Focus:

1. The pronunciation of morphemes (morpho-phonemics)

2. Phonemes
3. Distinctive features of phonemes
4. The rules of phonology
The study of how speech sounds form patterns is phonology referring both to the
linguistic knowledge that speakers have about the sound patterns of their language and to
the description of that knowledge that linguists try to produce.
Phonology: - what sounds are in your language and which ones are foreign;
- what combinations of sounds comprise a possible word and not a possible
word
- adjust our pronunciation of morphemes
1. The pronunciation of morphemes
Knowledge of phonology determines how we pronounce words and the parts of words or
morphemes. Smallest meaningful units ***
1.1. The pronunciation of PLURALS
The final sound of the plural nouns/ plural morphemes – (1) [z]-a voiced alveolar
fricative (2) [s]-a voiceless alveolar fricative (3) [əz] and (4) special cases that are
memorized individually.
A variant of a morpheme is allomorph (i.e. [z], [s], and [əz] )
Minimal pairs- two words with different meanings that are identical except for one
sound segment that occurs in the same place in each word. For example, cab [kæb]
and cad [kæd].
Minimal sets-***
The distribution of plural allomorphs in English is conditioned by the final segment of
the singular form.
 Because the basic form of the plural is /z/, if no rule applies, then the plural
morpheme will be realized as [z].
The particular phonological rules that determine the phonetic form of the plural
morpheme and other morphemes of the language are morphophonemic rules.
- ***
1.2. Additional examples of Allomorphs
The formation of the regular past tense of English verbs:

- /d/ is the basic form

Two further allomorphs in English are the possessive morpheme and the third-person
singular morpheme, spelled s or es.
2. Phonemes: The phonological units of Language
Phonemes are the abstract basic form of a sound as sensed mentally rather than spoken
or heard. Phonemes distinguish one word or morpheme from another in our mental
lexicon. Each phoneme is manifested physically by one or more actual sounds, called
allophones. (e.g the phoneme /p/ is pronounced with the aspirated allophone [ph]).
***
Phonological rules operate on phonemes to make explicit which allophones are
pronounced in which environments.
2.1 Illustration of Allophones
 A phonological rule that determines nasalized vowels:  Vowels are nasalized
before a nasal consonant within the same syllable (oral vowels in English occur in
final position and before non-nasal consonants, i.e bean [bĩn])
The [i] in bead and the [e] in bed are sounds from different phonemes- minimal pairs.
A phonological rule that determines the context in which voiceless stops-/p/, /t/,
and /k/-are aspirated:  Voiceless stops are aspirated when they occur initially in
a stressed syllable.
 Phonological rules that specify that the aspirated voiceless stop [th] occurs
initially in a stressed syllable, the unaspirated [t] occurs directly before or after /s/,
and the flap [ɾ] occurs between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel.

2.2 Phonemes and how to find them

Phonemes are not physical sounds or directly observable. They are abstract mental
representations of the phonological units of a language. The phonological rules of the
language apply to phonemes to determine the actual pronunciation of words.
Any two of these words form a minimal pair: two different words that differ in one
sound in the same position. The two sounds that cause the word difference belong to
different phonemes.
Eleven monophthongal and three diphthongal vowel phonemes, namely, /i/, /ɪ/, /e/,
/Ɛ/, /æ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ/, /a/, /ʌ/, and /ai/, /a ʊ /, and /ɔi/. Importantly, each of these
vowel phonemes has (at least) two allophones (i.e., two ways of being pronounced):
orally as [e] or [o] or [a], etc., and nasally as [ẽ] or [õ] or [ã], etc., when they occur in
the context of a nasal consonant.
A particular realization (pronunciation) of a phoneme is called a phone. The aggregate
of phones that are the realizations of the same phoneme are called the allophones of
that phoneme. The choice of the allophone is not random or haphazard; it is rule-
governed.
To distinguish graphically between a phoneme and its allophones, we use slashes I /
to enclose phonemes and continue to use square brackets [ ] for allophones or phones.
3. Complementary distribution
Where oral vowels occur, nasal vowels do not occur, and vice versa. The phones are
said to complement each other or to be in complementary distribution. Allophones of a
phoneme are in complementary distribution-never occurring in identical environments.
The replacement of one sound for the other will not change the meaning of a word. The
phonetic environment determines which sound is chosen for pronunciation.
In English, the velar nasal [ŋ] and the glottal fricative [h] are in complementary
distribution; [ŋ] does not occur word-initially and [h] does not occur word-finally. [ŋ] and
[h] are allophones of different phonemes/ cannot be the same phoneme.
*** Contrastive distribution- If two sounds distinguish a minimal pair, they must be in contrastive
distribution.

4. Distinctive features of phonemes

Phonetics provides the means to describe the phones (sounds) of language, showing how
they are produced and how they vary. Phonology tells us how various sounds form
patterns to create phonemes and their allophones.
When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another, hence one word from another, it
is a distinctive feature or, equivalently, a phonemic feature.
***
4.1 Features values
A phonetic feature is distinctive when the + and - values of that feature in certain
words result in words with different meanings.
5. Non-distinctive features
Aspiration is not a distinctive feature of English consonants. It is a nondistinctive or
redundant or predictable feature. "Predictable" means predictable by rule. Some
features may be distinctive for one class of sounds but predictable for another. Nasality is
a distinctive feature of English consonants but not for English vowels.
Another nondistinctive feature in English is aspiration for voiceless stops. The voiceless
aspirated stops [ph], [th], and [kh] and the voiceless unaspirated stops [p], [t], and [k] are in
complementary distribution.
In English, vowel length and consonant length are nonphonemic.
6. Natural classes of speech sounds
Phonological rules often apply to natural classes of sounds. A natural class is a group of
sounds described by a small number of distinctive features such as [-voiced], [-
continuant].

Any individual member of a natural class would require more features in its description
than the class itself, so /p/ is not only [-voiced], [-continuant], but also [+labial].
The presence of +/- indicates that the sound may or may not possess a feature depending
on its context.
7. The rules of phonology
The phonetic representation of utterances shows what speakers know about the
pronunciation of sounds.
The phonemic representation of utterances shows what speakers know about the
patterning of sounds.
The phonemic representations (patterns of sounds) are minimally specified because
some features or feature values are predictable. The phonemic representation should
include only the nonpredictable, distinctive features of the phonemes in a word.
The phonetic representation includes all of the linguistically relevant phonetic aspects
of the sounds.
The absolute pitch of the sound, the rate of speech, or its loudness is not linguistically
significant.
8. Feature-changing rules
Many rules change features from one value to its opposite or even add features not
present in the phonemic representation.
Aspirates voiceless stops at the beginning of a syllable simply adds a nondistinctive
feature (/p/ -> /ph/). Generally, aspiration occurs only if the following vowel is stressed.
The /p/ in pit and repeat is an aspirated [ph], but the /p/ in inspect or compass is an
unaspirated [p].
With an intervening consonant, the aspiration takes place so that words such as crib, clip,
and quip ([khrib], [khlip], and [khwip]) all begin with an aspirated [kh].
The affricate /tʃ/ is subject to the rule, so chip is phonetically [tʃhɪp].

Aspiration is not specified in any phonemic feature matrix of English.

8.1 Assimilation rules
The vowel nasalization rule is an assimilation rule that makes neighboring
segments more similar by adding the feature [+nasal] to the vowel.
 Vowels are nasalized before a nasal consonant within the same syllable.
 Assimilation rules in languages reflect coarticulation-the spreading of phonetic
features.
Other examples:
- The value of the voicing feature goes from [+voice] to [-voice] because of
assimilation to the [-voice] feature of the final consonant of the stem, i.e. the voiced
/z/ of the English regular plural suffix is changed to [s] after a voiceless sound, and
that similarly the voiced /d/ of the English regular past tense suffix is changed to [t]
after a voiceless sound.
- The negative morpheme prefix spelled in- or im- agrees in place of articulation with
the word to which it is prefixed, so we have impossible [ĩmˈphasəbəl], intolerant [ĩn
ˈthalərə~nt], and incongruous [ĩŋˈkhãŋɡruəs]. In effect, the rule makes two
consonants that appear next to each other more similar.
8.2 Dissimilation rules
Feature-changing rules called dissimilation rules, in which certain segments becomes
less similar to other segments.
A fricative dissimilation rule- sequences /fθ/ and /sθ/, changing them to [ft] and [st].
Here the fricative /θ/ becomes dissimilar to the preceding fricative by becoming a
stop, i.e. fifth and sixth to fift and sikst.
8.3 Segment insertion and Deletion rules
Phonological rules may add or delete entire segments. The process of inserting a
consonant or vowel is called epenthesis.
The rules for forming regular plurals, possessive forms, and third-person singular verb
agreement in English all require an epenthesis rule.
 Insert a [ə] before the plural morpheme /z/ when a regular noun ends in a
sibilant, giving [əz].

***
Segment deletion rules:
- delete the unstressed vowels in words such as mystery general memory funeral
Barbara.
- The silent g in such words as sign and design is actually the result of a segment
deletion rule (i.e. sign vs signature)- delete a /g/ word-initially before a nasal
consonant or before a syllable-final nasal consonant.
9. From one to many and from many to one
Phonological rules that relate phonemic to phonetic representations have several
functions:
The relationship between the phonemes and phones of a language is complex and varied.
A phoneme that is realized as several phones (voiceless stops that may be realized as
aspirated or unaspirated) and same phone may be the realization of several different
phonemes. Vowels are without stress, or reduced, and are pronounced as schwa [ə]. [ə]
is an allophone of all English vowel phonemes. The rule is changing a vowel to a [ə]
when the vowel is unstressed.
10. The functions of Phonological rules
The function of the phonological rules (P-rules) in a grammar is to provide the phonetic
information necessary for the pronunciation of utterances.

The input to the P-rules is the phonemic representation. The P-rules apply to the
phonemic strings and produce as output the phonetic representation.
The application of rules in this way is called a derivation: how plurals are derived, how
phonemically oral vowels become nasalized, and how /t/ and /d/ become flaps.
In any event, it is common for more than one rule to apply to a word. For example, the
word tempest is phonemically (as shown by the pronunciation of tempestuous
) but phonetically . Three rules apply to it: the aspiration rule, the
vowel nasalization rule, and the schwa rule.
11. Prosodic phonology
11.1 Syllable structure
Words are composed of one or more syllables. A syllable is a phonological unit
composed of one or more phonemes. Every syllable has a nucleus, which is
usually a vowel (but can be a syllabic liquid or nasal). The nucleus may be
preceded and/or followed by one or more phonemes called the syllable onset and
coda. the nucleus + coda constitute the subsyllabic unit called a rime.

11.2 Word stress

A stressed syllable is perceived as more prominent than an unstressed syllable.
Some words may contain more than one stressed vowel, but exactly one of the
stressed vowels is more prominent than the others.
It’s easy to distinguish between stressed and unstressed syllables because the
vowels in unstressed syllables are pronounced as schwa [;:i] in English except at
the ends of certain words such as laboratory.
Stress is a property of the syllable rather than a segment; it is a prosodic or
suprasegmental feature. To produce a stressed syllable, one can change the pitch
(usually by raising it), make the syllable louder, or make it longer. We often use
all three of these phonetic means to stress a syllable.
11.3 Sentence and Phrase stress
When words are combined into phrases and sentences, one syllable receives
greater stress than all others. Only one of the vowels in a phrase (or sentence)
 receives primary stress or accent. All of the other stressed vowels are demoted to
secondary stress.
***
11.4 Intonation
Pitch is also a phonemic feature in tone languages such as Chinese, Thai. We refer
to these relative pitches as contrasting tones. In non-tone languages, such as
English, pitch still plays an important role, but only in the form of the pitch
contour or intonation of the phrase or sentence.
In English, intonation may reflect syntactic or semantic differences.
A sentence that is ambiguous in writing may be unambiguous when spoken
because of differences in the pitch contour.
Pitch plays an important role in both tone and non-tone languages, but in different
ways depending on the phonological systems of the respective languages.
12. Sequential Constraints of Phonemes
Knowledge of English phonology includes information about what sequences of
phonemes are permissible, and what sequences are not. Other languages have different
sequential restrictions.
For example, after a consonant such as /b/, /g/, /k/, or /p/, another stop consonant in the
same syllable is not permitted by the phonology. If a word begins with an /l/ or an /r/, the
next segment must be a vowel. No more than three sequential consonants can occur at the
beginning of a word.
The limitations on sequences of segments are called phonotactic constraints.
Phonotactic constraints have as their basis the syllable, rather than the word. That is, only
the clusters that can begin a syllable can begin a word, and only a cluster that can end a
syllable can end a word.
In multisyllabic words, clusters that seem illegal may occur, for example, the /kspl/ in
explicit /ɛksplɪsɪt/. However, there is a syllable boundary between the /kl and /spl/, which
we can make explicit using $: /ɛk $ splɪs $ it/.
13. Lexical gaps
Advertising professionals often use possible but non-occurring words for the names of
new products. A possible word contains phonemes in sequences that obey the phonotactic
constraints of the language. An actual, occurring word is the union of a possible word
with a meaning. Possible words without meaning are accidental gaps in the lexicon, or
lexical gaps.
14. Why do phonological rules exist?
Phonological rules exist to ensure that the surface or phonetic forms of words do not
violate phonotactic constraints.
For example, there are no words that end in a sequence of obstruents whose voicing
features do not match. For example, words such as [kasb], where the final two obstruents
are [-voice] [+voice] are not possible, nor are words such as [kabs], whose final two
obstruents are [+voice] [-voice].

Or the schwa insertion part of the past-tense rule creates possible sound sequences from
impossible ones. English does not generally permit sequences of sounds within a single
syllable that are very similar to each other. For example, the sequence of /d/ and /d/
in /mɛnd + d/, which becomes [mɛndəd] mended, and /t/ and /d/ in /vent + d/, which
becomes [ vɛntəd] vented

15. Phonological Analysis

To do a phonological analysis, the words to be analyzed must be transcribed in great
phonetic detail because we do not know in advance which phonetic features are
distinctive and which are not.
***
- Think of phonetic analysis
- Look for minimal pairs
- Look for complimentary distribution
- Look for free variation
- Look at the environments in which the phones occur
Questions for phonological analysis
Step 1: transcribe to phonetic detail
Step 2: Check whether minimal pairs- if yes => Allophones of different phonemes,
phonemes of different sounds (2 phonetic transcription giống nhau hoàn toàn gọi là
homophone)
Step 3: Check immediate environment=> phonetically similar + complementary
distribution=> if yes, allophone of same phoneme
Step 4: Check free variation= alternative pronunciations which one sound substitudes
another but doesn’t change meaning (e.g. writer /t/ & /ɾ/ )