Phonology is the structure of sounds as they combine together to form words and utterances in a language.
Contrastive and Non-Contrastive Sounds
Two sounds are contrastive when substituting one for the other results in a distinct word.
Minimal pair
Minimal Pair
A minimal pair is a pair of words that differ only in one sound, which demonstrates that a certain pair of sounds is contrastive.
In English, [pʰ] and [b] form a minimal pair (bat[bæt] and pat[pʰæt]) and are contrastive, but[pʰ] and [p] are not.
In Korean, [p], [pʰ], and [p͈] are contrastive because they form minimal pairs: 불[pul], 풀[pʰul], and 뿔[p͈ul].
When two or more allophones of the same Phoneme occur in mutually exclusive phonetic environments, they are said to be in complementary distribution. When allophones are in complementary distribution, there is a Conditioning Environment.
In English, /æ/ is realized as [æ̃] before [m], [n], [ŋ], and [æ] otherwise.
A phonological rule describes how underlying phonemes translate into actual phones.
By applying phonological rules to a phonemic form, the phonetic form is derived.
A phonological rule is written in the format of Phoneme -> Phone / Conditioning Environment.
Palatization: /t/ -> [t͡ʃ] / before [i] or [j], /k/ -> [t͡ʃ] / before [i] or [j], /d/ -> [d͡ʒ] / before [i] or [j], /g/ -> [d͡ʒ] / before [i] or [j], /s/ -> [ʃ] / before [i] or [j], /z/ -> [ʒ] / before [i] or [j]
(e.g., did you?/dɪd ju/ -> [dɪdʒu])
Place assimilation: /ʌn/ -> [ʌ̃n] / before an alveolar consonant, /ʌn/ -> [ʌ̃m] / before an bilabial consonant, /ʌn/ -> [ʌ̃ŋ] / before an velar consonant
(e.g., unstable/ʌn'steɪbl̥/ -> [ʌ̃n'steɪbl̥], unbelievable/ʌnbə'livəbl̥/ -> [ʌ̃mbə'livəbl̥], unclear/ʌn'kliɹ/ -> [ʌ̃ŋ'kʰliɹ])
Voiceless stop insertion: ø -> [p] / between [m] and [s], ø -> [k] / between [ŋ] and [s]
(e.g., strength /stɹɛŋθ/ -> [stɹɛ̃ŋkθ], hamster /hæmstɹ̩/ -> [hæ̃mpstɹ̩])
Vowel insertion rule: “ø → [ə] / between two consonants of the same place and manner of articulation a the end of a word (e.g., blast/blæstd/ → [blæstəd]`)
A natural class is a set of phones that share a phonetic feature to the exclusion of all other features. (e.g., nasality for the phones [m], [n], [ŋ].)
Common Natural Classes
Obstruents: All stops, fricatives, and affricates
Sonorants: All non-obstruents.
Labials: Bilabial or labiodental consonants.
Sibilants: [s, z, ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ]s A natural class is a set of [[Phone|phones]] that share a phonetic feature to the exclusion of all other features. e.g., nasality for the phones [m], [n], [ŋ]`.
A phonemic inventory is a finite set of phonemes from which all words are built.
Consonant Inventories
Consonants inventories are systematic, they use a few contrasting features to create many phonemes. For example, obstruents usually cross multiple places of articulation with multiple kinds of voicing.
Languages usually have between 15~30 consonante (min 6, max 164)
English Consonant Phonemes (24)
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!Xoon has 164 consonant phonemes
Vowel Inventories
Vowels are maximally distinctive. They spread out to occupy extreme parts of the vowels space.
Phonotactics is the study of restrictions on sounds within a language.
Adapting Loanwords
Loanwords are adapted to the native phonotactics by deleting or inserting phonemes.
Deleting: Delete the troublesome phonemes.
(e.g., Greek/pterodaktyl/→ English/ˌtɛɹəˈdæktl̩/)
Inserting: Insert vowels to break up the troublesome consonant clusters.
(e.g., Polish/gdansk/→ English/gəˈdænsk/, English Plastic/plæs.tɪk/→ Japanese/pɯ.ɾa.sɯ.tɕi.k:ɯ/)
Gaps
A gap is a massing word in the lexicon.
Accidental Gaps: Possible forms that do not occur. Phonotactics permits them.
(e.g., flempt, krusle, shwardingalini)
Systematic Gaps: Impossible forms that do not occur. Phonotactics does not permit them.
(e.g., *tlurble, *mlakthabolrb, *fshult)
English Consonant Phonemes (24)
Vowel inventories