Transcript Document

Linguistics
The seventh week
Revision

The phenomenon of the linking of words in
speech, in particular when the second word
begins with a vowel, is called______.

The loss of a sound or sounds in speech is
called ______.

Sounds of one word or syllable can cause
changes in the sounds belonging to
neighboring words or syllables. This is
called ________.
Chapter 2 The Sounds of
Language
2.3 Phonology
Key points
 the
definition of phonology
 the definition of phoneme
 the minimal pairs
Difficult points
 the
definition of phonology
 the difference between phonetics
and phonology
 the definition of phoneme
the definition of phonology

Phonology studies the system of speech
sounds of a particular language; it aims to
discover how speech sounds in a language
form patterns and how these sounds are
used to convey meaning in linguistic
communication. (source: 何兆熊，梅德明，
1999：31）

Phonology is concerned with the linguistic
patterning of sounds in human languages,
with its primary aim being to discover the
principles that govern the way sounds are
organized in languages, and to explain the
variations that occur. (source: 胡壮麟，2001：
54）
Phonology is the scientific study of the
sound system and patterns of a language.
(source: 刘润清，2006：36）
 This definition is widely accepted.

The study scope of phonology:

1.
2.
Phonology studies:
the ways in which the speech sounds of a
language form patterns and systems;
and how they convey meaning in the
system of the language.
Differences between phonetics and
phonology
They differ in two aspects:
 study subject
 study scope
In study subject:
Phonetics studies all the speech sounds
used in all languages.
 Phonology studies the sound system and
patterns of a particular language.

In study scope:
Phonetics describes individual speech
sounds and indicates their physical or
phonetic properties.
 Phonology studies the ways in which these
sounds form patterns and systems and how
they work to convey meaning in the system
of language.

Extended exercises
Exemplify the difference between Chinese
and English phonology.
a. sip
zip
 b. fine
vine
 c. chunk
junk

the definition of phoneme

A phoneme is the minimal distinctive
linguistic unit in a language. (source: 孙延弢，
2001：37）
Key points of phoneme



Phoneme is the study focus of phonology.
A phoneme distinguishes meaning.
A phoneme is language-specific.
Minimal pairs
[bæn] and [bin]
 [bet] and [b/\t]
 [fæn] and [væn]
 [siŋk] and [ziŋk]
 [sait] and [said]
 [tſ/\ŋk and [dƺ/\ŋk]

the definition of the minimal pairs

Minimal pairs are two words which are
identical in every way except for one sound
that occurs in the same place in the sound
strings.
In order to determine which are distinctive
sounds ----- phonemes, the customary
practice is to set up minimal pairs.
 This practice is also called commutation
test(替换法/测试）. (source: 刘润清, 2002：93）

Some of the minimal pairs of English
phonemes( source: Crystal, 1997:162)
beat---bit
 bit---bet
 bet---bat
 bat---but
 but---heart

/i:/ --- /i/
/i/ --- /e/
/e/ --- /æ/
/æ/ --- / /\ /
/ /\ / --- /a:/
heart---hot
 pot---port
 port---put
 full---fool
 cool---curl

/a:/ --- / Ɔ /
/Ɔ/ --- / Ɔ: /
/ Ɔ: / --- /u/
/u/ --- /u:/
/u:/ --- /∂:/
girl---gale
 tale---tile
 toil---toll
 tone---town
 how---here
 here---hair
 pair---poor
 poor---pea

/ ∂:/ --- /ei/
/ei/ --- /ai/
/ Ɔi / --- / ∂ u/
/ ∂ u /---/au/
/au/ --- /i ∂ /
/i ∂ / ---/ε∂ /
/ε∂ / --- /u ∂ /
/u ∂ / ---/i:/
pin---bin
 bin---tin
 tin---din
 din---kin
 coat---goat
 got---hot
 height---might
 might---night
 kin---king

/p/ --- /b/
/b/ --- /t/
/t/---/d/
/d/---/k/
/k/---/g/
/g/---/h/
/h/---/m/
/m/---/n/
/n/---/ŋ/
tin---till
 led---red
 lad---wad
 wet---yet
 yolk---choke
 choke---joke
 jade---fade
 fail---veil
 heave---heath

/ŋ/---/l/
/l/---/r/
/r/---/w/
/w/---/j/
/j/---/tſ /
/ tſ /---/dƺ/
/ dƺ /---/f/
/f/---/v/
/v/---/θ/
wreath---wreathe
 though---sew
 bus---buzz
 zoo---shoe
 Confucian---confusion
 beige---bait

/θ/---/=/
/=/---/s/
/s/---/z/
/z/---/ ſ /
/ ſ /---/ ƺ /
/ ƺ /---/t/
Exercise of identifying minimal pairs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
sun/son
tore/door
teach/cheat
pit/tip
fail/gale
impotent/important
Confucian/confusion
recent/decent
stop/atop
The function of the minimal pair

The minimal pair test or commutation test is
an effective method to determine or identify
the phonemes of a language.
Minimal set

A group of words are identical in every way
except for one phoneme which occurs in the
same place, they are called a minimal set.
Examples
A minimal set based on the vowel
phonemes of English:
[fi:t], [fit], [feit], [fæt], [fƆ:t]
 The one based on consonants:
[big], [pig], [rig], [fig], [dig] and [wig].

The key points of this lecture:
the definition of phonology
 the difference between phonology and
phonetics
 the definition of phoneme
 the definition of the minimal pair and set

References:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Crystal, David 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of
Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press.
戚雨村，《现代语言学的特点和发展趋势》，上海外语教
育出版社：1997年11月。
刘润清，《西方语言学流派》，外语教学与研究出版社：
2002年11月。
胡壮麟，《语言学教程》（修订版），北京大学出版社：
2001年7月。
何兆熊，梅德明，《现代语言学》，外语教学与研究出版
社：1999年1月。
孙延弢，《语言学概论》，吉林人民出版社：2001年8月。
Assignments


1. Definition: (1) phonology (2) phoneme
2. The following sets of minimal pairs show
that English sounds [p] and [b] contrast in
initial, medial and final positions.
initial
medial
final
pit/bit
rapid/rabid
cap/cab
Find similar sets of minimal pairs for each pair
of consonants given:
(1) [k]-[g] (2) [m]-[n] (3) [b]-[v]
(4) [b]-[m] (5) [p]-[f]