu:/. These are considered as free variants.

7
 PHONEME IDENTIFICATION

1. Minimal pair test

This is a method of determining that a single sound difference distinguishes the

meanings of two words. This is a key principle in phoneme analysis. Sounds are
usually classified as separate phonemes if they are responsible for a difference in
meanings in a minimal pair. Another way of saying this is to state that sounds are
separate phonemes if they contrast in identical environments. For example,
Read – lead
Rice – lice
Buck – bug
Cot – got

2. Contrast in analogous environments

Sometimes it is not possible to find minimal pairs. In this case the phonologist has
to settle for something less rigorous which is called contrast in analogous
environments. Sounds are isolated as belonging to separate phonemes if they
occur in phonetically very similar though not identical environments provided
that differences between them cannot be reasonably attributed to the influence of
neighbouring sounds.

For example, we can regard /f/ and /v/ as separate phonemes in EWE (Nigerian
language) because they contrast in analogous environments in words like [evlo] ‘he
is evil’ and [efle] ‘he split off ‘( [e] symbolizes a nasalized [e] vowel). The
difference between nasalised [e] on the one hand and oral [e] and [o] on the other
cannot be the reason for the difference between voiceless [f] and voiced [v] since
nasal [e] as well as oral [e] and [o] are all voiced and should not affect in different
ways the voicing of neighbouring sounds.

3. Suspicious Pairs

A practising phonologist can normally safely assume that sounds like [n] and [m]
or [f] and [p] which show no phonetic resemblance are distinct phonemes. As a
rule, methods for determining whether or not sounds belong to the same
8
phoneme are only employed where SUSPICIOUS PAIRS have been identified,
that is to say, pairs of words containing sounds which only differ slightly and
which can plausibly be members of the same phoneme for example, [p/b], [t/d],
[l/r], [u/o]
Since only sounds which show considerable phonetic similarity can be grouped
together as allophones of the same phoneme, it would be pointless to comb through
an entire phonological system of language in search of minimal pair and examples
of contrast in analogous environment. Identifying pairs of words containing sounds
which only differ slightly and which can plausibly be members of the same
phoneme.

Suspicious pairs of sounds are sounds which are phonetically similar, making
their phonological status suspect. The sounds usually differ in only one, or
perhaps two, phonetic features. Because of their similarity, the two members of
the pair may prove not to be separate phonemes, but simply allophones of the same
phoneme. If this is the case, the phonetic differences between the sounds may be
explainable by the environments in which they occur. The identification of
suspicious pairs is based on linguists’ experience with a wide variety of languages.
Pairs of sounds which have turned out to be allophonic variants in other languages
are suspicious, and should be investigated closely when we work on a new
language, because similar patterns of behavior often reoccur. Admittedly, the
identification of suspicious pairs is somewhat subjective, and different pairs of
sounds will exhibit different degrees of suspiciousness.

For example

 Voiced-voiceless pairs of sounds (like [t] vs. [d])

Among the nasals. All nasals are suspicious with one another, regardless of point
of articulation. This is especially true of those nasals articulated with the tongue,
such as [n], [ɲ], [ŋ]. The bilabial [m] may not be as suspicious with these others,

 Among the liquids

 Among the vowels e.g. low vowels, tense/lax vowels, neighbouring vowels
REDUNDANCY AND DISTINCTIVENESS

A child in acquiring his/her language must learn to recognize which sounds of

his/her language are distinctive and those which are redundant. Distinctive sounds
are sound units capable of distinguishing words of different meanings are termed

9
as phonemes. Redundant sounds are those which are predictable from a given
environment. These sounds are also termed as contextual variants or allophones.

Comparison between English and Thai

English has two kinds of voiceless stops phonetically:

Aspirated [p, t, k]
Unaspirated [p,t,k]

Aspirated stops are found at the beginning of words e.g pin while unaspitated
stops are found after word initials thus the word spin is pronounced without
aspiration on [p]. This can be tested by putting the palm of our hand before our
mouth during the pronunciation of both spin and pin

In Thai, there are also two series of voiceless stop. The Thai words [phaa] ‘to split’
and [p’aa] ‘forest’ illustrate the same difference [ph] as in English words pin and
spin. In English the two different [p]s are found in different environments. The fact
that one [p] is aspirated and the other is not, is predictable from the place it falls
within a word. This is demonstrated thus:

##---------in ## S--------in where ## marks the beginning of a

word, it would sound un-English to put [p] instead of [ph] in the first blank and
[ph] instead of [p] in the second blank. The same distribution is observed in the
words tick and stick, pronounced with [kh] and [k]. Since the presence or absence
of aspiration can be predicted from the environment of the voiceless stop in a
word, aspiration is said to be redundant in English.

The difference between English and Thai is that aspiration is not redundant in
Thai since [ph] and [p] both occur in exactly the same environment in ‘to split’ and
‘forest’. It is not possible to predict whether a given [p] will be aspirated or
unaspirated in this language.

Since both [p]s are capable of occurring in the same place in a word in Thai and
since the substitution of one for the other results in a word of different meaning
aspiration is said to be distinctive in Thai just like [b] and [ph] is distinctive in
English.

TOPIC THREE:
10
 THE PHONEME THEORY

There are different views of the phoneme. Phonological representations are not
identical to phonetic transcription. In addition, the notion of distinctiveness, for
instance, that two languages can have the same inventory of phonetic sounds
(phones) but significantly different phonological system, for example, English and
Thai aspirated and unaspirated stops. Each language organizes sounds in different
ways. There are three approaches to this organization.

1. The Phoneme as a phonetic/Physical reality

This refers to the fact that the phoneme represents a physical phonetic reality. A
sound which belongs to the same phoneme share important phonetic property
for example, /p/ may stand for [p], [ph], [pw], [p:]. Not all phonetic properties of
a sound are crucial in every case in distinguishing word meaning. Some properties
are redundant – predictable and non-distinctive. When writing phonological rules,
the convention of omitting redundant properties is normally observed.

The notion of the phoneme as a phonetic or physical reality sees the phoneme
as representing primarily a concrete segmental reality. It looks at the phoneme
at the level of segments. In other words, it is essentially concerned with the study
of phonemes in their distinctive and separate entities rather than in organized
speech (supra segmental phonology) The phoneme is here affirmed to be the sound
unit that can be ordinarily perceived and tried by experience to have an existence
not merely in appearance, thought or language. This is to say, phonemes can be
analyzed in a distinctive environment not in relation to how they overlap in rapid
speech.

The study of the phoneme as a phonetic or physical reality brings to focus the
examination of the notion of minimal pairs, complementary distribution, free
variation and suspicious pairs.

11
 2. The phoneme as a Phonological Reality

The phoneme can be defined satisfactorily neither on the basis of its psychological
nature nor on the basis of its relation to the phonetic variants but purely and
solely on the basis of its function in the system of language. Thus a phoneme is
a minimal unit that can function to distinguish meanings. It is not a sound or even a
group of sounds but rather an abstraction, a theoretical construct on the
phonological level. It is defined in terms of contrasts within a system for example,
the /b/ in English has a contrast but Berber doesn’t.

3. The Phoneme as Psychological Reality

If the phoneme cannot be identified with a physical constant, a natural

alternative is that it is a mental or psychological reality. Sommerfelt asserted
that the phoneme is a constant acoustic and auditory image, a sound idea
(Trubetzkoy), a thought sound (Beni). In modern times, all these definitions
amount to the claim that the phoneme is some sort of mental representation.

Each time a speaker pronounces the sound [p], for example, it is acoustically never
quite the same as the last [p] the speaker must have internalized an image or
idealized picture, a target which he/she tries to approximate. For example,
American English [aI mis a] while the real intention is [aI mis yu]

Evidence that phonology is a Psychological Reality

1. Linguistic Intuitions

This depends on native speakers intuitions on some aspect of the phonology of

his/her language e.g. sequential constraints in a language. The knowledge of
these sequential constraints is responsible for the fact that speakers of a language
have a sense of what ‘sounds’ like a native word and what does not. For example,
brick is an English word familiar to all speakers of that language. The word blick is
equally acceptable (well formed) in its phonological structure but happens not be a
word of English (that is, non-occuring).

12
The brick – blick opposition shows that the two forms which both satisfy the
sequential constraints of a language (are well formed) can differ in that one can be
found in the dictionary while the other does not exist. Words which are well
formed but are not found in the dictionary (lexicon) are termed as accidental gaps.
On the other hand, the brick – blick opposition shows that two words not occurring
in the lexicon can differ in that one is well formed (brick) but the other is ill
formed (blick). Words which are formed and do not occur in the lexicon are termed
as systemic gaps.

2. Foreign Accents

It is well known that speakers substitute sounds of their own language for
sounds of foreign languages they attempt to speak. The result is that they
typically have foreign accents. For instance, speakers of Spanish tend to insert [E]
before English words beginning with [s] followed by another consonant e.g. I
speak Espanish. This is due to the Spanish E-insertion rule.

3. Speech Errors

Data of speech errors can be used as an indication of the psychological reality

of phonological descriptions, for example Spoonerisms. It occurs when initial
consonants of the two words are interchanged as when someone says ‘tips of the
slung’ instead of ‘slips of the tongue’. Also a consonant is interchanged with zero,
that is, it is transposed, as when someone says pick slimp [pik slimp] instead of
pink slip [pink slip].

Speech error phenomenon motivates the necessity of a fundamental

distinction in the study of language. Speakers of English ‘know’ that the word
pink should be pronounced [pink] rather than [pik]. The error involved in
pronouncing [pik] is therefore one of language use rather than one in the
knowledge that the speaker has of the way this word should be pronounced. In
other words the speaker who uttered pick slimp did not think that the correct
pronunciation of pick was [pik].

4. Language Acquisition

It is possible to observe the stages children go through as they attempt to discover

the phonology of their language. The errors they make are sometimes quite
13
revealing e.g. children speaking English have been frequently observed to
substitute the sound [w] for [r]. They, thus, say wabbit instead of rabbit, wight
instead of right. When adults repeat these wabbit, wight back to the children, they
often get annoyed at the adult’s use of child language because they can perceive
the two sounds [w] and [r]. Hence, the ability of the child to perceive a sound
distinction which he does not produce is justification for distinguishing a
phonological level as opposed to a phonetic level. The phonological level,
representing the child’s mental representation of words, has the forms wabbit and
wight beginning with [r].

TOPIC FOUR:

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES THEORY

When we describe speech sounds, we use terms like: place, manner, voicing,
tongue height, lip rounding, tenseness. When we specify one of these
descriptions, we are defining the articulatory features of the particular sound. In
this theory the basic unit is the feature (not the phoneme) - features cannot be
broken into smaller units. Features are binary; all phonemes either have [+] or don't
have [-] a particular feature. Several feature systems have been proposed.

Features may be based on: Acoustic properties (e.g., strident, voice), Articulatory
properties (e.g., high, back, lateral, coronal) and Function in a syllable (e.g.,
consonantal, vocalic). Proponents of this theory believe that phonemes are stored
in the brain as “bundles of features”. Like phonemes, features are considered to be
abstract mental notions. Features are called “distinctive” because they allow us to
distinguish among phonemes. Two phones are different phonemes if at least one of
their features is different.

/ p / = + consonantal, + anterior, - voice

/ b / = + consonantal, + anterior, + voice

Several linguists have theorized the distinctive features from different perspectives.
These are discussed below.

14
 1. Trubetzkoy’s Theory of Distinctive Oppositions

A fact about phonological systems is that segments typically group themselves into
phonetically definable classes. Trubetzkoy is one of the founders of Prague School
of Linguistics which developed in the decade preceding World War 2. Trubetzkoy
(1939) attempted a comprehensive taxonomy of the phonetic properties of the
distinctive contrasts employed by language.

It was interested not only in how /p/ differs from /b/ but also in what the nature of
the contrast was within the phonological system. In his book ‘Principles of
Phonology’ he classified distinctive oppositions (sound difference which results in
meaning difference) on the basis of:

 Their relationship to the entire system of opposition

 The relationship between opposition members
 The extent of their distinctive force

The concepts of oppositions are described under the following subsections:

a. Bilateral/Multilateral Oppositions

The sum of phonetic (distinctive) features common to both members of the

opposition is common to these members only. For example, English /p/ and /b/
stand in distinctive opposition and that they are oral bilabial stops. The opposition
is bilateral since there are no other consonants in English which come under the
heading oral bilabial stops. /m/ is not in the same class because it is a nasal and /f/,
/v/ and /w/ because they are not stops.

In Thai, on the other hand, one finds not only /p/ and /b/ but also /ph/. We can still
say that /p/ and /b/ started in bilateral opposition but we further specify the
properties they have in common as oral unaspirated labial stops. However, /ph/
and /b/ do stand in bilateral opposition as they are oral labial stops. Since there is a
third segment which shares the properties common to /ph/ and /b/, we ca say they
are in a multi-lateral opposition.The same phonetic segments distinguished by the
same phonetic features can stand in multilateral opposition in one language and in
bilateral in another language.

15
 b. Proportional or Isolated oppositions

Another distinction made concerning which, in relation to the whole system are
either proportional or isolated. An opposition is proportional if the relation
between its members is identical with the relation between members of another
opposition or several other opposition of the same system. Otherwise, the
opposition is said to be an isolated one.

In English, the opposition between /p/ and /p/ is proportional because the relation
between its members is identical to the relation between /t/ and /d/ and between /k/
and /g/. On the other hand, the opposition between /l/ and /r/ is isolated since no
other segments in English stand in same relation as these two opposition members.
The proportions can be stated such as p:b=t:d=k:g. Therefore, whether an
opposition is proportional or isolated depends on the language.

c. Privative Oppositions

In this opposition, one member of the opposition carries a phonetic ‘mark’

which the other member lacks. It is a question of the presence versus the absence
of a feature. In the opposition /b/:/p/ in English, /b/ is characterized by the presence
of voicing while /p/ lacks voicing. In the opposition /m/:/b/, /m/ is characterized by
nasality while /b/ lacks it. In Thai /ph/ has aspiration while /p/ lacks it,

The opposition member which is characterized by the presence of a mark is said to

be ‘marked’ while the member which is characterized by the absence is said to be
‘unmarked’.

d. Gradual

Oppositions in which the members are characterized by different degrees or

gradations of the same property are said to be gradual. Thus, in a language like
Yoruba which has the following seven vowel system: I, e, E, a, o, o, u, the
opposition between /u/ and /o/ is a gradual one since the vowel /o/ is a third degree
of the same property (vowel height). /u/ cannot be said to carry a mark because
there are three values of back rounded vowels – high, mid, low

The third possible relation between members of an opposition is when the

members are considered ‘legally equivalent’. In other words, it is not possible to
view one as having a mark which other lacks. Nor is it possible to view two
members as differing by the degree of some phonetic property. For example,
16
English /p/ and /t/ or /t/ and /k/ or in case of vowel heights to speak of a continuum
from labial to velar whereby /p/ and /t/ would differ say by degree of backness.

Unlike vowels, where only the degree of vowel height is involved, different places
of articulation in consonants are obtained by discrete changes in the two
articulators. This third category of opposition is termed equipollent.

e. Constant and Neutralizable Oppositions

Another classification is made according to the extent of the distinctiveness of an

opposition. Trubertzkoy draws a distinction between constant and neutralizable
oppositions. For example, a classic example of neutralizable opposition comes
from standard German. While there is an opposition between the voiceless
consonants /p, t, k, f, s/ and the voiced consonants /b, d, g, v, z/ in some positions
of the word in German e.g. Tier [ti:r] ‘animal’ versus dir [di:r] ‘to you’ only the
voiceless series is found at the end of a word.

Although rat (advice) and rad ‘wheel’ are written differently both are pronounced
[ra:t]. The plural forms rate [re:ta] ‘advices’ and rader [rE: dar] ‘wheels’ shows a
contrast between /t/ and /d/ since these consonants are with the plural suffixes –e
and –er, no longer at the end of the word. The opposition between /t/ and /d/ is
therefore realized phonetically only in certain positions where only /t/ is found
phonetically, the opposition is said to be neutralized.

On the other hand, when two members of an opposition can occur in all positions,
there is no neutralization. Rather, the opposition is said to be constant e.g. tap –
dap; bad – pad; utter – udder

llll
2. JAKOBSON’S THEORY OF DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

Jakobson, another founding member of the Prague School hypothesized that the
presence of certain oppositions hinders the presence of other oppositions. He
classified sounds into the following:
a. Articulatory vs Acoustic Features

Articulatory features for consonants include where the sound is made (place),
how it is made (manner) and what the state of glottis is (voiced/unvoiced). The
17
features for vowels focus on which part of the tongue is raised (front, central,
back), how much it is raised (high, mid, low) and whether the lips are rounded or
not.

With technological advances, it is possible to classify sounds using acoustic

properties. Labial and velar consonants are said to share the property of graveness
(low tonality) while alveolars and palatals share the property of acuteness (high
tonality). Back vowels are also said to be grave while front vowels are acute.

b. Binary vs Non-Binary Features

A feature can have only two values, one of which is designated as [+f] and the
other as [-f]. +f indicates the presence of a feature while –f is absence of a
given feature. In many cases, the binary approach is phonologically significant as
in those oppositions termed as privative. Thus a phoneme is either [+ nasal] or [-
nasal] though phonetically some sounds may be more heavily nasalized than
others. For example,

bet, den, ghoul, zinc (+voice) pet, ten, cool, sink (- voice)

However, binarism works well where there exists a two way opposition, but it
does not yield entirely satisfactory results where multilateral contrast is involved.
Trubetzkoy’s gradual oppositions seem to defy binary reinterpretation. Thus, the
vowels /I, e, E, ae / differ in degree of vowel height and would appear to require a
scale from say [1 vowel height] for /ae/ to [4 vowel height] for /i/.

c. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF CHOMSKY AND HALLE

The features used by Chomsky and Halle were defined primarily in articulatory
and not in acoustic ones as they were in the Jakobsonian model. This was not a
return to the ‘tradition”, but a reinterpretation of most of Jakobson’s features.
Chomsky and Halle argue that the priority given to an articulatory description
is a circumstantial one rather than one pertaining to the essence of their
theoretical approach (1968: 299).

18
The features – more numerous than Jakobson’s – were subdivided into five groups.

1. Major class features:

 sonorant/nonsonorant (obstruent)
 vocalic/nonvocalic
 consonantal/non-consonantal

2. Cavity features:
 coronal/noncoronal
 anterior/nonanterior
 body of the tongue features:
 high/nonhigh
 low/nonlow
 back/nonback
 rounded/nonrounded
 distributed/nondistributed
 covered/noncovered
 glottal constrictions
 secondary apertures:
 nasal/nonnasal
 lateral/nonlateral
3. Manner of articulation features:
 continuant/noncontinuant (stop)
 instantaneous/delayed release
 supplementary movements
 suction
 pressure
 tense/nontense (lax)

4. Source features:
 heightened subglottal pressure
 voiced/nonvoiced
 strident/nonstrident
5. Prosodic features:
 stress
 pitch
 length

19
Major class features dealt with the fundamental vocalic/nonvocalic and
consonantal/nonconsonantal distinctions. The distinction sonorant/obstruent was
introduced the former being described as sounds allowing spontaneous voicing.
Syllabic/nonsyllabic - Consonants are described as contoids(consonant-like in
nature) and vowels as vocoids while the same distinction syllabic/nonsyllabic that
differentiated between vowels and glides operates in the case of consonants too.

Cavity features were essentially place of articulation features.

 Coronal sounds (a new feature actually originating in Jakobson’s

grave/acute opposition) were defined as sounds produced with the blade of
the tongue raised from the neutral position (dental, alveolar, palato-alveolar
consonants).
 Anterior sounds (another apparently new feature, which can, however, be
associated to Jakobson’s compact/ diffuse one) were sounds produced in
front of the palato-alveolar region.
 The body of the tongue features actually distinguished among vowels having
different degrees of aperture as a result of the higher or lower position of the
tongue in the mouth.
 The feature rounded/unrounded made a distinction between sounds
(primarily vowels) pronounced with either rounded or spread lips.
 The feature distributed/nondistributed differentiated between sounds
produced with a constriction that extends for a considerable distance along
the direction of the air flow, and sounds articulated with a constriction that
extends only for a short distance in the direction of the air flow.
 The feature covered/noncovered refers to the position of the pharyngeal
walls: in the case of covered sounds the walls are narrowed and tensed,
while noncovered sounds are articulated without such a narrowing or
tensing.

Manner of articulation features essentially distinguished between stops and

fricatives on the one hand and plosives and affricates on the other.

TOPIC FIVE

20
 PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES

Provide the following for pronunciation practice at the start of lesson

I can ask [aı kan aesk)

I can see [aı kan si:]

I can bake [aı kam beik]

I can play [aı kam pleI]

I can go [aı kang gau]

I can come [aı kang kam]

N/B: The /a/ here is a schwa

/Can/ in isolation is /kaen/

No two languages have exactly the same inventory of phonemes which are realized
by the same set of allophones. No two languages have exactly the same
phonological rules regulating the deployment of their sounds. Phonology is not a
static system in which an established unit remains unchanged in all its
occurrences. Rather, it is a dynamic system in which units change as they come
into contact with other units in the system. We refer to such changes as
phonological processes.

Ultimately, the modification of sounds seems to follow natural principles related to

physiological and psychological strategies. Some phonological processes may be
explained as muscle coordination within the vocal mechanism. Others may be due
to perceptual strategies that enhance effective communication.

21
FOR EXAMPLE: Some rules make sequences of sounds easier to pronounce.
When we say [kaem bi:] instead of [kaen bi:], we produce two bilabial sounds in a
row (using a single lip gesture) instead of making an alveolar [n] and then a
bilabial [b] (using two different gestures).Some rules make sounds easier to
perceive, as when voiceless stops are aspirated at the beginning of a stressed
syllable.

TYPES OF PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES

There are several phonological processes applicable to almost all the languages of
the world. They are discussed in details below.

1) Assimilation

This is the modification of a sound in order to make it more similar to some

other sound in the neighbourhood. The advantage of having assimilation is that
it results in smoother, more effortless, more economical transitions from one sound
to another. The speaker usually tries to conserve energy by using no more effort
than is necessary to provide an utterance.

One of the most common types of processes found in language is assimilation, in

which a sound takes on the characteristics of a neighboring sound. ... There are two
necessary components that define assimilation: first, a sound that changes (the
assimilating sound) and second, the sound that causes the change (the
conditioning sound). Rules involving assimilation cause a sound to become more
like a neighboring sound with respect to some feature. The various features touch
on mostly voicing and place of articulation. The direction of assimilation is very
important in the process of sounds acquiring new features.

Directionality in Assimilation

In assimilation, we can say whether a sound becomes more like either the sound
that precedes it or the sound that follows it. Progressive assimilation is when a
sound becomes more like the sound that precedes it while Regressive is when a
sound is modified so that it becomes more like the sound that follows it (mostly

22
noted in English voice assimilation). Regressive assimilation is normally
anticipatory.

a) Voicing

The regular plural ending in English written as‘s’ may be pronounced as ‘-s’, ‘-z’
and ‘-Iz’. The choice is not random. The principle that determines the shape of the
suffix is voice assimilation: the suffix must always agree with the preceding sound.
There is the allomorph rule which guides the assimilation process.
 [-z] occurs with words ending in voiced consonants or vowels e.g. dogz,
seaz, ribz, lovez, cabz, lidz, tagz etc
 [-s] occurs with words ending with voiceless sounds e.g. docks, bits, moths,
giraffes, cats, taps etc.
 [IZ] occurs with word ending with [ts], [dz], [S], [Z], [s], [z] e.g. witchiz,
judgiz, rosiz, nausiz, marshiz, busiz,

N/B. Check the right phonetic transcriptions for these words

This alternation is not arbitrary. It is phonologically conditioned. This means that

the allomorph of a morpheme that occurs in a given context is wholly or partly
determined by the sounds in the allomorphs of adjacent morphemes.

The same rule applies to the third person singular being [-z, -s, -IZ]. The suffix
also agrees in voicing with the preceding sound. The plural suffix is realized by a
voiced or voiceless alveolar fricative depending on whether the noun ends in a
voiced or voiceless segment. For example, [-z]: see – sees, love – loves, mend –
mends, come – comes; [-s]: paint – paints, hate – hates, talk – talks, wipe – wipes;
[IZ]: teach – teaches, wish – wishes, judge – judges, lose – loses, catch – catches.

The past tense morpheme marker ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’ is realized as [-d, -t, -Id] again
depending on the feature of voicing. For example, [-d]: love – loved, call – called,
rub – rubbed (voiced); [-t]: walk – walked, work – worked (voiceless); [-Id]: land –
landed, sound – sounded, part – parted (ends in either t or d).

Regressive assimilation can further be seen in the nasal prefix in the following
data from Luganda

m-bala ‘I count’
23
m-mala I finish
m-pa I give
n-daga I show
n-sika I pull
ng-gula I buy
ng-kola I work

The nasal is realized as:

[m] before bilabial consonants (b,m,p)

[n] before alveolar consonants (s,n,d)
[ng] before velar consonants (k, g)

b) Place of articulation

Regressive assimilation can also occur when there is an aspect of anticipation

from the neighbouring sounds. Palatalization fronting occurs when a velar
consonant is followed by a front vowel. There occurs some slight anticipatory
fronting of the part of the tongue that makes contact with the roof of the mouth.

For example,
Car Keys [ka kIz]
Keep calm [kIp kam]
Give guns [gIv gAnz]

There is also palatalization of alveolar consonants. Alveolar consonants are

usually palatalized when they occur at the end of a word and are followed by
another word which begins with an alveopalatal consonant. For example,

This year, hit you, lead you, praise you, bless you
His shoes [hiz shuz] = [hiz (as in measure) Suz]
Nice shirt [naIs S3t] = [naI S3t]
Miss you [mis ju] = [Mis ju]
Regressive assimilation is also realized when the process of labialization
commences. This is referred to as lip rounding. A speaker starts rounding the lips
before the articulation of the consonant is complete in anticipation of the
neighbouring rounded vowel. For example,

Pool [pwul]
24
Two [twu]
Shoe [Swu]

The nasal of the negative prefix ’IN-‘ assimilates the manner of articulation
features of the liquid so that /n/ becomes /l/ before /l/ commences. This is noted in
words such as

In-legal – il-legal
In-licit – il-licit
In-rational – ir-rational
In-revocable – ir-revocable

However, it should be noted that the nasal shares the place of articulation with a
consonant that follows it. This is a predictable process in Luganda but not
predictable in English. An example is the negative prefix IN- in words such as:

[Ing] incorrect – velar [Im] impossible – bilabials

[In] indescent – alveolar [In] inappropriate – vowel (no place of articulation)

SEE: [An] unkempt [An] unpretentious [An] undeserving

Progressive assimilation is when the phoneme that comes first makes the
following phoneme take its properties. The changes occur during the assimilation
of place, of manner and of voicing in consonants.

Examples
that person, light blue, quite good, bright color, meat pie(p), good night(m), that
side(m) don't be silly, i[k]onclusive, i[g]ratitude, have turned, cause to die,
breathe slowly, garage to let (There is English fricative devoicing)
2. Dissimilation

Whereas assimilation refers to the process in which segments take on the character
of neighboring segments, dissimilation refers to the process in which segments
change to become less like a neighboring segments. On the whole, dissimilation
is much rarer than assimilation. This process ensures that differences between
sounds are enhanced so that sounds become more auditorily distinct and make
speech perception easier.

25
 In English, the adjective forming suffix ‘-al’ has two phonetic manifestations ‘-al’
and ‘-ar’. Dissimilation is noted thus electric – electrical, region – regional, orbit
– orbital; angle – angular, circle – circular, single – singular, Fifth, sixth

3. ELISION

This is very simply the omission of certain sounds in certain contexts. The most
important occurrences of this phenomenon regard:

I. Alveolar consonants consonants /t/ and /d/ when sandwiched between two
consonants e.g. The next day, The last car, Hold the dog, Send Frank a card
II. Weak vowels e.g. potato, tomato, perhaps, tonight, police, correct, button,
mutton, chocolate, secretary, articulatory, phonetics
III. Loss of final /v/ in of before consonants: Lots of them, waste of money
IV. Contractions: he’ll, we’ll, will not=won’t, They have=They’ve, They
are=They’re
4. LINKING

Words in English can be linked in special ways: Linking r and Intrusive r.

Linking r can be seen in phrases such as four eggs, far away, more ice etc.
Usually heard when the first word ends in ‘r’ or ‘-re’. Intrusive r also involves
the pronunciation of an r sound but this time there is no justification from the
spelling as the word’s spelling does not end in ‘r’ or ‘-re’ for example, law and
order, formula A, media event, Anna and John etc.

Other forms of intrusion are I want to (w)it (I want to eat) , I (j)agree, Do

(w)it (Do it)

5. NEUTRALIZATION

This is a process whereby phonological distinctions are reduced in a particular

environment. Hence, segments which contrast in one environment have the same
representation in the environment of neutralization. For example, the English /t/
and /d/ where intervocalically /t/ and /d/ are both pronounced as an alveolar tap [r-
upside down r]. Thus for many speakers of American English, the words betting
and bedding are pronounced identically as /b3rIng/. One might attempt to assign
different phonemic representation such as /beting/ and /beding/ on the basis that
26
bedding contains bed and betting contains bet. In /b3rIng/ the /t/ and /d/ have the
allophone /r/ in the same environment. The opposition in the intervocalic position
has been neutralized. Intervocalic position is the position of neutralization i.e.
where neutralization takes place.

TOPIC SIX

THE SYLLABLE

In the discussion of the syllable, the concept of phonotactics is important.

Phonotactics is the study of all possible combinations of the phonemes of a
language in order to an acceptable unit larger than the phoneme. A syllable is
larger than a phoneme. The syllable is the heart of phonological representations. It
is the unit in terms of which phonological systems are organized and is a purely
phonological entity.

The syllable has two constituents namely the onset which comes at the beginning
of a syllable and must be a consonant sound and the rhyme which follows the
onset. The rhyme has two components namely the peak/nucleus which is a vowel
sound and the coda which is always a consonant sound. Typically, the nucleus slot
in the rhyme is occupied by a vowel.

QUIZ: asterisks, extra into syllabic components.

N/B: Maximum Onsets Principle (MOP), according to Roach (2000: 77-78), states
that: where two syllables are to be divided, any consonants between them should
be attached to the right -hand syllable, not to the last, as far as possible (p. 78).

Also remember that this means that to recognize a syllable boundary some other
principles are at work in conjunction with MOP.

Some of these are:

27
 i. The onset of a syllable must be permissible in English

ii. A division is sometimes created such that the strong vowel attracts the
consonant

iii. Two consonants between vowels can be split into two such that the left one
serves as the coda of one syllable and the other, the onset of the other syllable.

The rhyme is the head constituent as it contains the nucleus which is a

compulsory component in any syllable. In English, it is possible for a well formed
syllable to contain no onset e.g. e-ver, it etc but it is not possible for a syllable to
exist without a nucleus found in the rhyme.

Demonstration:

Draw diagram on the white board.

In the case of most words, it should be comparatively easy to point out how many
syllables a given word has eg rat , redeem, humanist, degenerate, electricity and
characterization and say that they contain one, two, three, four, five and six
syllables respectively. Transcribe the examples above

It is noticeable that the number of syllables each corresponds to the number of

vowel sounds.

The two main constituents within the syllable are the onset and the rhyme. For
example, in the word tip [tip], the first segment [t] followed by the vowel [I] and
then another segment [p]. The segment [t] together constitutes the onset of the
syllable, while the last two segments together [Ip] constitute the rhyme. The rhyme
may be divided further into two constituents, the nucleus and the coda. In the
example above, the rhyme is [Ip]. Its constituents are [ I ] which is the nucleus
(peak) and [p] which is the coda. This is a closed syllable.

There can also be an open syllable when a syllable does not contain any
consonants in the coda position eg the word tea [ti:]. It does not contain any

28
consonant after the nucleus [i:]. English also has syllables which do not have an
onset but only the nucleus and the coda eg it [It].

Functions of the Syllable

 It regulates the way in which consonants and vowels of the phonological

hierarchy can combine.
 Speakers of a language are expected to know the phonemes of that language
and their allophones.
 The rules which reflect speakers’ knowledge of what combinations of
sounds are allowed in their language are variously referred to as phonotactic
rules or morpheme structure conditions.
 The syllable is the unit in terms of which phonotactic rules are best stated.

TOPIC SEVEN

TONE, STRESS AND INTONATION

Tonal languages have morphemes which are at least in part realized by pitch
modulation. Pitch differences can be used to make phonemic contrasts. Pitch
depends on the rate of vibration of the vocal cords. The more taut the vocal cords
are, the faster they vibrate and the higher the pitch. In tone languages, pitch can be
used to distinguish word meaning or convey grammatical distinctions. Non-tonal
languages (stress languages) like English pitch do not have those functions.

Intonation is defined as the rise and fall of the pitch of an utterance (Jolayemi,
1999: 82). It is also described as voice modulation; when you have your voice high
or low. Gimson, (1980: 264) describes intonation as “variation of pitch”. It is
usually said of English that the language sounds musical. One way this is achieved
is the lowering of the pitch towards the end of an utterance from a high level at the
beginning of the utterance. This is referred to as Tune 1
29
Examples are:
i. Let’s go home.
ii. That’s good for you.
iii. The lecture starts right away.
iv. You may call me Mr Thompson.

When you want to lay particular emphasis on certain utterances you want to make
in order to convey some special message, you often use Tune I. this is a speech act
that we make very regularly.

Examples are:
i. I do not hate you.
ii. Rivers flow downhill.
iii. That’s not it.
iv. Corruption won’t help there.

Whenever we perform this act, we often implore Tune I. Examples of such

perfomative acts of command are:

i. Get out now

ii. Stop shouting
iii. Keep moving there.
iv. Drop that book now

STRESS

As a linguistic feature, it concerns the prominence given a syllable of an

utterance relative to the other syllables in the utterance. This prominence may be
marked by higher intensity (loudness), increased fundamental frequency (pitch)
length, etc. occasioned by some organs of speech.

Stress means essentially that one phonological element is singled out within
another, longer, phonological element. Sentence-stress involves the picking out
of one word or phrase within the sentence; this word or phrase is usually given
special emphasis of some kind in pronunciation. Stress is primarily a matter of
greater auditory prominence.

30
It is a perceptual phenomenon. An element that is stressed is highlighted so that it
becomes more auditorily salient than the rest of the elements in the string of which
it is part. The main ingredients of stress are pitch, length and loudness.

TYPES OF STRESS

1. Word-level stress
A particular syllable of a word is pronounced in a way that makes it more
prominent than the rest e.g. if you say words like mother, better and pity, you will
notice that the first syllable in all these words is much more salient than the
second. The first syllable is said to be stressed while the second one is unstressed.

In longer words, there is often not just one stressed but a host of unstressed ones. A
word can have a syllable that receives the main or primary stress and then have
other syllables which receives secondary stress. For example, ra/di/a/tor where the
first syllable receives the primary stress and the third syllable receives secondary
stress. It is more prominent than the second and fourth but not as prominent as the
first.

In English, some verbs and nouns can be distinguished by stress. For example,

‘project (n) pro’ject (v), ‘conduct, con’duct; ‘refuse, re’fuse; ‘protest, pro’test

Stress in English shows a high degree of mobility; nation, nationality, nationalize,

nationalization

In Kiswahili, there is the use of the penultimate stress unlike in the English
language. For example, piga, pigana, piganisha, tutawapiga, pigapiga

2. Compound Stress Marking

Remember that a compound word is often made up of two independent words,

which are written separately (pen knife), written with a hyphen separating them
(pen-knife) or in neither of these ways (penknife). So, it has the stress on black as
in ˈblackboard. Other examples are ˈheadmaster, ˈword-stress, ˈfootball, ˈ stress
shift.

31
 3. Sentence Stress Marking

Let me exemplify with “blackboard” and “black board” in these two sentences:
i. The teacher needs the blackboard to write the summary of his
lecture.
ii. The teacher needs the black board to construct the stage for that
scene

By septillion

32