# Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language are really, really awesome ### Will Styler - LIGN 101 --- ### One important note - Signed languages have phonology too! - Gestures modify adjacent gestures - There are laws governing juxtapositions (or not) of gestures - The *exact same* principles and approaches apply - **Signed language is Language** --- ### Today's Plan - Syllables are fun - Phonotactics - Phonology Q/A --- # Syllables --- ### Syllables seem to be pretty important in some languages - English is among them. - English speakers have an intuitive sense of syllables --- ### Let's try - Under - /ʌn.dəɹ/ - Decoagulate - /di.kow.æg.ju.lejt/ - Antipenultimate - /æn.ti.pɛ.nʌl.tɪm.ɪt/ --- ### Linguists break the syllable into three parts
--- ### Linguists break the syllable into three parts
--- ### Let's look at some syllables ---
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--- ### Phonological rules will often reference syllables - English /l/ becomes [ɫ] in the coda position - /ɛ/ is illegal in words without a coda in English - Spanish will often re-syllabify words to turn codas into onsets - "Van a gritar a las olas" ('They will yell at the waves') - **So, they're good to think about!** ---
### In the word 'star', the coda is... A) /st/ B) /a/ C) /ɹ/ D) /aɹ/ E) /taɹ/ --- ### In the word 'star', the coda is... A) /st/ B) /a/ C)
/ɹ/
D) /aɹ/ E) /taɹ/ --- ### English Aspiration - We've been ignoring this all quarter - But there's more to /t/ than [t] ---
wʌt
skɪn
tʰaɹ
spun
pʰat
spat
ɹɛntʰɪŋ
ɹɪstaɹt
kʰjubə
pʰakʰɪt
staɹ
spɪnstə˞
--- ### /t/ is aspirated at the start of a syllable! - ... not just in the onset! - So are /p/ and /k/ - Those sounds share a feature! - They're a *natural class* --- ### The English [d] is the same sound as the Spanish [t] --- ### Different languages have different syllable structures - This is an important element of... --- # Phonotactics --- ### Phonotactics The study of what sounds and combinations of sounds are 'legal' in a language --- ### Every language has a set of phonemes which are used - This is called a language's **Phonemic Inventory** - Sometimes 'phonological inventory' - Every language has one. - ... and you can find it [at PHOIBLE](https://phoible.org/) --- ### Pirahã
--- ### Hawaiian
--- ### Mandarin
--- ### Urdu
--- ### Malayalam
--- ### A language's phonological inventory is important! - It tells you which phonemes are legal to use - It tells you what the 'options' are when there are alternations - It will play a big role in your analysis - It really complicates word borrowings! --- ### Hawaiian has a tiny consonant inventory - This complicates borrowing from English --- ### Hawaiian
- ### English -
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--- ### Let's look at some English-to-Hawaiian Borrowings --- ### Iniseka * Insect --- ### Elepani * Elephant --- ### hipa * Sheep --- ### kaioke * Coyote --- ### Kanakalu * Kangaroo --- ### Lakuna * Raccoon --- ### Nupepa * Newspaper --- ### Mokokaikala * Motorcycle --- ### Kakalina * Gasoline --- ### Kelepona * Telephone --- ### Kolokalaiwa * Screwdriver --- ### But languages also differ in terms of the combinations they allow --- ### Phonotactic Constraints dictate what combinations are 'legal' - Some sounds can't happen at the start or end of words - Some sound combinations can't happen - Some syllable structures are favored or prevented --- ### English has some weird phonotactic constraints * End a word with a pronounced /h/ ("Bah") * Say the /ŋ/ in "ring" at the start of a word. ("Ngöndro") * End a word with the vowel in "bet" or "book". ("Saké") * English has "s", "k", "v", but say "Moskva" --- ### So do other languages - ... and these come into play when we're borrowing words - Languages adapt words to fit their phonotactic constraints when borrowing. --- ### Japanese requires all syllables to be CV - This means that borrowing from English (which has no such constraint) is complicated ---
Japanese
Japonic - Japan
‘Merry Christmas' - merii kurisumasu
([Image and Sound Credit](http://japanese.about.com/library/blqow33.htm))
--- ## Some languages allow more complexity in syllables --- ### English - 'Sixths' [sɪksθs] - CVCCCC - 'Strengths' [stɹɛŋkθs] - CCCVCCCC --- ### Russian - ‘Glance’ - Всгляд (/vzglʲat/) - CCCCVC syllable - ‘Of Construction’ - строительств (/strʌˈʲitʲɛlʲstf/) - CCCVCVCVCCCC --- ### Czech - Strč prst skrz krk - ‘Stick your finger down your throat’ - CCCC CCCC CCCC CCC --- ### English - 'Able' [ejbl̩] - V CC - 'Fun and games' [fʌn n̩ gejmz] - CVC C CVCC --- ### This is just scratching the surface of phonology -
--- Brackets vs Parens --- ### What isn't clear in Phonology? - Phonology, phoneme, allophone, complimentary Distribution, Contrastive Distribution, Phonological rule, Natural Class, Minimal Pair, Insertion/Epenthesis, Deletion, Phonotactic Constraint, Syllable, Onset, Coda, Nucleus, Rhyme/Rime --- ### LIGNering Questions? --- ### LIGN 111 is where you'll go for more of this!
--- ### ... but in order to do well in LIGN 111, you'll need practice doing analysis - That's what we're going to do in sections! - ... and if you're struggling, **office hours!** --- ### Next time - We'll dive into how words work ---
Thank you!