Syllable Phonotactics

SYLLABLES IN PHONOLOGY

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 WHAT IS PHONOLOGY?

some questions phonology seeks to answer:

• how is the sound structure of language(s)

organised?
• what is a possible and an impossible language?
• what are possible and impossible words, and why?

• how and why do words change over time?

• what are the units of sound organisation?

• how are they organised?

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 WHAT IS PHONOLOGY?

components of a simple phonology:

• describing the phonology of a language involves at least two things:

• saying what the units are
• saying how those units are organised

• e.g. how speech sounds are put together to form syllables (> words >
phrases
>…)
• why is [blfnzt] not a possible word in English?
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 WHAT IS PHONOLOGY?

phonology makes basic assumptions:

• it is a “formal level of linguistic statement”

• sounds in themselves are meaningless

• meaning is socially negotiated, and conventional; not inherent in the forms of words

• there are recurrent patterns in the organisation of the observable sounds of speech

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 PHONOLOGY: SOUNDS IN USE

phonology is about patterns of sounds used…

• in different languages

• in different varieties (dialects) of a language

• by different individuals
• in different contexts

• at different points in a conversation

• at different places in a word or stretch of speech

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 LECTURE-27

SYLLABLE PHONOTACTICS

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 SYLLABLE PHONOTACTICS

• The term comes from the Greek and refers to the arrangement of sounds in a language. In
other words, it looks at the order (sequential arrangements or tactic behavior) of segments
(sounds or phonological units) which occur in a language.

• Phonotactic constraints are highly language-specific.

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 TOWARDS PHONOTACTICS
• Consider the following sequences of phones:
• [mba . ka]
• [ŋa . to]
• Which one sounds most like an English word? NO
•But why don’t these words sound like English? Because
in [mba . ka] : The first syllable starts with [mb]
• No English word or syllable can start with [mb]
• The sequence [mb] is not a possible onset
• [ŋa . to] : The first syllable starts with [ŋ]
• No English word or syllable can start with [ŋ]
• The sequence [ŋ] is not a possible onset

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 TOWARDS PHONOTACTICS

• The rules that determine the possible onsets or codas are called phonotactics constraints.

▶ ‘phono’ = sounds ; ‘tactic’ = arrangement (how the sounds can

be arranged)

• Different languages have different phonotactic constraints.

• The onset cluster [mb] and simple onset [ŋ] are not allowed in English.

• However, in Dholuo (dialect of Luo people live in Kenya), [mb] and [ŋ] are
possible onsets:
• [mba . ka] = story
• [ŋ a . to] = person

• Phonotactic constraints play a major role in syllabification.

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 PHONOTACTICS

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 PHONOTACTICS

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 PHONOTACTICS

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POSSIBLE SYLLABLE TEMPLATE

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EXAMPLES OF ENGLISH

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THANKS