Phonological

Theory
1. Development of phonology
 The phoneme theory
 Distinctive Features
 SPE (Chomsky & Halle 1968)
 Division of phonetics and phonology
 Integrated phonology
 Laboratory phonology

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Modules of study
 Phonemes and allophones
 Syllables
 Stress
 Intonational and tonal phonology
 Prosody (metrical phonology)
 Phonological acquisition and cogniti
on
 Language impairment
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Phonology in Generative
Grammar
Syntax

Phonetic Form Semantic Form

 Generative Phonology

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Three stages of Generative Phonology
 Linear theories
 SPE (standard theory): Choms
ky, N. & Halle, M. 1968. The S
ound Pattern of English. Harpe
r & Row/MIT.
 Natural Generative Phonology
 Natural Phonology

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 Non-linear theories
 Lexical Phonology
 Autosegmental Phonology
 Metrical Phonology
 Dependency Phonology
 Government Phonology
 CV/VC Phonology
 Declarative Phonology

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 Constraint-based theory
 Optimality Theory (OT): Princ
e, A. & Smolensky, P. 1993/2
002. Optimality theory: constr
aint interaction in generative
grammar. ms. Rutgers Univer
sity. 2004. Published by Blac
kwell.

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SPE
 Rule-based.
 Derivational: derivation from underlying to
surface form.
A  B / X__Y

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OT
 Constraint-based.
 Development of generative phonology.
 Very different way of representation.
 Can be used for syntax and acquisition studies.
 Aims at cognitive explanations.

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 Constraints are universal.
 Languages differ in the ranking of constraints.
 Constraints can be contradictory and can be
violated.

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Examples of derivational rules

 DEVOICING: A voiced obstruent becomes vo

iceless after a voiceless obstruent.
 ə-INSERTION: Insert [ə] between two adja
cent sibilants in the same word.

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Examples of constraints
 *SIBSIB: sibilants cannot occur cnosecutive
ly within a word.
 *VOICEVOICE: consecutive obstruents must
be identical in voicing within a syllable.
 MAX-IO: deletion of segment is prohibited.
 DEP-IO: insertion of segment is prohibited.
 IDENT-IO: input segment and the correspondi
ng output must be identical.

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2. Linear Phonology
 Make the rules as general as possible.
 Use “Distinctive Features” instead of
individual sound segments when writing the
rules.

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Distinctive Features
 The idea of Distinctive Features was
first developed by Roman Jacobson
(1896-1982) in the 1940s as a means
of working out a set of phonological
contrasts or oppositions to capture
particular aspects of language
sounds. Since then several versions
have been suggested.

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Major class features
 consonantal (con): sounds produced with a
major obstruction in the oral cavity.
 approximant (approx): sounds made with an
oral tract constriction which is less tha
n that required to produce friction.
 Vowels, glides and liquids are [+approx], oth
er sounds are [-approx].
 Also known as syllabic (syl) to indicate that
they can form a syllable peak.

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Major class features

 sonorant (son): sounds produced with a

vocal tract configuration in which spon
taneous voicing is possible.
 Obstruents (plosives, affricates and fricat
ives) are [-son], other sounds are [+son].

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Vowel place features
 high: the body of the tongue is raised from the
neutral position.
 low: the body of the tongue is lowered from the
neutral position.
 back: the body of the tongue is retracted from
the neutral position.
 round: the lips are protruded.
 tense: sounds requiring deliberate, accurate,
maximally distinct gestures that involve
considerable muscular effort.

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Vowel place features

 advanced tongue root (ATR): vowels made

by drawing the root of the tongue forward,
thus enlarging the pharyngeal cavity, tending
to raise the tongue body, and tending to give
the sound a more tense articulation, e.g. [i e o
u].
 [-ATR] sounds lack this gesture, e.g. [I E ç U a A].

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Consonant place features
 labial (lab): Sounds that involve a constricti
on of the lips to give either a labial (labiod
ental) consonant or a rounded vowel/glide.
 coronal (cor): produced with the blade or tip
of the tongue raised from the neutral position
.
 anterior (ant): defined only for coronal sounds. A
n anterior ([+ant]) sound is made with a constrict
ion at or forward of, the alveolar ridge. Posterio
r ([-ant]) sounds are produced behind the alveolar
ridge.
 The anteriors are the dentals and alveolars, the p
osterior sounds are the retroflex, palato-alveolar
and palatal sounds.

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Consonant place features
 dorsal (dor): Sounds made by raising the
dorsum (tongue body) towards the hard pa
late, the soft palate (velum) or the uvu
la.
 The dorsal consonants are the velars and uvu
lars.
 radical (rad): Sounds produced in the ph
aryngeal or laryngeal (glottal) region,
e.g.

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Consonant place features
 strident (strid): produced with a constr
uction with greater noisiness.
 Stridency is only defined for fricatives and
affricates.
 Labiodentals, sibilants and uvular fricative
s/ affricates are [+strid]; all other fricat
ives/affricates are [-strid].

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Manner features
 continuant (cont): the primary constrict
ion is not narrowed so much that airflow
through the oral cavity is blocked.
 Plosives and nasal stops are [-cont], other
sounds (including laterals) are [+cont].
 nasal (nas): the velum is lowered which
allows air to escape through the nose.
 lateral (lat): the mid section of the to
ngue is lowered at the side.

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Laryngeal features
 voice: the vocal folds vibrate.
 spread glottis (spread, or s.g.): the vo
cal folds are spread far apart.
 Aspirated (voiceless) consonants, breathy or
murmured voiced consonants and voiceless vow
els/glides are [+spread]; other sounds are
[-spread].
 Also known as aspirated.

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Distinctive feature matrix for English
consonants

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 Now we can represent the rule that governs the
unaspiration of /p/ after [s] in terms of
features:

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