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    01_02_Fromkin aamp; Rodman (1998) An Introduction to Language - Phonemes

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    284 Chapter Phonology: The Sound Pantes of Language ‘unaspirated voiceless stops in the appropriate context, to know wiatis or is not a sound ‘in one’s language, and to know that different phonetic strings may represent the same morpheme. PHONEMES: THE PHONOLOGICAL UNITS OF LANGUAGE In the physical world the nsive speaker and hearer actualize and are sensi- tive to sounds, but what they feel themselves to be pronouncing and hear- ing are “phonemes.” award Sai 1933, ‘Phonological knowledge goes beyond the ability to produce all the phonetically differ- ent sounds of a language. It includes this ability, of couse. A speaker of English can ‘produce the sound [6] and knows that this sound occurs in English, in words like thin [ein], ether 100), and bath (ba8]. English speakers may or may not be able to produce “click” or a velar fricatve, but even if they can, they know that such sounds are not part of the phonetic inventory of English. Many speakers are unable to produce such “foreign” sounds. ‘A speaker of English also knows that [6], the voiced counterpart of [8], isa sound of English, occurring in words like either (ibar), then [Sen], and bathe {bed}. French speakers similarly know that [8] and [6] are not part of the phonetic inventory of French and often find it difficult to pronounce words like this [01s] and that [Set], pronouncing ‘them as if they were spelled zis and zat. ‘Sounds that Contrast ‘Knowing the sounds (the phonetic units) ofa language is only small part of phono- Togical knowledge. : Tn calier chapters we discussed speakers’ knowledge of the arbitrary sound/mean- ing units that comprise their vocabulary, the morphemes end words in ther mental lex- ions. We saw that knowing a word means knowing bot its form (is sounds) and its meaning. Mast ofthe wor in language differ both in fm and meaning, sometimes by jut one sound. The importance of phonology is shewn by the fact that one can change one word into another simply by changing one sound. Consier the forms and meanings ofthe following English words: sip fine chunk zip vine junk Each word differs from the other words in both form and meaning. The difference ‘between sip and zip is “signaled” by the fact that the inital sound of the first word is s [s] and the intial sound ofthe second word is z {2}. The forms of the two words—that is, their sounds—are identical except forthe initial consonant sounds. [s] and (z] ean therefore distinguish or contrast words. They are distintive sounds in English. Such distinctive sounds are called phonemes. Phonemes: The Phonosogical Units of Language 255 ‘We see from the contrast between fine and vine and between chunk and junk that [f, {1 (@}and (f] must also be phonemes in English fr the same reason—substituting a [¥ for fora [8] for} produces different word, a differen form with a diferent meaning. Minimal Pairs To eNpecr. Tar é mee =) m * By permission of ohnny Hat nd Creators Syaict,n. ‘The “B.C.” cartoon illustrates the fact that [1] ani] in the pair erick and creek and (v) and [o] in the pair crook and croak are phonemes. The substitution of one fr the otet rakes a different word. The phonological difference between the two words in each ‘iris minimal because they ae identical in form except for one sound segment that ‘occurs inthe same place i the string. For this reason, sich pars of words ae referred to-as minimal pairs, These four words, together with crake? crack, and crock, coasti- tute a minimal set. Al the words inthe st dtferby just one sound, and :hey all fein meaning. The ‘vowels that contrast these meanings are thus inthe class of vowel phonemes in English For some speakers, crick and creek are pronounced identically another example of regional dialect differences; but most speakers ofthis dsc til contrast the vowels in ‘eat an bit, so tese high front vowels are contastive, aud therefore phonemes, in eit dialect ‘The distinct sounds that occur in a minimal pair or minimal set are phonemes since they contrast meanings. Fine and vine, and chum and jun are minimal pairs in English {fh {v,[E, and] are phonemes in English ‘Seed {sd} and soup [sup] are not a minimal pair beesuse they differ in two sounds, the vowels andthe final consonans. Iti thus not evident as 9 which diferences in sound make fr the differences in meaning, Bar [ber] and rod {rad do not constitute a sinimal pair because although only one sound differs in the two words, the [9] occurs initially andthe 4] occurs finally. However, [i] and u] do contrast in the minimal pair seep [sip] and soup (sup, (and p] contrast in deed (did and deep (dp), and fb] and (4) contrast inthe following minimal pairs: beed [bid] deed bowl [bol] dole [dol] rube [rub] rude {ru} lobe [lob] load flo) ‘ Acrake isa shor billed bird. 256 Chapter Phonology: The Sound Paters of Language ‘Substituting a [d] fora [b] changes both the phonetic form and its meaning. [b] and [a also contast with [g] asin BiAiIVgil ibiridrig ‘Therefore (b, [a and [g] are all phonemes in English and bill, dl, and gil! consti- tute a minimal set. We have many minimal pairs in English, which makes it relatively easy to determine what the English phonemes are. The words in the following minimal set differ only in their vowels; each vowel thus represents a distinct phoneme. beat [bit] fi] boot out] tu bie fut} ut bat) mit fet) fe] boat bot) fo] bet fet} fe] bought bot] 5] tat owt] fe] bout foawt] [aw] bie [bait] fa] boat] fa) [and (aj, which are not part ofthe minimal set listed above, are also phonemes of English. They contrast meanings in other minimal pairs: wf ‘book fuk] beak [bik] bi bal bboy [bof] buy Thal ‘The diphthongs [ojl, [aj], and [aw] are considered to be single vowel sounds although cach includes an off-glide because, in English, they function like the monoph- thongal vowels, a further illustrated by the minimal set including all three diphthongs: bile bowel boil (bajll —(bewl} —[bojl) In some languages, particularly those with relatively long words of many syllables, itis not as easy to find minimal sets or even minimal pairs to ilustrate the contrasting sounds, the puonemes of these languages. Even in English, which has many monosyl- lable words (words of one syllable) and hundreds of minimal pairs there are very few ‘minimal pairs in which the phonemes (8} and {6} contrast. In a computer search, only ‘one pair was found in which they contrast initially, one in which they contrast medially, and four with final contrast, All four pairs in which they contrast finally are noun/verb pairs, the result of historical sound change which willbe discussed ina later chapter. 1 101 ‘thigh thy ether either ‘mouth (noun) mouth (verb) teoth teethe Ieath loathe ‘wreath, ‘vreathe sheath sheathe ‘Taverna ofa bal Phonemes: The Phonological Units of Language 287 Even if these pairs did not occur, [0] and [8] ean be analyzed as distinct phonemes. Each contrasts with other sounds in the language, as for example thick [Ok] / sick [sik] and though [80] / dough [do]. Note also that one cannot substitute the voiced and voice- less interdental fricatives in the words in which they do occur without producing non- sense forms; for example, if we substitute the voiced [0] for the voiceless [0] in thick, ‘we get (xk), whch has no meaning, showing thatthe phonemes that represent its forma and its meaning are inseparable, You cannot pronounce the word any way you like, sub- stituting other sounds for the phonemes in the werd. Free Variation Drawing by Recs, © 1988 The New Yor Magazine fs ‘Some words in English are pronounced difTeretly by different speakers. For exam- ple, some speakers pronounce the word economics with an inital [i] and others with an initial (e) In this word, {i} and [e] are said to bein free variation, However, we cannot substitute [i] and [e] in all words. Did you beat the drum? does not mean the same thing 1s Did you bet the drum? An old song of the 1930s was based on the notion of free vari- ation: ‘You say either [iar] and I say [aiborl, ‘You say {nifor] and I say {najBor], [ior] {aj8or] itr) {najBor], Jet's cal the whole thing off 288 Chapter 7 Phonology: The Sound Parte of Language Minimal Pairs in ASL ‘There are minimal pais in sign languages just as there are in spoken languages. Figure 7-1 shows minimal contrasts involving hand configuration, place of articulation, and ‘movement. FIGURE 7-1. Minimal contrasts illustrating major formational parameters. KY a L Za SUMMER UGLY cy Sins contrasting onlin Place of Articulation TAPE CHAIR TRAIN © Sienscontastng onlin Movement ‘Copyrit © 1979 by Harvard Univers Press. Reproduced by pension of Hava Unvesy Pres ‘Tigres ome 8 Klin and U, Bell, Te Sign of Language. 1979. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni ‘ey Pr pp 6 and 2. Phonemes: The Phonological Units oj Language 259 ‘The signs meaning “candy.” “apple,” and “jealous” are articulated atthe same place of articulation on the face, involve the same movement, but contrast rainimally only in hhand configuration. “Summer,” “ugly,” and “dry” are a minimal set contrasting only in place of articulation, and “tape,” “chair,” and “train” only in movement. Phonemes, Phones, and Allophones ‘You may be wondering why we have included a second chapter on phonological units. ‘The entre previous chapter discussed these sounds. But as noted earier in discussing ‘morphology, syntax, and semantics, linguistic knowledge is more complex than it appears to one who knows a language. Since the knowledge is unconscious, we are ‘unaware of many ofthe complexities. Phonemes are not physical sounds. They are abstract mental representations of the phonological units of a language, the units used to represent the forms of words in our ‘mental Iexicons. These phonemic representations of words, together with the phono- logical rules of the language, determine the phonetic units that represent their pronun- If phonemes are not the actual sounds, what are they? We can illustrate the differ- cence between a phoneme and a phonetic segment, called a phone, by referring to the difference betweer oral and nasalized vowels in English. In Chapter 6it was noted that both oral and nasalized vowels occur phonetically in English, The following examples show this. bean [bin] bead [bid] roam (rom) robe [rob] [Nasalized vowels occur in English syllables only before nasal consonants, If one substituted oral vowels forthe nasal vowels in bean and roam, the memings ofthe two ‘words would not be changed. Try to say these words keeping your velem up until your tongue makes the stop closure ofthe nor your lips come together forthe [mI will not be easy because in English we automatically lower the velum when producing vow- cls before nasals inthe same syllable. Now ty to pronounce bead and robe with a nasal vowel. [bid] would still be understood as bead although your pronunciation would probably be interpreted as being very nasal, which it would be. In oter words, nasal ‘and oral vowels do not contrast. There is just one set of vowel phonemes in English despite the fact tha: there ae two sets of vowel phones—the set of oral vowels and the set of nasal vowels, ‘There is a general principle or rule in the phonology of English tht tells ws when nasalized vowels occur—always before nasal consonants, never before oral conso- ‘ants, The oral vowels in English differ phonemically from each other whereas the dif- ferences between the oral vowels and their nasal counterparts do not, There is n0 Principle or rule to predict when, for example, [i] occurs instead of [e} ot (uot [a] oF ‘any ofthe other vowel phonemes. We must learn that [i] occurs in bea: and (ein bat ‘We do not have to learn that the nasalized version of [i] occurs in Beam, bean, bing ((bim {bin} (big) or thatthe nasalized (8} occu in booms [bam] or bo«n {btn}. Rather, ‘we generalize from the occurrences of oral and nasal vowels in English, and form a 260 Chapter? Phonology: The Sound Pater of Language ‘mental rule that applies to [i) and [u] and all vowels that automatically naslizes them before nasal consonants. “The rule, or general principle, that predicts when a vowel phoneme will be realized as an oral Vowel phone and when the same vowel phoneme willbe a nasalized phone 5 exemplified in Table 7.1 ‘TABLE 7.4 Nasal and Oral Vowels: Words and Nomads Words Nonwords* Words Nemwordist§ be {bil bead [bid] bean thin} “(on *Pbid) “Lind Jy le] ace les) lame [im] fie} les)_— lem baa [tx] bad [bed) bang (ben) *fba] ‘bed) *Tben) we ‘The aster hows hat thes re nomads or uaecepabl fom in English [As the words in Table 71 illustrate, oral vowels in English occur in final position and before nonnasal consonants; nasalized vowels occur only before nasal consonants ‘The “noawords” show us that nasalized vowels do not occur finally or before nonnasal ‘consonants. Therefore oral vowels and their nasalized counterparts never contrast. "Most speakers of English are unaware thatthe vowels in bead and bean are different sounds. This is because speakers are aware of phonemes, not the physical sounds (phones) which they produce and hear. ‘Since nasalized vowels do oecur phonetically but not phonemically, we can con- ude that there is no one-to-one correspondence between phonetic segments and pho ‘nemes in a language. One phoneme may be realized phonetically (that is, pronounced) ‘8 more than one phone—phonetic segment. A phoneme may also be represented by only one phone. "The diferent phones that are the realizations ofa phoneme ae called the allophones cof that phoneme. An allophone is therefore a predictable phonetic variant of « phoneme. In English, each vowel phoneme has both an oral and a nasalized allophone, "The choice ofthe allophone is not random or haphazard: it is rule-governed. No one is explicitly aught these rues. They are learned subconsciously when the native language fs acquired. Language acquisition, toa certain extent, is rule construction "To distinguish between a phoneme and its allophones (the phonetic segments or ‘phones that symbolize the way the phoneme is pronounced in different contexts), we Will use slashes // to enclose phonemes and continue to use square brackets {] for allo ‘phones or phones, €8. [i and [i] are allophones of the phoneme /i/ 1] and [1] are allo- phones ofthe phoneme // ete, Thus we will represent bead and bean phonemically as Ti and Pony. The rule forthe ditsbution of oral and nasal vowels in English shows that phonetically these words will be pronounced as [bid] and {bin}, respectively. Words ‘are stored in our mental dictionaries in their phonemic form. We refer to these as phone- ‘mic transeriptions, The proaunciations ofthese words are given in phonetic transcrip- tions, between square brackets. Fae petal alo same abe Fo FR pay ml vols xr bef loss at oad arnt tebe theo] eala th word mona ro mine nase sneer oe ye beak a Taleb wwe ote [eet ame ae Phonemes: The Phonolopcal nits of Language 261 {Chapter 6 we mentioned another example of allophones ofa single phoneme. We noted that some speakers of English substitute a glottal stop for the [t] at the end of ‘words such as don’t or can’t or inthe middle of words like bole or button. The subsi- tution ofthe glottal stop does not change the meanings of any words; [dont] and (don? donot contrast in meaning, nor do [batal] or [ba?al) reba] and [real] do contrast, as the pronunciations of rabble and rail, but note that [retal] with a(t] or (real) with ‘he flapped [e] or Pal] with a glottal sop are all possible pronunciations of the word ratte. (), {rand {2} do not contrast; they are all allophones of the phoneme it ‘The function of phonemes is to contrast meanings. Phonemes in themselves have no ‘meaning, but when combined with other phonemes they constitute the forms by which ‘meanings of words and morphemes are expressed. Complementary Distribution ‘Minimal pairs illustrate that some speech sounds are contrastve in a language, and these sounds represent the set of phonemes. We also saw that some sounds are not dis- tinct; they do not contrast meanings. (t] and [7] were cited as examples of sounds that,

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