bbn–ang–243 phonological analysis 3–4. contrast in english...

BBN–ANG–243 Phonological analysis

3–4. Contrast in English consonants

Zoltán G. Kiss, Péter Szigetvári, Miklós Törkenczy

Dept. of English Linguistics, Eötvös Loránd University

z. g. kiss (elte|delg) analysis 3–4 | consonant contrast 1 / 74

aims

lecture outline

◮ contrast among English consonants (obstruents)

◮ laryngeal (“voicing”) contrast: phonetics and distribution

◮ when contrast disappears: neutralization

◮ voicing assimilation


consonant contrasts

consonant contrasts in English


consonant contrasts

the consonant inventory (contrastive consonants)

Bil. Lab-den. Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

P p | b t | d k | g (P)O F f | v T | D s | z S | Z

A Ù Ã

N | m | n | NS L | l | r

G | w | j h |

Bil. = bilabial, Lab-den. = labio-dentalP = stop/plosive, F = fricative, A = a=ricate, N = nasal, L = liquid, G = glideO = obstruent, S = sonorant| = left of line: “voiceless”, right of line: “voiced”


consonant contrasts

obstruent contrasts

◮ place contrast: e.g., /t/ vs. /p/: tin–pin; /t/ vs. /k/: tan–can

◮ manner contrast: e.g., /t/ vs. /s/: tin–sin

◮ “voicing” contrast: /t/ vs. /d/: time–dime


laryngeal contrast

“voicing” contrast in obstruents

OBSTRUENTS

STOPS FRICATIVES

/t/ – /d/ /s/ – /z/

tie – die sip – zipwriter – rider missle – mizzlebeat – bead bus – buzz

‘voiceless’ ‘voiced’ ‘voiceless’ ‘voiced’


laryngeal contrast

laryngeal contrast in obstruents

◮ the phonological contrast of “voicing” is signalled (= cued)by a complex of features: there are several correlates of this contrast =there are many “concomitant” features for the contrast

◮ vocal fold vibration is only one of them

◮ let’s refer to the phonological contrast as laryngeal contrast

◮ voicing is a narrowly used phonetic term: vocal fold vibration (alsocalled: phonation)


laryngeal contrast

some phonetic correlates of laryngeal contrast in

obstruents

◮ voicing/phonation: vocal fold vibration

◮ Voice Onset Time (VOT)

◮ relative length of preceding vowel

◮ glottalization

◮ release noise/burst: intensity & length


laryngeal contrast voicing

larynx: vocal folds + glottis



vocal folds: periodic vibration



states of the vocal folds



cross-section of the larynx



vocal fold vibration: the Bernoulli e=ect



steps of vocal fold vibrationvocal fold vibration happens because of air pressure changes (aerodynamicreasons):

1. vocal folds loosely close

2. air pressure increases below vocal folds

3. air pressure blows vocal folds apart (glottis opens)

4. speed of air particles increases through narrow glottis

5. air pressure decreases below/within vocal folds ⇒ vocal folds suckedtogether (Bernoulli e=ect)

6. vocal folds are closed again, a cycle like this repeats itself approx.100–300 times/second

7. the cycles last until the state of glottis changes (e.g., opens to producea voiceless sound)

– phonation can start and can continue when air pressure is higher below

the vocal folds than above it



types of voicing

1. spontaneous voicing: open oral cavity – this helps to start andmaintain voicing because air pressure will be low in the mouth buthigh below vocal folds ⇒ vowels, sonorants

2. passive devoicing: closure/constriction in mouth – this creates highair pressure above vocal folds, which inhibits vocal fold vibration⇒ obstruents



types of voicing

◮ thus, obstruents easily get devoiced unless

1. they are between to vowels or sonorants, voicing from thepreceding vowel/sonorant continues throughout the obstruent⇒ passively voiced (lenis) obstruentse.g., English: rider, bandit, rabid, gamble, begin, English, gadget,nostalgia, fuzzy, palsy, . . .

2. active voicing articulation-strategies are used to delay devoicing:e.g., lower the larynx, enlarge the oral cavity⇒ actively voiced obstruents (Hungarian, French, Russian. . . )

◮ active devoicing: extra articulatory e=ort to maintain voicelessness(e.g., between two vowels, city, lucky, etc.)



types of voicing

summary

Type A=ected sounds

spontaneous voicing vowels, sonorant consonants

passive devoicing obstruents

passive voicing obstruents between Vs/son. (English, etc.)

active voicing obstruents (Hungarian, etc.)

active devoicing voiceless obstruents between Vs/son.



some consequences of voicing types

◮ vowels and sonorants are usually only voiced (no voiceless pair)

◮ obstruents come in voiceless–voiced pairs in most languages, somelanguages only have voiceless obstruents

◮ if an obstruent is passively voiced (as in English), its voicing isdependent on its environment

◮ passively voiced obstruents are only fully voiced betweenvowels/sonorants

◮ elsewhere they are usually devoiced, e.g.:

◮ word-initial position: back, demon, game, juice. . .◮ word-final position: rob, lead, vague, bridge. . .

◮ in Hungarian: “voiced” obstruents are typically voiced in all positions(initially and word-finally, too): bab, babos, méz, rúzs. . . ;



conclusion so far

◮ English “voiced” obstruents are not truly voiced:they are passively voiced = voiced only between vowels and sonorants

◮ categorizing them as ‘voiced’ would be misleading


laryngeal contrast VOT

articulation phases of stops

◮ for example: repel /rIpEl/

1. vowel/sonorant2. closure and hold3. release4. transition into the vowel5. vowel



Voice Onset Time, VOT

◮ voicing of stops can be characterized by the timing between the release

and the beginning (“onset”) of voicing of the next vowel/approximant– we call this timing relationship Voice Onset Time (VOT)

◮ three major VOT possibilities:

1. voicing begins right after or only shortly after the release:zero VOT/short lag VOT

2. voicing begins later than the release, there is a relatively long lagof voicing after the release: positive/long lag VOT

3. voicing is already underway during the closure and release:negative VOT/VOT lead

◮ these three VOT options give three phonetic laryngeal categories ofstops



three Voice Onset Time options



voicing and aspirating languages

“voicing” “aspirating”

voiced voiceless voiceless

unaspirated aspirated

[d] [t] [th]

Hawaiian [t]Hungarian ⇐⇒[d] [t]English ⇐⇒[t] [th]Thai ⇐⇒ ⇐⇒[d] [t] [th]



aspirating and voicing languages

aspirating (zero VOT ⇔ +VOT) languages

most Germanic (English, German, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish,etc.) but also some Turkic languages

voicing (zero VOT ⇔−VOT) languages

most Romance and Slavic languages (Spanish, Italian, French, Russian,Polish, Slovak, etc.) but also Dutch, Yiddish, Scottish English, andHungarian



positive, long-lag VOT: aspiration (paces)



aspiration in closeup



negative VOT: voiced stop (Spanish)



zero VOT: unaspirated, voiceless stop



Spanish p = English b (zero VOT)



English vs. Hungarian obstruents

English Hungarian

pat bat 6= pár bár

rapid rabid ≈ apa Aba

lap lab 6= láp láb

◮ spelling is misleading, it expresses the phonological contrast ofobstruents in the two languages but the phonetic realizations are

di=erent (except between Vs/sonorants)

◮ German borrowings into Hungarian: Beck > pék, Bilde > példa,Brösel > prézli, bitte > piti(zik), Dinkel > tönköly, Dübel > tipli,Gucker > kukker. . .


laryngeal contrast fortis & lenis

fortis vs. lenis obstruents

◮ Hungarian, Spanish, etc.: di=erence between obstruents(e.g., “p”–“b”) is due to voicing: “p” = voiceless, “b” = voiced

◮ English: di=erence between obstruents (e.g., “p”–“b”) is due toaspiration: “p” = aspirated, “b” = unaspirated

◮ we call the contrasting obstruents in English fortis vs. lenis

(and not “voiceles” vs. “voiced”)



classic English literature: Jones

Jones (1918: 154)

In voiced plosive consonants the amount of voice heard during the stopmay vary. [. . . ] When a voiced plosive [. . . ] occurs between two vowels (asin about), voice sounds throughout the whole of the stop.

In English when /b d/ and /g/ occur initially [. . . ], they are partially devoiced

[. . . ] i.e. voice is not heard during the whole of the stop but only during partof it, generally the latter part. With some speakers the voice disappears

altogether [. . . ].

With many speakers [. . . ] final voiced plosives [are] partially or even

completely devoiced [. . . ]. [These] consonants are very weak voicelessplosives consonants.



classic English literature: Gimson

Gimson (1962: 32; 152)

A voiceless/voiced pair such as [s, z] are distinguished not only by thepresence or absence of voice but also by the degree of breath and musculare=ort involved in the articulation. Indeed, [. . . ] in certain situations, thevoice opposition may be lost, so that the energy of articulation becomes asignificant factor. Those English consonants which are usually voiced tendto be articulated with relatively weak energy, whereas those which arealways voiceless are relatively strong. Thus, it may be important to define[s] as strong or fortis and [z] as weak or lenis.

The lenis series /b d g/ may have full voicing [. . . ] when they occur [. . . ]between voiced sounds e.g. labour, leader, eager [. . . ]. In initial andespecially in final positions, [. . . ] while remaining lenis, may be partiallyvoiced or completely voiceless.



fortis vs. lenis obstruents

Fortis Lenis

never voiced have passive voicing, only voicedbetween vowels/sonorants

can be aspirated never aspirated

can shorten the preceding vowel(“Pre-Fortis Clipping”)

never shorten preceding vowel

can be glottalized can never be glottalized

“stronger” articulation “weaker” articulation

fortis voiceless fortis & voiceless everywhere: pal, rapid, leap

lenis & voiceless not between Vs/son.: bat, lap

lenis voiced lenis & voiced between Vs/son.: rabid, random



fortis vs. lenis obstruent contrast in English

English obstruent phonemes

Stops A=r. FricativesFortis /p t k/ /Ù/ /f T s S/Lenis /b d g/ /Ã/ /v D S Z/

◮ lenis phonemes have two allophones: (partially) voiceless and voiced,the voiced allophone is the most limited

◮ for example: /b/

[b]between Vs/son.

[p] or [b˚

]elsewhere

◮ bin /bIn/ phonetically: [pIn] or [b˚

In]

Robin /rObIn/ phonetically: [rObIn]


laryngeal contrast positions

laryngeal contrast of stops in various positions

◮ so far two phonetic features have been used for the laryngeal contrast:aspiration & passive voicing

◮ they are not equally active in all phonetic positions

1. between sonorants, before a stressed vowel: repél – rebél2. word-initial, before a stressed or unstressed vowel: tíe – díe,

políte – Bolívia3. between sonorants, before an unstressed vowel: wríter – ríder



1. between sonorants, before a stressed vowel

repél rebélvoiced? − +

aspirated? + −

– both features are active in this position for the contrast



2. word-initial, before a stressed or unstressed vowel

tíe díevoiced? − −

aspirated? + −

– only aspiration is active in this position for the contrast



3. between sonorants, before an unstressed vowel

wríter rídervoiced? − +

aspirated? − −

◮ only voicing is active in this position for the contrast◮ note: 1. it is sometimes claimed that there is weak aspiration of fortis

stops here2. length of stops is relatively short here, and voicing may continuethroughout the stop: /t/ and /d/ may become a flap [R] in AmericanEnglish, but not /p/–/b/ or /k/–/g/: rápid – rábid still contrast



ranking of positions based on laryngeal contrast

preservation in stops

1. medial, between sonorants, before a stressed V (repél – rebél) >2. word-initial, before a stressed/unstr. V (tíe – díe) >

3. medial, between sonorants, before an unstressed V (wríter – ríder)

X > Y = ‘X has more/better features to maintain the contrast than Y’(where X and Y are positions)


laryngeal contrast word-final

absolute word final position: beat – bead

◮ in this position, voicing is di;cult to maintain

◮ since nothing follows the stop, aspiration is also impossible


laryngeal contrast word-final

no contrast in beat – bead?

beat beadvoiced? − −

aspirated? − −

◮ has English given up contrast in word-final position? = neutralization

◮ or maybe there are features other than voicing that get activated hereto maintain the contrast. . .


laryngeal contrast neutralization

neutralization: the beer goggle e=ect



neutralization

The disappearance of contrast under a given condition.

= The local suspension of a phonological oppositionbetween two or more contrastive sound segments; only one segmentcan appear in that position (but not its contrastive counterpart(s)).



neutralization: the beer goggle e=ect

◮ opposition: the attractiveness of people is perceived di=erently

◮ condition: being drunk

◮ output: the di=erence in attractiveness disappears (all people areperceived as attractive)



neutralization examples: vowel reduction

◮ a wide range of vowels can appear in a stressed syllable but inunstressed syllables, vowel contrast is reduced to a handful of vowels(primarily the schwa)

◮ senténtial ∼ séntence E ∼ @

systémic ∼ sýstem E ∼ @

morálity ∼móral a ∼ @

symbólic ∼ sýmbol O ∼ @

atómic ∼ átom O ∼ @

harmónious∼ hármony @w∼ @

mystérious ∼mýstery I: ∼ @

dráma ∼ dramátic A: ∼ @

sulphúrious ∼ súlphur j0:∼ @

◮ opposition: full vowels, condition: unstressed syllable, output: /@/



neutralization examples: /s/ and /S/

◮ /s/ is in contrast with /S/

◮ so – show, mass – mash, parcel – partial, universal – controversial, etc.

◮ word-inital, pre-consonantal position: /S/ only before /r/, and /s/ isbefore any other consonant

◮ /Sr/: shrub, shrivel, shrink, shrug. . . but never */St/, */Sp/, */Sk/, etc.

◮ /s/ + C: steam, sport, sky, etc.

◮ opposition: /s/ – /S/, condition: word-inital, pre-consonantal position,output: either /Sr/ or /s/ + C (where C 6= /r/)



neutralization examples: nasal + stop clusters

◮ nasals contrast with respect to place of articulation

◮ sin – SIM – sing: /n/ – /m/ – /N/

◮ before a stop: only one can occur, whose place depends on followingstop (labial with labial, coronal with coronal, velar with velar)

◮ e.g., print /nt/, but no /m/ or /N/ before /t/ *primt, *primk, etc.:

StopsNasal /p/ /t/ /k/

/m/ limp — —/n/ — tent —/N/ — — link /Nk/

◮ opposition: /n/ – /m/ – /N/, condition: before a stop, output: onlyone nasal can occur, the contrast is suspended before a given stop



laryngeal neutralization for word-final obstruents?

◮ beat – bead, back – bag, loose – lose, leaf – leave, etc.

◮ obstruents are unaspirated and voiceless in this position

◮ opposition: laryngeal contrast of obstruents, condition: word-finalposition, output: only voiceless-unaspirated obstruents

◮ based on this, beat and bead are supposed to be pronounced the sameway: beat [b

˚Ijt] = bead [b

˚Ijd

˚] = [pIjt] (homophones)

◮ BUT this does not seem to be the case!



“redundant” features to the help

◮ correlates of laryngeal contrast so far: voicing and aspiration

– but they are not active in word-final position

◮ however, there are other correlates of the laryngeal contrast

◮ they do not seem to play a role in other positions (e.g., word-medially),they are “redundant”

◮ but they seem to emerge more saliently when contrast is in danger (asin word-final position):

◮ relative length of preceding vowel◮ glottalization◮ other features: release noise, articulatory strength/e=ort/force


laryngeal contrast vowel length

relative length of preceding vowel

◮ vowels are shorter (clipped) before fortis obstruents than before lenisobstruents: Pre-Fortis Clipping

◮ speak – speed,mate – made,rope – robe,write – ride,root – rude,cap – cabloose – lose,leaf – leave

◮ clipping is redundant/predictable but it cues the contrast here


laryngeal contrast glottalization

pre-glottalization/glottal reinforcement

◮ glottal closure quickly closes down the voicing of the vowel, followedby the oral closure of the fortis stops & a=ricate

◮ happens word-finally or when they are followed by another consonant

◮ right [rAjPt], shop [SOPp], shot [SOPt], shock [SOPk], April [EjPprl], fatness[faPtn@s], football [f0Ptpo:l], reach [rIjPÙ], etc.

◮ it only happens for the fortis consonants:mate [mEjPt] – made [mEjt],seat [sIjPt] – seed [sIjt]

◮ it is another indicator of the fortis – lenis contrast!

◮ it happens where the contrast between fortis & lenis stops couldpotentially disappear

◮ note: glottalization may well be just a more salient/forceful versionof pre-fortis clipping: the vowel is cut by glottal closure


laryngeal contrast glottalization

contrast is salvaged in beat – bead, no neutralization

beat beadvoiced? − −

aspirated? − −

preceding V shorter? + −

glottalization? + −


laryngeal contrast fricatives

correlates of laryngeal contrast for fricatives

◮ examples for the laryngeal contrast of fricatives: thigh – thy, feel – veal,file – vile, sip – zip, leaf – leave, bus – buzz, etc.

◮ /T/ – /D/, /f/ – /v/, /s/ – /z/, /S/ – /Z/

◮ voicing/phonation, length di=erences (preceding vowel length, lengthof the fricative), and intensity signal the contrast

◮ aspiration, glottalization, release do not play a role



1. medial, between sonorants, before a stressed V

◮ conféction – convéction, defíed – divíde

◮ absence/presence of voicing/phonation is the primary cue, no dangerfor contrast

◮ /T f s S/: voiceless

◮ /D v z Z/: voiced/phonated



2. word-initial, before a V

◮ sip – zip, cellar – Zellar, fain – vein, fault – vault, feel – veal,sheet /SIjt/ – gite /ZIjt/, thigh /TAj/ – thy /DAj/

◮ some research suggests that lenis fricatives /D v z Z/ in initialposition are relatively voiced, unlike lenis stops, the contrasts aboveare due to voicing/phonation (e.g., sip is voiceless, zip is voiced)



3. medial, between sonorants, after a stressed V

◮ míssle – mízzle, grístle – grízzle, rífle – ríval, Óphir /@wf@/ – óver /@wv@/,Áisha – Ásia, Ásher – ázure, tréssure – tréasure, Confúcian – confúsion

◮ absence/presence of voicing/phonation is the primary cue, no dangerfor contrast

◮ /T f s S/: voiceless

◮ /D v z Z/: voiced/phonated



4. absolute word-final position

◮ leaf – leave, brief – breve, calf – calve, safe – save, bus – buzz, race – raise,hiss – his, ruche /r0wS/ – rouge /r0wZ/, teeth /tIjT/ – teethe /tIjD/,loath – loathe

◮ for similar reasons as for stops, vocal fold vibration in this position isdi;cult to maintain

◮ relative vowel and consonant length emerge to maintain the contrast

◮ /T f s S/: have a shorter vowel before them and they are articulatedlonger with more intensity than

◮ /D v z Z/: preceding vowel is relatively longer and they are articulatedrelatively shorter and with less intensity


laryngeal contrast fric + stop

fortis fricative + stop clusters

◮ so far we have not seen neutralization of the laryngeal contrast foreither stops or fricatives

◮ fortis fricative + stop clusters:

◮ /s/ + stop: speak, sport, spring, stéreo, stúpid, string, school,scheme, sketch, discóver, displáy, expláin. . .

◮ /f/ + stop: caftán, fiftéen◮ /S/ + stop: gestált

◮ the laryngeal contrast is completely neutralized in this position: onlyan unvoiced-unaspirated stop may occur here

◮ is this stop fortis or lenis?

◮ note if we analyse the stop as fortis, this would be an exception to

aspiration! – because fortis stops are otherwise aspirated beforestressed vowels: e.g., recóver [kh] but discóver [k]



stops after /s/ are perceived as lenis

– what do native speakers hear when the /s/ of school is deleted?



fortis fricative + stop clusters

◮ stops after fortis fricatives seem to be lenis

◮ they are not aspirated because they are never aspirated

◮ they are not voiced either because they are only (passively) voicedbetween vowels/sonorants


laryngeal contrast ranking

ranking of positions based on laryngeal contrast

preservation in stops

1. medial, between sonorants, before a stressed V (repél – rebél) >2. word-initial, before a stressed/unstr. V (tíe – díe) >

3. medial, between sonorants, before an unstressed V (wríter – ríder) >4. absolute word-final (beat – bead) >

5. after fortis fricatives (sport/stop/school)

X > Y = ‘X has more/better features to maintain the contrast than Y’(where X and Y are positions)


RVA

regressive voicing assimilation (RVA) in Hungarian

◮ a phonotactic and morpho-phonological pattern: two adjacent

obstruents must have the same voicing (compulsory rule)

◮ the voicelessness or voicing of the second obstruent governs thevoicelessness or voicing of the preceding obstruent (= “voicingspreads backward”)

◮ méz [z] ‘honey’ méz-tol [st] méz-bol [zb]mész [s] ‘lime’ mész-tol [st] mész-bol [zb]

dob [b] ‘throw’ dob-tam [pt] dob-d [bd]kap [p] ‘get’ kap-tam [pt] kap-d [bd]

◮ notice that Hungarian is a voicing language, voicing spreads, makingvoiceless obstruents voiced

◮ RVA is neutralizing: the voicing contrast between obstruentsdisappears


RVA

voicing assimilation can be modelled as feature-spreading

– ház+tól ‘from house’ /z/+/t/ → /st/:


RVA

spontaneously & passively voiced sounds

do not cause RVA

◮ mésznek ‘for the lime’ /s/ + /n/ → *[zn]

◮ mésznek does not become méznek: no laryngeal neutralization

◮ képnek ‘for picture’ [pn] *[bn], töröknél [kn] *[gn] ‘at Turk(ish)’,zokni ‘socks’ [kn] *[gn]

◮ reason: sonorants are spontaneously voiced, not actively, this kind ofvoicing cannot spread to other sounds

◮ only actively voiced and actively devoiced sounds can spread theirvoicing and devoicing feature to other sounds – as in Hungarian forexample

◮ in English too: batman [tm] *[dm], putney [tn] *[dn], replay [pl] *[bl]


RVA

is there RVA in English?

◮ since English is an aspirating language, neither fortis nor lenisobstruents have a phonologically active voiceless or voiced feature thatcould spread

◮ therefore we predict that English does not have RVA

◮ the pronunciation of words before obstruents does not change


RVA

no RVA from fortis /p t k T f s S Ù/ obstruents in English

◮ is /z/ [z˚

] is Tom going? /zt/ [z˚

th]live /v/ [v

˚] live show /vS/ [v

˚S]

grade /d/ [d˚

] grade four /df/ [d˚

f]bead /d/ [d

˚] bead pack /dp/ [d

˚ph]

◮ the first words do not change at all, no spreading of voicelessness,hence no voicing neutralization either

◮ thus: bead pack will not become beat pack even though both finalobstruents are voiceless


RVA

contrast in beat pack vs. bead pack

beat pack bead packvoiced? − −

aspirated? − −




RVA

no RVA from lenis /b d g D v z Z Ã/ obstruents in English

◮ up /p/ [p] update /pd/ [pd˚

] (not *[bd]!)beat /t/ [t] beat band /tb/ [tb

˚] (not *[db]!)

beat /t/ [t] beat Zoë /tz/ [tz˚

] (not *[dz]!)birth /T/ [T] birthday /Td/ [Td

˚] (not *[Dd] or *[zd]!)

base /s/ [s] baseball /sb/ [sb˚

] (not *[zb]!)match /Ù/ [Ù] matchbox /Ùb/ [Ùb

˚] (not *[Ãb]!)

anec /k/ [k] anecdote /kd/ [kd˚

] (not *[gd]!)

◮ again, the first words do not change at all, no spreading of voicing,hence no voicing neutralization either

◮ thus: beat band will not become bead band


RVA

contrast in beat band vs. bead band

beat band bead bandvoiced? − −

aspirated? − −




bbn–ang–243 phonological analysis 3–4. contrast in english...

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