linguistic structure

8/6/2019 Linguistic Structure

1/57

LINGUISTIC STRUCTURELINGUISTIC STRUCTUREREVIEW FOR LICENSUREREVIEW FOR LICENSURE

EXAMINATION FOR TEACHER(LET)EXAMINATION FOR TEACHER(LET)

LINGUISTIC STRUCTURELINGUISTIC STRUCTUREREVIEW FOR LICENSUREREVIEW FOR LICENSURE

EXAMINATION FOR TEACHER(LET)EXAMINATION FOR TEACHER(LET)

by:by:

ArbayaArbaya A.A. HaronHaron--BoquiaBoquia


2/57

LINGUISTICS is a scientific study of language. It is thescientific inquiry into human language- its structures and usesand the relationship between them as well as the developmentand acquisition of language.

It shares with other sciences a concern to be objective,systematic, consistent, and explicit in its account of language.Like other sciences, it aims to collect data, test hypotheses,devise methods or models, andconstruct theories.

What is language?

It is a system represented by sound symbols thathave conventional meanings shared by members of alinguistic group.

It is symbolic; a type of code. The meaning of symbolsin a language comes through the agreement of a groupof speakers.


3/57

Language is a purely human and a method of

communicating ideas, emotions, desires by meansof voluntary produced sounds (Sapir:1921)

It is an institution whereby humans communicateand interact with each other by means of

habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols(Hall:1968)

A set of sentences, each finite in length andconstructed out of a finite set of elements(Chomsky: 1957)

3


4/57

It is rule-governed. The grammatical system of alanguage indicates all of the formal features which

express meaning or the relationships of elements insentences. The grammar of one language is neverexactly the same as any other, although someclosely related languages have many types orstructures in common.

It has a system of sounds. Every language uses a

limited number of classes of sounds to signal thedifferences between words. Traditionally, it has been viewed as a vehicle of

thought, a system of expression that mediates thetransfer of thought from one person to another.


5/57

VIEWS OF THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE It can be traced to a Garden of Eden where the firstwoman and the first man spoke the language

originally bestowed upon them by their creator.

Hence many are persuaded that language originated in aparadise was perfectly logical and grammatical.

As to why languages differ from one another and why theychange- the Old Testament relates that before the Tower of

Babel all men and women spoke the same language and couldunderstand one another without difficulty.

Muslims believe that God spoke to Mohammad in a form ofArabic that was by definition of pure and perfect.

Danish linguist, Otto Jespersen (1860-1943) groupedcommonly held theories about the origins of language.


6/57

1. The bow-wow theory. Speech arose

through people imitating the soundsof the environment, especially animalcalls. The main evidence is the use ofonomatopoeic words. But a few of

these exist in a language andlanguages vary so much in the waythey represent natural sounds.

Chatter, clang, chug, coo, murmur,

purr, zipper, zoom, boom, bang, twang,sip

6


7/57

2. The pooh-pooh theory. Speech arose through people makinginstinctive sounds caused by pain, anger or other emotions. Themain evidence would be the universal use of sounds asinterjections.

3. The ding-dong theory. Speech arose because people reacted tothe stimuli in the world around them and spontaneously producedsounds (oral gestures) which in some way reflected or were inharmony with the environment. The main evidence would be theuniversal use of sounds for words of a certain meaning. E.g.mama is supposed to reflect the movement of the lips as themouth approaches the breast.

4. The ye-he-ho theory. Speech arose because as people workedtogether, their physical efforts produced communal, rhythmicalgrunts, which is due course developed into chants, and thuslanguage. The main evidence is the universal use of prosodicfeatures especially of rhythm. This theory is much more socialand emphasizes noises that would accompany mating, feeding,fighting, etc.

5. The la-la theory. It arose from the romantic side of life-sounds associated with love, play, poetic feeling, perhaps evensong.


8/57

Diachrony (change or development over time)

Diachronic linguistics views the historical development of a

language. Thus, on the diachronic axis we can go back andforth in time, watching the language with all its featureschange.

SynchronySynchronic linguistics views a particular state of a languageat some given point in time. This could mean Modern Englishof the present day, or the systematic analysis of thesystem of Shakespeare's English. However, no comparisonsare made to other states of language or other times.Modern linguistics, following Ferdinand de Saussure, isprimarily interested in the synchronic point of view.Saussure postulated the priority of synchrony: noknowledge of the historical development of a language isnecessary to examine its present system. He arrived at thisradical viewpoint due to his conviction that linguisticresearch must concentrate on the structure of language.Later, the whole paradigm was hence called structuralism.

8


9/57

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES

1. BEHAVIORIST THEORY Since ancient times philosophers believed that human

learning and animal learning might be parallel (Chastain,1976). This belief was made credible with Darwins Originof the Species. Darwins theory implied that there was

indeed a continuity between the human species and thelower animals. By implication, between the human mind andthe animal mind.

Human learning and animal learning are similar.

Believes that language is simply a learned behavior

In the late 19th

and early 20th

centuries, a growing interestin animal behavior led to the growth of experimentalpsychology and the school of behaviorism.

9


10/57

All behavior is viewed as a response to a stimuli. Behaviorhappens in a causal, associative chains.

All learning is thus characterized as associative learning orhabit formation (brought about by the repeated associationof a stimulus with a response.

Skinners theory of verbal learning was consistent withmany applied linguists who maintained that second languagesshould be learned through extensive drill and practice.

A major learning theory emphasizing stimulus-responsereinforcement

Children learned their first language through stimulus,response and reinforcement, postulating imitation andassociation as essential processes

E.g. to learn the word ball, the child would first associatethe word ball with the familiar spherical object, thestimulus.

10


11/57

Next the child would produce the word by imitation, atwhich time an adult would praise the child for saying ball,

thereby reinforcing the childs correct verbal response. Behaviorists assumed that the childs mind is a tabula

rasa, a blank mental slate awaiting the scripture ofexperience. There is no innate pre-programmingspecifically for language learning at birth.

However, behaviorists could not explain how any novelutterance was produced. Yet most utterances produced inwriting or in conversation are in fact original.

Noam Chomsky (1957) engaged in a heated debate withbehaviorist Benjamin F. Skinner. He attacked behavioristtheory as inadequate to explain observations of childlanguage development.

11


12/57

2.INNATIST THEORY(TRANSFORMATIONALISTS)

language acquisition could only be accounted foran innate, biological language acquisition device(LAD) or system.

Infants must come into the world prewired for

linguistic analysis. Infants universally possess an innate grammar

template or universal grammar, which will allowthem to select out the many grammatical rules

of the language they hear spoken around them,as they gradually construct the grammar oftheir mother tongue.

12


13/57

Universal Grammar Approach: themain aim of this linguistic theory is

twofold: to characterize what humanlanguages are like (descriptiveadequacy) and to explain why they arethat way (explanatory adequacy).

It poses 3 basic questions: whatconstitutes knowledge of language?How is knowledge of languageacquired? How is knowledge oflanguage put to use?

What constitutes knowledge oflanguage?

13


14/57

Mental representations of language that arestored in the human mind.

What all human languages have in common andthe distinctive characteristics that make humanlanguage different from other systems ofcommunication.

All human beings inherit a universal set ofprinciples and paramaters that control theshape human languages can take

How is knowledge of language acquired?

Children could not learn their L1 soquickly and effortlessly without the helpof an innate language faculty to guidethem.

14


15/57

From the innatist perspective, children constructgrammar through a process of hypothesis testing.

E.g. a child may hypothesize the rule that all pluralnouns end with an s. Thus when they come to a wordchild, they form the plural as childs, man as mans.

Gradually, they will revise their hypothesis toaccommodate exceptions to the plural rule.

Thus, children create sentences by using rules ratherthan by merely requesting messages they have heard, asassumed by behaviorists.

This application of rules accounts for the generativenature of language.

With a finite set of rules, people can generate aninfinite number of novel utterances.

15


16/57

According to Chomsky, children acquire the rules with littlehelp from their parents or caregivers.

But Howard Gardner (1995) stated that the Chomskyanview is too dismissive of the ways that mothers and otherswho bring up children help infants to acquire language.

While the principles of grammar may be indeed beacquired with little help from parents or other caretakers,adults are needed to help children build a rich vocabulary,

master the rules of discourse, and distinguish betweenculturally acceptable and unacceptable forms ofexpression.

This interest in the role of people in the socialenvironment- the interactionist perspective.

Interactionists have brought back an interest in the roleof the social environment and the influence of parents andcaregivers on childrens language acquisition.

16


17/57

3. INTERACTIONIST THEORY

Caregivers play a critical role in adjustinglanguage to facilitate the use of innatecapacities for language acquisition.

It takes into consideration the importance ofboth nature and nurture in the language

acquisition process. Interactionists study the language mothers and

other caregivers use when caring for infants andyoung children, with special attention to

modifications they make during these socialinteractions to assist children in communication.

One strategy is conversational scaffolding:

17


18/57

Second Language Acquisition

Theories

18


19/57

There are two types of grammars:descriptive and prescriptive.

Descriptive grammars represent theunconscious knowledge of a language.English speakers, for example, know that"me likes apples" is incorrect and "I likeapples" is correct, although the speaker

may not be able to explain why. Descriptivegrammars do not teach the rules of alanguage, but rather describe rules thatare already known. In contrast,prescriptive grammars dictate what a

speaker's grammar should be and theyinclude teaching grammars, which arewritten to help teach a foreign language.

19


20/57

LanguageNative speakers

(in millions)

1 Mandarin Chinese 885

2 English 322

3 Spanish 266

4 Bengali 189

5 Hindi 182

6 Portuguese 170

7 Russian 170

8 Japanese 125

9 German 98

10 Wu Chinese 77

11 Javanese 76

12 Korean 75

13 French 72

14 Vietnamese 68

15 Telugu 66

16 Yue Chinese (Cantonese) 66

17 Marathi 65

18 Tamil 63

19 Turkish 59

20 U

rdu 57


21/57

Grammar is a system of elements and rules needed to form andinterpret sentences.

Tools of linguistic elements or the components of a grammar:

Component Function

Phonetics The study of speech sounds

Phonology The study of sound patterns

Morphology The study of the ways in which words are constructedout of smaller units which have a meaning orgrammatical function( word formation)

Syntax The study of the way in which sentences areconstructed; how sentences are related to each other(sentence formation)

Semantics The study of meaning; how words and sentences arerelated to the real or imaginary objects they refer toand the situation they describe.

Pragmatics The study of how the meaning conveyed by a word orsentence depends on aspects of context in which it isused,


22/57

SOME AMERICAN and BRITISH EQUIVALENTS

American British

Places

apartment flat

baby carriage pram (perambulator)

doctors/dentists office surgery

drugstore chemists (shop)

elevator lift

hall, hallway passageintersection crossroads, junction

mailbox pillar box

overpass flyover

parkway motorway

pedestrian crossing zebra crossing

streetcar tram

Subway underground, tube

toilet (bathroom) lavatory

Yard garden

The movies the cinema

sidewalk pavement


23/57

Useful objects

absorbent cotton cotton wool

ballpoint biro

Eraser rubber

flashlight torch

Garbage can, trash can dustbin

package parcel

rubber band elastic (band)

shopping bag carrier bag

slingshot catapult

Thread cotton

thumbtack drawing pin

water heater geyser

Wrench spanner


24/57

Food

Can (of solid food) tin

Candy sweets

cookie(sweet) biscuit

crackers (dry) biscuits

Dessert sweetfrench fries chips

fruit and vegetable store greengrocers

jello(gelatine dessert) jelly

ground beef minced beef

potato chips crisps

string beans french beans


25/57

Personal items

bangs (of hair) fringe

Diaper nappy

Nail polish nail varnish

Pants trousers

pantyhose tights

raincoat mackintosh (mac)

ready to wear off the peg

Run (in a stocking) ladder

suspenders braces

turtleneck(sweater) poloneck

Zipper zip


26/57

People

attorney, lawyer barrister or solicitor

faculty (of the university) staff

Guy chap(spoken), fellow (written)

Janitor caretaker

Cop, policeman bobby

patrolman (police) constable

salesperson shop assistant


27/57

Car Parts

license number registration number

license plate number plate

Trunk boot

Tire tyre

gear shift gear lever

Gas tank petrol tank

Hood bonnet

Side-view mirror gear mirror

windshield windscreen

Fender fing

Muffler silencer

Turn signal indicator switch

gas pedal accelerator pedal


28/57

More

Truck lorry

floor level

resume curriculum vitae

airplane aeroplane

bellboy page boy

garbage rubbish

corn maize

check bill

faucet tap

gas, gasoline petrol

zip code postal code

streetlamp lamp-post

End of the street bottom of the street

reserve a table book a tableLine queue

Bus coach

Tv telly

long distance call trunk call

savings account deposit account


29/57

FILIPINISMS(Neosemanticisms)

or FILIPINO ENGLISH

salvage (v,n) summary executionIn English, it means rescue or save something from completeloss or destructioncelebrant(n) the person marking his own anniversary, e.g.birth, weddingIn English, it refers to a priest officiating at massblow-outa treat; food offered for free, usually a celebrationIn English, a large meal; a party or feast. We went out lastSaturday and had a blow-out. Locally, the idiom, give ablow-out means a treat,plastic (adj) hypocritical

color-coding (n) refers to a vehicles being restricted fromtraveling on certain days and hours. The restriction is basedon the final digit of the vehicles license plate; it has nothingto do with color.


30/57

FILIPINO WORDS IN ENGLISH

boondocks(n) the backwoods or marsh; remoterural areataocarabao

narratubacogonvintaramie

baleteanting-antingpalaybabaylanlawaan,lauan


31/57

PHONETICS

The study of speech sounds known technically as phones.

3 aspects to the study of speech sounds:

1. Articulatory phonetics- the study of the production of speechsounds or focuses on the human vocal apparatus and describessounds in terms of their articulation in the vocal tract

2. Acoustic phonetics- the study of the transmission and thephysical properties of speech sounds; uses tools of physics to

study the nature of sound waves produced in human language3. Auditory phonetics- the study of the perception of speech

sounds by the brain through the human ear

ARTICULATORY PHONETICS

Involves the study of how phones are produced by speakers

and the description and classification of those soundsaccording to their properties. In a phonetic transcription onesound is represented by one symbol, and each symbolrepresents a single sound.


32/57

32


33/57

33


34/57

34


35/57

The production of any speech sound involves the

movement of air. Air is pushed through the lungs,larynx (vocal folds) and vocal tract (the oral andnasal cavities.) Sounds produced by using air fromthe lungs are called pulmonic sounds. If the air ispushed out, it is called egressive. If the air is

sucked in, it is called ingressive. Sounds producedby ingressive airstreams are ejectives, implosives,and clicks. These sounds are common amongAfrican and American Indian languages. Themajority of languages in the world use pulmonic

egressive airstream mechanisms, and I willpresent only these types of sounds in this lesson.

35


36/57

ConsonantsConsonants are produced as air from the lungs is pushedthrough the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords)

and out the mouth. They are classified according to voicing,aspiration, nasal/oral sounds, places of articulation andmanners of articulation. Voicing is whether the vocal foldsvibrate or not. The sound /s/ is called voiceless becausethere is no vibration, and the sound /z/ is called voicedbecause the vocal folds do vibrate (you can feel on yourneck if there is vibration.) Only three sounds in English have

aspiration, the sounds /b/, /p/ and /t/. An extra puff of airis pushed out when these sounds begin a word or stressedsyllable. Hold a piece of paper close to your mouth whensaying the words pin and spin. You should notice extra airwhen you say pin. Aspiration is indicated in writing with asuperscript h, as in /p/. Nasal sounds are produced whenthe velum (the soft palate located in the back of the roof

of the mouth) is lowered and air is passed through the noseand mouth. Oral sounds are produced when the velum israised and air passes only through the mouth.

36


37/57

Places of ArticulationBilabial: lips togetherLabiodental: lower lip against frontteethInterdental: tongue between teethAlveolar: tongue near alveolar ridgeon roof of mouth (in between teethand hard palate)Palatal: tongue on hard palateV

elar: tongue near velumGlottal: space between vocal folds

37


38/57

Manners of ArticulationStop: obstruct airstream completelyFricative: partial obstruction withfrictionAffricate: stop airstream, then

releaseLiquids: partial obstruction, nofrictionGlides: little or no obstruction, mustoccur with a vowel

38


39/57

VOWELS and CONSONANTS

These two labels are probably the most familiar of all the terms

used in the description of speech.VOWELS are sounds that have no such structure: air escapes in a

relatively unimpeded way through the mouth or nose. They occurat the center of syllables.

CONSONANTS are defined as sounds made by a closure in the

vocal tract or by a narrowing which is so marked that air cannotescape without producing audible friction. They occur at themargins of syllables.

Vowels function as syllable nuclei; the consonants around themoften depend on the vowel for their audibility. All vowels are

almost alwaysV

OICED.DIPHTHONG- a speech sound which is usually considered as onedistinctive vowel but really involves two vowels, with one vowelgliding to the other.


40/57

CONSONANTS are normally described with reference to: The state of vibration of the vocal folds- voiced (vibrating) or

voiceless ( not vibrating)

The place of articulation in the vocal tract The manner of articulationVOICING or PHONATION Sounds made with the vocal folds vibrating are called voiced, and

sounds made without sound vibration are called voiceless. The

vibration that you feel from the larynx is the result of air beingforced through a narrow aperture (called glottis) between twofolds of muscle in the larynx.

PLACE OF ARTICULATION- the part of the vocal tract thatmoves ( the active articulators) and the tract with which itmakes contact (passive articulators)

Bilabial sounds are made by bringing both lips closer together.There are 5 such sounds in English: [p] pat, [b] bat , [m] mat, [w]with and [w] where.

Labiodental sounds are made with the lower lip against the upperfront teeth: [f] fat and [v] vat.


41/57

Interdentals are made with the tip of the tongue between thefront teeth: [] thigh and [ ] the.

Alveolars are made with the tip of the tongue is at or near the

alveolar ridge: [t] tap, [d] dab, [s] sip, [z] zip, [n] nose, [l] looseand [r] red Palatal sounds are made with the tongue near the hard part of

the roof of the mouth: [] leash, [] measure, [] church, [j]judge and [y] yes.

Velar sounds are made with the tongue near the velum: [k] kill,

[g] goat and [] sing Glottal sounds are made at the glottis: [h] high and glottal

stop[?] uh-oh which occurs before each of the vowel sounds

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

This refers to how the airstream is modified by the vocal tractto produce the sound. It depends on the degree of closure ofthe articulators


42/57

1. Stops are made by obstructing the airstream completely inthe oral cavity. Notice that when you say [p] and [b] the lipsare closed together for a moment stopping the airflow.

2. Fricatives are made by forming a nearly complete stoppage ofthe airstream. The opening through which the air escapes is sosmall that friction is produced. The air is forced through anarrow opening between the tip of the tongue and the alveolarridge.

3. Affricates are made by briefly stopping the airstreamcompletely and then releasing the articulators slightly so thatfriction is produced. They can be thought of as a combinationof stop and a fricative. English has only 2 affricates: [] and[j]. Air is built up by a complete closure of the oral tract atsome place of articulation, then released (something like astop) and continued (like a fricative)

4. Nasals are made when the oral cavity is completelyobstructed: [m], [n], []


43/57

5. Liquids are made when there is an obstruction formed by the

articulators, but it is not narrow enough to stop the airflow or tocause friction. The [l] in leaf is produced by resting the tongueon the alveolar ridge with the airstream escaping around thesides of the tongue. Thus it is called a lateral liquid.

6. Glides are made with only a slight closure of the articulators.

SLANG- the language of the young generation born out of theneeds and whims of the people who use it. This can be likened toa fashion fad which catches fire when conceived of and easilyfades away.

E.g. o.a (overacting), yeah, nuts to you, shucks, corny, jerk, tell it tothe marines, or canto boy language or gay language.


44/57

M

A

NN

E

R

O

F

A

R

T

I

C

U

L

AT

I

O

N

Place of articulation

Red-voicelessBlack-voiced

bilabial Labiodental

InterDental

AlveoLar

Palatal Velar Glottal

Stops p b t d k g ?

Fricatives f v s z h

Affricates j

Nasals m n

Lateral liquid

lRetroflexliquid

r

glides w w y


45/57

iI

e

u

o

a

lax

tense

low

mid

high

front central back

ROUND


46/57

Suprasegmentals or prosodic features Vowels and consonants which are segmentals phonemes

are not the only component parts of a language. All phoneshave certain inherent suprasegmental or prosodicproperties that form part of their make up no matterwhat their place or manner of articulation.

1. length. Not all speech sounds have the same duration.Some speech sounds are inherently longer than others. Insome languages, differences in the duration of a segmentare very important because substituting a long segmentfor an otherwise identical short segment (or vice versa) ina word can result in a different meaning.

E.g. Finish (both vowels and consonants may be long or short,and the difference in length can make a difference in themeaning of a word. In the data below the long vowels andconsonants are marked with [:]

a. [muta] mud c. [mut:a] butb. [mu:ta] some other


47/57

2. Pitch is the musical note or frequency at which a syllable ispronounced, relative to the rest of the sentence. Englishhad four distinctive pitches, 3 of which are found in almost

every sentence. They are indicated by the numbers1(lowest), 2, 3 and 4 (highest).

3. tone. A language is said to have tone when differences inword meaning are signalled by differences in pitch. Pitch onforms in tone language functions vary differently from the

movement of pitch in a non-tone language. When a speakerof a tone language such as Mandarin pronounces the formma[ma] with a falling pitch it means scold, but when thesame form [ma] is pronounced with a rising pitch, themeaning is hemp. There is no parallel to anything like this innon-tone languages such as English and French.

4. intonation. Pitch movement in spoken utterances that is notrelated to differences in the word meaning is calledintonation. Intonation is the pattern of rises and falls inpitch across a stretch of speech such as a sentence.


48/57

5. Stress is the relative loudness of a syllable in the sentence; it istraditionally called accent. In some languages the placement of thestress on a word is predictable. For example, stress almost always

falls on the first syllable of a word in Czech and on the lastsyllable of a phrase in French. In other languages such as Russianand English, stress placement is not predictable and must belearned for each word. In other words, the placement of stresscan cause a difference in meaning.

E.g. seven-seventeen, object(n)-object(v)White House- white house, elementary, electric-electricity

6. Juncture is the connection between one segment of speech and thenext or a type of boundary between two phonemes.e.g. hindi puti (its not white). Hindi, puti (no, its white)Don Pepe ang boss ko. Don, Pepe ang boss ko.Slow! men are working ahead. Slow men + are working ahead.Will you call the maid Maria? Will you call the maid+ Maria?

The man is on the right track. The man is on the right + track.Feed him+ not starve him. Feed him not+ starve him.Help+ Tony Martin. Help Tony MartinIts a chicken + feed. Its a+ chicken feed.A woman without her man+ cannot live. A woman without her+ man

cannot live.


49/57

PHONOLOGY Phonology is not the study of telephone etiquette nor it is the study of

telephones. It is the study of sound patterns found in human language.Both phonetics and phonology can be generally described as the study of

speech sounds. Phonetics is more specifically the study of how speechsounds are produced. Phonology, on the other hand, investigates theorganization of speech sounds in a particular language. It is the componentof a grammar made up of the categories and the principles that determinehow sound patterns in a language. Phonologists attempt to make clear andexplicit statements about the sound patterns of individual languages inorder to discover something about the linguistic knowledge that peoplemust have in order to use these patterns.

Phonological knowledge permits the speaker to: a. recognize a foreign accent b. make up new words Phoneme and Allophone: These terms are the crux of phonological analysis and it is important to

distinguish them. Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language. Ex. pan and ban differ

in initial sound, /p/ and /b/ are two different phonemes. The number ofphonemes varies from one language to another.

Allophone is a phonetic variant. Ex. When /p/ occurs at the beginning ofwords like put and pan, it is said with a little puff of air (aspirated). Butwhen /p/ occurs in words like span and spare, it is said without a puff of air(unaspirated). The aspirated [p] in put and unaspirated [p] in span areallophones of the phoneme /p/. Symbols for aspiration: [h ] or [,].


50/57

DISTRIBUTION OF SOUNDS: A phone/s distribution is the collection of phoneticenvironments in which the phone may appear.

1.minimal pair is defined as a pair of words within different meanings which arepronounced exactly the same way except for one sound that differs. Ex: pear-bear;tin;-pin;-tab- tap

2. overlapping distribution is when the sets of phonetic environment in which theyoccur are partially or completely Identical; the occurrence of sounds in the samephonetic environments.

Example: bait [bet] date [det] lobe [lob] load [lod] knobs [nabz] nods [nadz] bleat [blit] --- [dlit] The set of environment of [b] is partially similar to that of [d]: both sounds occur

word-initially before a vowel, and they both occur between [a] and [z]. However thedistribution of these sounds is not identical because [b] can occur word-initiallybefore [I], but [d] cannot.

3. contrastive distribution refers to the difference in one sound results tocontrast in meaning; the occurrence of sound in language such that their usedistinguishes between the meanings of the words in which they appear.

4.Complementary distribution is just the opposite of overlapping distribution. Itmeans that where the sound occurs, the other does not; the occurrence of sound inlanguage such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment.

5.Free variation refers to one meaning is represented by two different phoneticforms; refers to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause nodistinction in the meaning of their respective words.

***a) If phones are in overlapping distribution, they are either in contrastivedistribution or free variation. (b) Phones in contrastive distribution may appear inminimal pairs and are allophones of different phonemes. (c) Phones in free variationmay appear in the same phonetic environments but never cause a contrast in meaning;they are allophones of the same phoneme.


51/57

PHONOLOGICAL RULES/ PROCESSES: These are classified according toprocess that they involve.

1. Assimilation causes a sound to become more like a neighboring sound withrespect to some feature. Ex: vowel nasalization [~] , liquid and glide

devoicing. LIQUIDS [l,r] and glides [w,w,y] become voiceless when theyoccur following a voiceless OBSTRRUENTS [ p, t, k, ?, f, s, h, c, s,]. pang +dikdik+pandikdik; pang + basa=pambansa; pang + luto +panluto

2. Dissimilation causes two neighboring sounds to become less alike withrespect to some feature. Ex. fricative dissimilation: [0] changes to [t]following another fricative. Fifth [fif 0] is often pronounced as [fift]; [siks0] as [sikst]. In these examples the fricative [0] becomes less like anadjacent fricative consonant; it does so through a change in its manner ofarticulation, thereby becoming a stop (from fricative to stop).

3. Insertion causes a segment not present at the phonemic level to beadded to the phonetic form of a word. Ex: voiceless stop insertion: betweena nasal and voiceless fricative; a voiceless stop with the same place ofarticulation as the nasal is inserted. Dance /d ns/ causing [d nts]; strength/stre no] [streg ko]; hamster /h2e mstr/ to h mpstr]. In dance nasal,voiceless stops, fricative

4. Deletion eliminates a sound. This applies more frequently to unstressedsyllables and in casual speech. Ex : /h/ may be deleted in unstressed

syllables: He handed her his hat (the h in her and his is deleted). Anotherexample: unstressed syllable may be deleted: police [plis], believe [bliv] dakip+ in= dakipin-dakpin; bukas + an = buksan-buksan

5. Aspiration the little puff of air that sometimes follows the release of aconsonant when there is a delay in the onset of voicing. [h] or []

6. Flapping (also tap) is a sound produced when the tongue tip hits thealveolar ridge at a high speed; a speech sound ( a consonant_ which isproduced by making a single tap, usually by the tongue against a firm

surface in the mouth.


52/57

7. Vowel lengthening vowels in certain phonetic environment arelonger than the same vowels in other environments. In particular,vowels which are followed by a voiced consonant are longer in

duration than those followed by a voiceless consonant. Examples:bat-bad; hat-had; rote-road 8. Metathesis switching the order of two sounds, each taking the

place of the other; change in the order of two sounds in a word,e.g. /film/ for ./film/. It sometimes occurs in the speech oflanguage learners but it may also occur with native speakers. Whena metathesized form becomes commonly and regularly used by

most native speakers of a language, it may lead to a change in theword. 9. Epenthesis- the addition of a vowel or consonant at the

beginning of a word or between sounds. This often happens inlanguage learning when the language which is being learned hasdifferent combinations of vowels or consonant from the learnersfirst language. For example, Spanish learners of English often say/espi:k/ for speak as Spanish does not have words starting with

the consonant cluster /sp/. Many speakers of other languages donot use combination like the /Im/ or /Ip/ of English and add anepenthetic vowel, for example [ film] for film, and [help] for[help]


53/57

SOUND SUBSTITUTION AND PHONOTACTIC CONSTRAINTS Not all sound systems are the same. Some language have fewer or more

allophones than English does. For instance, French speakers often pronounce English this

[is] as [zs] and thin [ 0in] as [sin]. The reason for this mispronunciation is that the

phonemic inventory of French does not certain /0/ or /a/ , so French speakers substitute the

nearest equivalent sounds, the fricatives /z/ and /s/ available in their phonemic inventory. This is known as SOUND SUBSTITUTION, a process whereby sounds

that already

exist in a language are used to replace sounds that do not exist in alanguage when borrowing or trying to pronounce a foreign word. Another example: German has a voiceless velar fricative phoneme /x/.

English lacks this sound though it has a voiceless velar stop /k/. Most English speakers

substitute /k/ for /x/ just like Bach /bax/ producing /bak/ In every language there are RESTRICTIONS on the kinds of sounds and

sound sequences possible in different positions in words (particularly at the

beginning and end). These restrictions can be formulated in terms of rules stating which sound

sequences are possible in a language and which are not.


54/57

PHONOTACTIC CONSTRAINTS are restrictions on possible combinations of sounds. Languages generally prefer a consonant ( C) first, vowel (V) second syllable structure, but some languages allow a syllable to begin with more than one consonant. For instance English allow up to 3 consonants to start word, provided the first is /s/, the second /p/, /t/ or /k/ and the third /I/, / r/, /y/ or /w/.

V oh CV no CCV flew CCCV spree VC at CVC not CCVCC flute CCCVC spleen VCC ask CVCC ramp CCVCC flutes CCCVCC strength VCCC asked CVCCC ramps CCVCCC crafts CCCVCCCC strengths Hebrew Japanse Hawaiian Indonesian CV V V V CVC CV CV VC CVCC CVN (nasal stop) CV CVC Filipino 1. V-a 5. CCV-tso-ko 9.CCVCC-tsart 2.CV-ka-so 6. VCC-eks-tra 3. VC-ok-ra 7. CCVC-plan-tsa 4.CVC-bun-dok 8.CVCC-re-port, nars


55/57

Hebrew does not have any initial consonant clusters. CVCC syllablesare allowed only at the end of a word.

Indonesia has clusters only in the middle of words, there are noclusters initially or finally. Hawaiian does not permit clusters in any position. 1. If language has a severe restrictions on its phonotactics, the

restrictions well apply to every word in the language, native or not.Therefore, just as languages substitutes familiar sounds for anfamiliar ones, languages also seek to every come problems ofborrowing a foreign word that violates their phonotactics.

2. In English- 2 stops cannot come at the beginning of words norcan stop plus nasal combination. Ex. foreign words like Ptolemy andGnostic.English speakers simply drop the first consonant andpronounced the words [tal mi] and [n stik].

3. Japanese and Finish only allow CV-type syllables, with a fewexception. When borrowing a foreign word that violates the CVstructure, the 2 languages must force it somehow to fit. CCV, CVCand other non-CV syllables must be forced into a CV framework.There are 2 ways to do this> (1) DROP OR DELETE THE EXTRACONSONANTS (2) insert vowels to separate the consonants.


56/57

4. Finish opts for deletion. Japanese inserts vowel into the cluster so thata CCC sequence will end up us CVCVCV. The insertions are rule- governed,meaning that the insertion always works the same way. Thus we can predictthe shape of a new word in Japanese. The vowel /u/ is inserted, exceptafter /t/ and /d/. Notice the substitutions made by Japanese for Englishsounds:

Eng Jap Eng JapEng Jap

/l/----- /b/ /1/ /i/ /vr/

/v:/ /v/ /s/ /2/ /o/

/0/ /s/ / / /u/ / / /a/ /2e/ /(y) a/ Furthermore the nasals [m] and [n] are allowed syllable-finally. So when the

English word birth control was borrowed into Japanese, it became [ba: su

kontoro:ru] /bar/-----/ba:su/ /k ntrol/----- /kontro: ru/

The /u/ in [ba:su] and last u in [kontoro:ru] is inserted to prevent [t] and[r] from forming a cluster. 5. A Spanish speaker does not pronounce student because he doesnt know

any better but because the consonant clusters /st/, /sk/ and /sp/ neveroccur at the beginning of a word in Spanish without being preceded by avowel- for example in the words estudiante, escuela and espalda (shoulder)The Spanish speaker who says [student] is simply applying the phonologicalrules of Spanish when Speaking English words.


57/57

Language:1. Colloquialism or colloquials- appropriate

for conversation and informal writing E.g. phone for telephone; mad for angry2. slang- colloquial language that is usually

short-lived; transitory language; never

used in formal writing; language of theyoung generation; born out of needs andwhims of the people who use it. This canbe likened to a fashion fad which catches

fire when conceived of and easily fadesaway E.g. rubberneck- a tourist;

flatfoot-a policeman

linguistic structure

Documents