the breath of life archival institute for indigenous...

The Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages

Patricia A. Shaw First Nations Languages Program, UBC

Introduction to Phonology

Washington, DC 2015

What is Phonology??

[fənálədʒi] fən = FUN ☺ !!

First, what does it mean? phon-ology sound - the study of

Thirdly, how do you do it?

Secondly, why do it?

What can understanding more about Phonology help with?

•  interpret what is recorded in Archives

•  pronunciation

•  transcription

•  translation

•  make curriculum materials for language learning

Like other components of linguistics,

phonology is really just a set of very useful tools.

!

What is a language?

ʔəθ ƛiʔ kʷ kapi ?

!

YgassinoGa

Phonetics: Articulatory & Acoustic

�  What are the possible sounds used in human languages?

è IPA website: http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/

�  How are language sounds articulated? perceived?

�  How can language sounds be written down consistently?

Why is this kind of knowledge useful?

➪ To be able to perceive and pronounce the relevant sounds of a language.

➪ To ensure consistency in the transmission of that knowledge.

➪ To understand how sounds pattern in languages.

Draw & label an articulatory head for your language:

!

Maidu hənqəminəm Salish

What words are there in your language to describe speech articulation?

hənqəminəm words referring to parts of the body involved in the perception and production of speech: šxʷqʷəltən voice, someone's speech χʷamɬəɬ windpipe θaθən mouth məqsən nose təxʷθəɬ tongue yənəs tooth məlqʷ uvula šxʷʔəθqən throat qʷəmχʷɬəɬ larynx, Adam's apple

Articulatory Phonetics How do we articulate the sounds we use in language?

1. Laryngeal modifications: • voiced [z] • voiceless [s] • ejective/glottalized/laryngealized

2. Places of articulation: • labial • dental • alveolar • palatal • velar • uvular • pharyngeal • glottal

3. Manners of articulation: • stop/plosive • affricate • fricative • nasal • liquid • glide/approximant

English Consonant Inventory: 23 (+ ŋ + ʔ)

Different linguistic traditions: different symbols

International Phonetic Alphabet North American Phonetic Alphabet IPA NAPA/The Americanist Tradition

ʃ English ‘shoe’ [ʃu] š [šu]

ʒ English ‘measure’ [mɛʒəɹ] ž [mɛžəɹ] tʃ English ‘chop’ [tʃap] č [čap]

dʒ English ‘jam’ [dʒæm] ǰ [ǰæm]

j palatal approximant y palatal (approximant) glide

y hi front rounded vowel ü

c palatal stop c = tˢ alveolar affricate

Most important principle: one symbol = one sound. The resource you’re working with should define the symbols used.

Some other phonetic symbols for consonants:

θ theta English ‘thin’ [θ ɩn]

ð [ʔɛð] English ‘this’ [ð ɩ s]

x English ‘hue, Hugh’ [xu] ~ [xʸu]

ʍ English ‘which’ [ʍ ɩč]

w English ‘witch’ [w ɩč]

ŋ [ʔɛŋmə] English ‘thing’ [θ ɩŋ]

ʔ glottal stop English (before any “vowel-initial” word)

© 2007 Leo Cullum, The New Yorker Magazine

ʔə ʔo

Alphabet: If you have an alphabet for your language, write it out. Then pronounce each of the consonants in your alphabet so you can figure out just what your ‘articulatory organs’ are doing to make uniquely that sound: then decide where that consonant symbol would fit into an Articulatory Chart. The chart here is just an example, as your language may not have any ejectives (if not, then you can just leave that row blank), or it may have both voiced and voiceless fricatives (so you’d need to add the voiced category under Fricatives), and so on. Don’t hesitate to ask your mentor for guidance!

LABIAL CORONAL DORSAL LAR

Labial Dental Alveolar Lateral Alveo-Palatal Palatal / Velar

Labio-Velar Uvular Labio-Uvular Glottal

Stops:

ejective

voiced

voiceless

Affricates:

ejective

voiced

voiceless

Fricatives:

Nasals:

Liquids:

Glides:

MANNER \ PLACE This is an ‘Articulatory Chart’ for Consonants:

FRONT BACK Central

High i

ɩ u

Mid

Low

Articulatory Chart for Vowels:

i beat u boot ɩ bit ʋ book e bait ə above o boat ɛ bet ʌ butt ɔ caught æ bat a/ɑ cot/father

e

æ

ɛ

a ɑ

ɔ o

ʋ

ʌ ə

Phonological unit = phoneme � What sounds does a language have? Every language has an “inventory” of sounds that function as the building blocks for words. These minimal units of sound are called “phonemes”.

The same sounds can combine in different ways to create completely unrelated meanings: t æ k tack æ k t act k æ t cat

�  The phonemes themselves don’t have any inherent meaning but phonemes can create a minimal contrast in meaning.

e.g. English: ether [ʔiθər] tree [tri] mast [mæst]

either [ʔiðər] true [tru] mashed [mæšt]

What’s important to discover about a phonological system?

1.  What sounds are in the inventory?

2. Phonotactics: What constraints are there in terms of the sequences that sounds can occur in?

e.g. What is the maximum number of consonants at the beginning of a word? ... at the end of a word? What patterns are there? What’s impossible is marked with an asterisk: e.g. *tn... strengths [strɛŋkθs] skr, spl... *stl *4 consonants eighths [ʔetθs] ...mps, nts, fθs, ŋkθs *θfs... 3. How do the sounds pattern with respect to each other?

Oneida (Iroquoian): Consonantal inventory: 9 C 11 consonants

Place a Manner ò

LAB COR(ONAL) DORS PHAR

labial alveolar alveo- palatal dorsal glottal

Obstruents Stops/Affricates: t k ʔ

Fricatives: s h

Resonants

Nasals: n Liquids: l Glides: y w

Acknowledgements: Karin Michelson (p.c.)

Note: NO Labial consonants!

Oneida: consequences of no labial consonants

Research Question: Language contact & loan words What happens when a word with a labial consonant is borrowed into Oneida (e.g. from English, Mohawk, or ...)?

Not many borrowings, but some related to currency and names:

p → kw pennies Peter kwénis Kwí·tel

b → kw Elizabeth Alískwet

m → kw Margaret Kwáklit

b, v, m → w John the Baptist David Mary Sa wátis Táwet Wá•li

“Natural class”: sounds which share articulatory properties will pattern together.

The sounds {p, b, m, v} are functioning as a natural class:

what they share is LABIAL place of articulation.

Given that the Oneida phonological system doesn’t have any LABIAL consonants, what is it about the articulation of /w/ and /kw/ that make them the ‘closest’ sounds in Oneida for loan words with {p, b, m, v} to be changed to?

Reconsider first the English inventory,

and then the Oneida inventory:


Place a Manner ò




Fricatives: s h

Resonants


Because [w] characteristically has LABIAL co-articulation as well as major DORSAL constriction.

If no LABIAL consonants, then ... Question: Why do [w] and [kw] replace LABIALS in loan words?

Cross-linguistic diversity and “complexity”:

Despite the fact that the Oneida phonological inventory is, from a cross-linguistic perspective, quite small (9 consonants, 6 vowels), languages characteristically manifest robust complexity elsewhere, e.g. black stove polish

teyenʌstalihaʔtakhwaʔtslahuʔtsistalatheʔtákhwaʔ

te-ye-nʌst-a-lih-a-ʔt-a-khwaʔ-tsl-a-huʔtsi-stalathe-ʔt-á-khwaʔ

DUALIc-3FEM.INDEF.AGENT-rafters-JN-get.warm-JN-CAUS-JN-INSTR:HABITUAL-NOMINALIZER-JN-black-shiny-CAUS-JN-INSTR:HABITUAL

Speaker: Norma Kennedy, Oneida Nation of the Thames, Ontario, Canada

labi

al

inte

rden

tal

alve

olar

retr

ofle

x

late

ral

alve

opal

atal

pala

tal

vela

r

labi

o-ve

lar

lary

ngea

l

Obstruents: voiceless stops/affricates

p t t č (ch) k ʔ (’)

voiceless fricatives s

š (sh) h

Resonants: plain m n l y ŋ (ng)

w

Sierra Miwuk consonant inventory: 15 consonants (orthography): note the retroflex t with a dot under

Acknowledgements: Sheri Tatsch; Broadbent (1964)


Place → Manner

Labial Dental Alveolar Lateral Alveo-Palatal Velar Labio-Velar Uvular Labio-Uvular Glottal

Stops: voiceless

p t k ʔ

implosive ɓ ɗ glottalized p’ t’ k’ Affricates: voiceless

c

glottalized c’ Fricatives: voiceless

s ~ š h

Resonants: Nasals

m n

Liquids & Glides

l

y w

Nisenan (California): 18 consonants (ejectives & implosives!)


Place → Manner


Stops: voiceless

p t k kw ʔ

voiced b d gw Affricates: voiceless

ts ch

voiced

Fricatives: voiceless

s sh x h

voiced v z zh g Resonants: Nasals

m n

Liquids (l) r Glides y w

Kawaiisu (Nuwa): 23 consonants plus (l) only in loan words (Spanish or English)


Place → Manner

Labial Dental Alveolar Lateral Alveo-Palatal Velar Labio-Velar Uvular Glottal

Stops: voiceless

p t k kw ʔ

voiced b d gw Affricates: voiceless

ts ch

voiced


s sh x h

voiced v z zh g Resonants: Nasals

m n

Liquids (l) r Glides y w

Kawaiisu (Nuwa): 23 consonants plus (l) only in loan words (Spanish or English)

HOW many consonants?? ejectives, plain & labialized uvulars; 6 laterals; 5 glottalized resonants

What’s important in a phonological system?

1. What sounds are in the inventory?

2. The functional distribution of sounds:

Which sounds can create a contrast in meaning?

Minimal pairs: Kwak’wala (words from Grubb 1977)

kása to soften cedar bark by beating

qása to walk

qása sea otter

qʷása crying

Therefore, all these sounds must be different phonemes.


Place → Manner


Stops: voiceless asp

t k ’(ʔ)

voiced d g Affricates: voiceless

ts tš voiced dz j


s š h

voiced Resonants: Nasals

n

Glides y w Acknowledgements: Jordan Ball & Jocelyn Jones: “fluent speakers do not have to move their mouths very much, especially their lips”

Seneca (Iroquoian): 15 consonants plus (l) only in loan words (Spanish or English)


Place a Manner ò




Fricatives: s h

Resonants


Acknowledgements: Karin Michelson (p.c.)

Note: NO Labial consonants!

Phonotactics: patterns and constraints on how sounds are sequenced

e.g. Constraints on word-initial consonant clusters

English: sneeze [sniz]

Question 1: What constraints are there on where [sn] occurs?

Tests: Can it ever be preceded by another consonant? No.

Can it ever be followed by another consonant? No.

Are there any constraints on what kind of vowel can follow it?

snake [snek] snap [snæp] snow [sno] snoop [snup] Snuffleupagus [snʌfəlʌpəgəs]

Observation: [sn] can occur before any vowel.

Question 2: What other consonants can come before [n] in English?

→ look at chart of English consonant inventory: Observation: NO other consonant can occur before [n]!

Question 3: What about other languages? Is this a universal generalization about all languages? Or is this a fact about English?

Seneca [Thanks to Jordan Ball & Jocelyn J. Jones] [ö] = nasal [õ]

knöge' I live at this place (where we’re at) Observation: [kn] is a possible word-initial Onset sequence in Seneca,

but not in English!

Question: What about other languages?

German: knabe boy

English: ‘knife’ . . .

Research Question 1: What other consonants can come before [n] in Seneca?

Research Question 2: What other 2-consonant clusters can occur in Seneca?

kda:ke’ I am running/ I’ve come here running

But. . . Seneca is even more interesting: knöge’ I live at this place (where we’re at) t- signifies placement outside of the immediate conversation.

t- knöge' I live at this place (a place we are not at when the discussion occurs)

Observation: [tkn] is a possible word-initial Onset sequence in Seneca! Research Question 3: What other 3-consonant word-initial clusters can occur in Seneca?

Ventureño/Barbareño Chumash (Harrington 1928/1974; Beeler, Madison S. 1970)

Phonemic contrasts:

alveolar [s] sloʔw eagle

palatal [š] šloʔw goal line (in shinny)

Sibilant Harmony: Within a word, these sounds will ‘harmonize’ - the rightmost one will cause all preceding sibilants to agree in place of articulation

e.g.1: 3rd person pronominal prefix s-

/s-iqciʔ/ /s-iqip-š/

3- foggy 3- close -imperfective

it’s foggy it’s closed

[s-iqciʔ] [š-iqip-š]

eg.2: Dual prefix iš-

/k- iš- kep/ /k- iš- kustí -ʔnan/

1-dual- bathe 1-dual-stealthily-go

we two bathe we two prowl

[k- iš- kep] [k- is- kustí -ʔnan]

What would you predict? /ki-škin-us/ I saved it for him.

What would you predict?

/ki-škin-us/ I saved it for him.

[ki-skin-us]

What are the acoustic properties of sounds used in human languages?

•  pitch •  intensity / loudness •  duration •  properties of wave form

Technology – like waveforms and spectrograms - can help us see some aspects of sounds that are hard to perceive.

e.g. Listen for and then look for the (pre-) glottalized resonant [’l] in this Kwak’wala word:

Visual images of acoustic properties Kwakwala: halakas’la həlákasla

With thanks to Beverly Lagis, Kingcome Inlet, BC, Canada.

ʔiʔ … pidamaye masi cho madu

hay čxʷ qə həlakas’la ƛeekoo …

to the many dedicated Elders with whom

I have had the privilege of working.

həlakas’la Sun graphic by Ross Hunt, Kwaguʔɬ

First Nations Unicode Font: http://fnlg.arts.ubc.ca/FNLGfont.htm

!

masi cho! hay ce:p qə! héw!

Kyle McHenry Kojomk’awi Maidu

χaləq’ Ian Campbell Musqueam & Squamish

Angela Code Sayisi Dene

!

Acknowledgements: Breath of Life 2015 is supported by the Documenting Endangered Languages

Program (NSF Award # 1360675)

with additional support from: Smithsonian Institution, the Myaamia Center at Miami University, National Endowment for the Humanities, Recovering Voices, National Museum of Natural History, National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of the American Indian, American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The Breath of Life training model was developed by the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, which has run the Breath of Life Language Workshop for California Indians since 1993.

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