PHONOLOGY

PHONOLOGY

• Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.• The phonological system of a language includes:

a)An inventory of sounds and their features, andb)Rules which specify how sounds interact with

each other. • Phonology also studies the

syllable structure, stress, accent, and intonation.

PHONOLOGY VS. PHONETICS

Phonetics:• Is the basis for phonological

analysis.

• Analyzes the production of all human sounds regardless of language

Phonology:• Is the basis for further work in

morphology, syntax, discourse and ortography design.

• Analyzes the sound patterns of a particular language by:

a) Determinig which phonetic sounds are significant.

b) Explaining how these sounds are interpreted by the native speaker.

PHONEMES

• The smallest contrastive linguistic unit which may bring about a change of meaning. 

Example: kill and kiss • Two words that differ in meaning through a contrast

of a single phoneme form a minimal pair.

/pɪn/ Pin/bɪn/ Bin/tɪn/ Tin/kɪn/ Kin

/dʒɪn/ Gin/tʃɪn/ Chin/θɪn/ Thin/sɪn/ sin

MINIMAL PAIRS

/bæt/ Bat/bɪt/ Bit/buːt/ Boot/bet/ Bet/bɔːt/ Boug

ht

Regions of the tongue:• the back – opposite the soft palate • the center – opposite the meeting point of hard and soft palate • the front – opposite the hard palate • the blade – the tapering area facing the ridge of teeth • the tip – the extreme end of the tongue. The first three of these (back, center and front) are known together as the dorsum (which is Latin for backbone or spine)

ENGLISH PHONEMES (IPA)

CONSONANTS

VOWELS

DIPHTHONGS

ALLOPHONES

• Allophones are phoneme variations that do not cause meaning change and happen because of its position and the phonetic characteristics of neighboring sounds.

Allophones

Aspiration

Voiceless plosive

consonants (p, t, k) in initial

position.

AssimilationInfluence of

sound on next sound

Elision Omission of sound