Phonology

• The study of the organization of speech

sounds in a language
– How they function
– How they are distributed
 Function

• Contrastiveness vs. noncontrastiveness

Do the sounds function to distinguish

meaning?
 Contrastive

• Inter-changing sounds
• > changes meaning of the word
• English [p]/[b]:
[kæp] ‘cap’ vs. [kæb] ‘cab’

• Hindi [ph]/[p]:
[phǝl] ‘fruit’ vs. [pǝl] ‘moment’
 Minimal Pairs
• Two (or more) words that differ only by a
single sound in the same position

• bin [bɪn] sin [sɪn]

• bin [bɪn] pin [pɪn]
• => Contrast for voicing
• pin [pɪn] tin [tɪn]
• => Contrast for place of articulation
• tin [tɪn] sin [sɪn]
• => Contrast for manner of articulation
• bin [bɪn] bean [bin]
• => Contrast for tenseness
• Sounds in a minimal pair…
– …contrast
– …are unpredictable (i.e., must be learned)
– …belong to different phonemes
 Phoneme vs. Allophone
• Phoneme
– A minimal unit of sound that serves to
distinguish meaning between words
– May be composed of a set of sounds
(‘allophones’) that are considered by native
speakers to be the ‘same’ sound
• Allophone
• The different phonetic realizations of a
phoneme
 top stop little kitten
[thap] [stap] [ lɪɾl ̩] [kɪʔn̩]

phoneme  /t/

allophones  [th] [t]

[ɾ] [ʔ]
 Complementary Distribution
• When two (or more) phonetically similar
sounds never occur in exactly the same
environment, but in complementary or
mutually-exclusive environments
– p/ph: [spæt] ‘spat’ [phæt] ‘pat’
[spul] ‘spool’ [phul] ‘pool’
[spik] ‘speak’ [phik] ‘peak’
• Minimal Pairs
• => Contrastive

• Hindi:
[phǝl] ‘fruit’ vs. [pǝl] ‘moment’
• Sounds in complementary distribution…
– …are allophones of a single phoneme
– …do not occur in minimal pairs
– …are noncontrastive
– …are predictable (based on environment)
Real-life analogy of complementary
distribution
 Distribution
• Set of phonetic environments in which a
phone occurs
• Contrastive Distribution
• => Same phonetic environment
– (minimal pair)

• Allophones of one Phoneme

• => Different phonetic environments
 Japanese [s] and [ʃ]
• [sasɯ] ‘point’
• [ʃiki] ‘seasons’
• [sedai] ‘generation’
• [onseː] ‘sound’
• [mɯʃi] ‘bug’
• [soʃiki] ‘organization’
• [sɯ] ‘vinegar’
 Tagalog [d] & [ɾ]
• [datiŋ] ‘arrive’
• [dumi] ‘dirt’
• [maɾami] ‘be many’
• [lakad] ‘walk’
• [daɾatiŋ]‘will arrive’
• [gilda] girl’s name
• [matanda] ‘be old’
• [maɾumi] ‘be dirty’
 Mandarin Aspiration
• 1. [pɑŋ] 棒 ‘stick’
• 2. [khoʊ] 口 ‘opening’
• 3. [tɑʊ] 到 ‘arrive’
• 4. [phɑŋ] 胖 ‘fat’
• 5. [koʊ] 狗 ‘dog’
• 6. [thaʊ] 套 ‘set’
 Mandarin [æ] & [ɑ]
• 1. [pæn] 班 ‘class’
• 2. [pɑŋ] 幫 ‘help’
• 3. [pin] 賓 ‘guest’
• 4. [piŋ] 兵 ‘soldier’