COURSE CONTENT

Subject : English Phonology

Course Code :
Lecturer : Dr. Sukarno, M.Litt
General Aim:
This subject introduces how to analyze the patterns, system, and functions of speech sounds
of English and any other languages.

Specific Aims:
Students are introduced to how to classify speech sounds, to identify the functions of speech
sounds, to make the distribution of speech sounds, to generate phonological rules for
explaining speech sound alternations, and to derive phonetic representation from the
underlying representation.

Assessment:
Every student should actively involve in this class activity. The attendance requirement is at
least 80% of the class meetings, otherwise (s)he will fail to join this subject. The assessment
of the class is based on assignments (including the UTS and UAS). Therefore, there will be
about five assignments during this class.

The schedule and the Topics:

Weeks 1- 2:
The Topics: 1. General Introduction
2. The scope of Phonetics
3. The scope of Phonology
Week 3: Assignment 1

Weeks 4 and 5:
The Topics: 1. Identifying speech sounds
2. The distribution of allophones
3. Speech sound classification
Week 6 : Assignment 2
Week 7 : Phonological Rules
Week 8 : Assignment 3 (Mid-semester Test )
Week 9 and 10:
The Topics : 1. Phonological Rules
2. Distinctive features
Week 11 : Assignment 4
Weeks 12 and 13 :
The Topics : 1. The analysis of speech sound alternations
2. Derivation and rule ordering
Week 14 : Assignment 5
Week 15 : Review
Week 16 : Final Exam (Assignment 6)
References:

Clark, J. and Yallop, C. (1991). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell Ltd.

Finegan, E., Besnier, N., Balir, D. and Collins, P. (1993). Language: Its Structure and Use.
London: HBJ Publisher.

Halle, M. and Clements, G.N. (1983). Problem Book in Phonology. Massachusetts: The MIT
Press.

Katamba, F. (1991). An Introduction to Phonology. London: Longman.

Ladeford, P. (1993). A Course in Phonetics. Orlando: HBJ. Inc.

Langacker, W. R. (1973). Language and Its Structure: some fundamental language concepts.
New York: HBJ, Inc.
 THE MAP OF
ENGLISH PHONOLOGY

Introduction Derivation and

General and Specific Aims Rule Ordering

The Scope of The Analysis of speech

Phonetics and Phonology sound alternations

Phonological Rules
Identifying Speech Sounds &
&
The Distribution of Allophones Distinctive Features
Week 1 & 2: The Scope of Phonetics and Phonology

Both phonetics and phonology study speech sounds, but they study them from different points of
view.

Phonetics studies speech sounds made by humans or phonetics is the study of speech sounds
made in the production human languages.

how speech sounds are produced (articulatory phonetics)

Phonetic studies how the speech sounds transferred to the listener (acoustic phonetics)
how the speech sounds are perceived (auditory phonetics)

Speech sounds, Spellings, Phonetic Transcription

Spelling (orthography)
Speech sounds are realized by two different symbols
Phonetic transcription

different symbols may represent the same sound, e.g. A, a, a

the same symbols may represent different sounds, e.g. cat, car
Spelling:
One symbol represents two sounds, e.g x, as in export
Two symbols represents one sound, e.g. ng as in sing
Different symbols may represent the same sound, e.g. A, a, a
see, sea, scenic, ceiling, cedar, juicy, glossy, sexy, senile

The same symbols may represent different sounds

cough /of/, thoroughfare / /, through / / though / /
Phonetic transcription: one symbol only represents one sound, so two different
sounds should be represented by two different sounds
E.g. /a/ army, vs. /a:/ car

English has 20 vowels and 24 consonants

Symbols as in symbols as in Symbol as in symbol as in
p park b bark
I sit u put t ten d dark
i: seat u: threw k cap g gap
e pay uə poor, cure θ thing ð this, the
æ pat, cat ei take, bay s sea z zee
۸ cut ai by, buy, try ʃ she Ʒ measure
a: car oi boy, toy h hat m map
o pot əu go n next r red
o: core au cow, how ŋ hang j yet
ə above, about iə here, dear tʃ change dƺ judge
ɜ: bird, birth eə pear, k cat g get
w wet l like
Articulatory Phonetics focuses on human vocal apparatus (organs of speech), describes
speech sounds in terms of their articulation in the vocal tract, and classify them
into natural classes.

Upper surface: lip, teeth, alveolar, hard palate, soft palate, uvula
Vocal tract
Lower surface: lip, tongue, (tip, blade, front, back, root), epiglotis

Vowels (no/less obstruction)

Speech sounds air obstruction in its passage
Consonants (with obstruction)

The height of the tongue

Vowel classification Tongue fronting
Tongue rounding

State of voicing (+ Voiced vs. – Voiced)

Air passage (nasal vs. non-nasal)

Consonants
Places of articulations (Labial, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar)
Manners of articulation (stop, fricative, affricative, appr.)
The Scope of Phonology
It is the study of speech sounds in terms of the functions of speech sounds, the
patterns or systems the sounds in a language.

Meaningful: /kæt/ vs / /ækt/

The order of speech sounds
Meaningless: /ktæ/, /tæk/

/ŋ/ never occurs in a word-final position in English

The system or pattern of sound
sound orders of a language
/b/ only occurs in a word-medial position in Korean

Identifying (the functions of) speech sounds: phonemes vs. allophones

e.g. /ʃ / vs. /s/ different phonemes in English but not in Indonesian

Explaining speech sound changes: phonological rules, derivation, rule ordering

Assignment 01

A. Explain briefly how a communication may happen based on three branches of

phonetics!

B. What are the jobs of articulatory phonetics?

C. How can we classify speech sounds?

D. Mention the inconsistencies of common spelling compared with phonetic transcription!

Identifying the functions of speech sounds
Phones, Allophones, and Phonemes
Some sounds are similar or alike one from another, e.g. : /p/, /b/, /m/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /ʃ/, /s/
The first three sounds /p, b, m/ are similar in terms of articulation, but they have different
functions in English as shown by the following words: /pa:k/, /ba:k/, and /ma:k/
since each word has different meaning.
Sounds that are able to distinguish the meaning of words, as they occur in the example above,
are called phonemes. Phoneme is a distinctive and significant unit in the sound system
of a language. Therefore, the sounds /p, b, m/ belong to different phonemes in English.
Phoneme is abstract. It is realized by some phones as the member of the phoneme. These types of
phones are called allophones. One phoneme at least has one allophone. In contrast to
phoneme, allophones do not distinguish the meaning, they are only the variation of
the same phoneme according to its environment.
Searching for minimal pair(s).
Finding Phoneme
Investigating complementary distribution
A Minimal pair is a pair or words that differ by only a single sound in the same environment

A complementary distribution is a pattern of distribution of sound(s) that never

occur in the same environment in a given language
For example, we may test whether the unaspirated phone /p/ and the aspirated one /ph/ in
English are the allophones of the same phoneme or they belong to different
phonemes. First of all, we try to find the minimal pairs. A minimal pair is a pair
of words that differ by only a single sound in the same environment, such as /lu:k/
vs. /tu:k/. Look at the data below.

A B C D
[ph] [ph] [ph] [p]
'phərsonəl pha'tənəl kom'phutər 'empəti
'phərsəkut phə'ninsulə stʃu:'phiditi 'stupid
philgrimeidj phə'kjuliə koməphetitif 'kompetiʃən
'stop
From the data above, we cannot establish a minimal pair because we cannot find a pair of words
in which [ph] and [p] occur in the same environment.
If we cannot find a minimal pair, it means that the phones occur in complementary
distribution. It is right that both [ph] and [p] can occur in the same position, in the
initial-word position, but they do not occur in the same environment because [ph]
occurs in stressed syllables (C), while [p] takes place in unstressed syllables (D).
When the phones we tested occur in complementary distribution, it means that they
belong to the same phoneme. Our next job is to establish the distribution or the
environment of the phones (the allophones) in the language. As the data above show,
the distribution of the allophones can be presented into different forms, in word
description, and in the table form.
(1) all the words in syllabic-initial position, either stressed (column A) or unstressed
(column B), have aspirated [ph]. The aspirated [ph] also occurs in word internally,
introducing a stressed syllable (Column C). Thus, aspirated [ph] happens not only
word initially, but also word internally if the syllable is stressed. Column D
demonstrates that unaspirated [p] occurs in the word internally introducing
unstressed syllable, and in the final position of a word.

(2) Table of the Distribution of Allophones

Phoneme Allophones Distribution/Environment

[ph ] in word initial position, and in an internal-

stressed syllable
/p/

[p] elsewhere (in an internal-unstressed

syllable and in word-final position)
Assignment 02: The Distribution of Allophones

A. Based on the following data (Southern Kongo), it can be found that the sounds [t, s, z] are in
complementary distribution with [č, š, ž]. State the distribution of the sounds, where the
sounds [t, s, z] happen, and where the sounds [č, š, ž] occur (both in statement and a table).

1. tobola ‘to be bore a hole’ 6. ažimola ‘alms’

2. kasu ‘ciation’ 7. nkoši ‘
3. čiba ‘banana’ 8. lolonži
4. zevo ‘then’ 9. žima ‘to stretch’
5. tanu ‘five’ 10. zenga ’to cut

B. Ganda Liquids [l] and [r]

1. kola ‘do’ 6. wulira ‘hear’

2. omulira ‘fire’ 7. lagira ‘command’
3. lumonde ‘sweet potato’ 8. wawabira ‘accuse’
4. oluganda ‘Ganda language’ 9. omugole ‘bridge’
5. jukira ‘remember’ 10. olulimi ‘tongue’

[l] and [r] are in complementary distribution in Ganda. State the conditions under which each
appears. Make the distribution of allophones.
Practices: The Distribution of Allophones

A. Based on the limited data below, please determine whether the aspirated and unaspirated
bilabial stop sound /p/ in Korean belong to the same phoneme or different phonemes.

phul ‘grass’, pul ‘fire’, pƏp ‘law’, mubƏp ‘lawlessness’

B. Japanese liquids [l] and [r]

1. lan ‘a kind of flower’ 6. nara ‘if’

2. lika ‘science’ 7. amari ‘extra’
3. lusu ‘history’ 8. sore ‘that’
4. lekeshi ‘history’ 9. naru ‘to ring’
5. loku ‘six’ 10. iro ‘colour’

Based on the data above, please prove whether the liquids [l] and [r] in Japanese are in
complementary distribution or they are different phonemes.
Phonological Rules and Distinctive Features
Having been decided as the allophones of the same phoneme, some sounds should be
determined the distribution of the allophones. As demonstrated previously, it can be presented
both using word description as well as using a table. The next step is to state the sound changes
using phonological rules. The basic formalism of phonological rule says that the sound A
becomes B if it is preceded by C, and followed by D. This general rule can be written as follows.

A B / C _________ D

Where the following conditions are:

A is called the affected segment or the input
= rewritten as, generated into, changed into
B is called the result or the output
/ = if (it occurs)
= the position of the affected sound
C and D are the context, the environment, or the distribution
A or B (but not both) may be the null set or zero
C or D (or both) may be absent (free context)
A, B, C and D must be expressed in the matrixes of distinctive features
Look at the created data below!

/buti/ /tibu/ /sobib/ /dibu/ /budi/ /gute/ /tegu/ /temug/ /gesal/ /lugis/ /bulog/

/tupli/ /sapta/ /rekθa/ /mutfi/ /muksi/ /zopfi/ /gekʃi/ /setpu/

Based on the data above, please determine whether the voice consonants /b, d, g / and their
corresponding voiceless sounds /p, t, k / are different phonemes or the allophones of the same
phonemes in the language. Can you find minimal pairs? Or do they occur in complementary
distribution? If you think that they occur in CD, please decide the distribution (both in word
forms and table), then state the situation using phonological rules.
(1) We cannot establish minimal pairs, it means that they occur in CD.
(2) The distribution is the voice consonants /b, d, g / become the corresponding
voiceless sounds /p, t, k / if they are preceded by a vowel and followed by a voiceless
consonant, or they occur between a vowel and a voiceless consonant.
Phoneme Allophones Distribution
[ b, d, g] in word-initial position, a word-final position,
or followed by a voiced consonant
/b, d, g/
[p, t, k] elsewhere
Based on the distribution of the allophones, the changes of the sounds can be stated using a
phonological rule.

The general rule: A B / C _________________ D

/b, d, g/ rewritten as [p, t, k] if preceded followed by

by a vowel a voiceless cons.

the position of A/B

- Continuant - Continuant
- Nasal - Nasal + Syll - Continuant
+ Voice
+ - Voice
- Voice

The above phonological rule says that change the voiceless stop consonants into their
corresponding voiceless ones if they are preceded by a vowel and followed by a
voiceless consonant.

Conventional symbols: Ø (null set or zero), # (word boundary), + (morpheme

boundary)
The Types and Variants of phonological rules:

Types of phonological rules

A B / C ___________ D (Assimilation rule)

A Ø / C ___________D (Deletion rule)
Ø B / C ___________D (Insertion rule)
AB BA / C __________ D (Metathesis rule)

The Variants of phonological rules:

A B / C ______________
A B / ______________ D
A B / C + ___________
A B / C # ___________
A B / ____________ + D
A B / C ___________ # D
A B
Distinctive Features
Distinctive features are set of features to define and distinguish, one from another, the
great majority of the speech sounds used in the languages of the worlds (Hale and Clements,
1983: 6). Following is the list of the features. The symbols (+) and (-) are used to show whether
the sound(s) have/have not the features.

1. Syllabic/nonsyllabic: (+/- syll).

Syllabic sounds are those that constitute syllable peaks, nonsyllabic sounds are those that do
not (Vowels vs. glides, consonants).

2. Consonantal/nonconsonantal: (+/- cons).

Consonantal sounds are produced with a vocal tracts constriction at least equal to that
required in the production of fricative; non- consonantal sounds are produced without such
constriction (Obstruents, nasals, liquids vs. vowels and glides).

3. Sonorant/Obstruant: (+/- son).

Sonorant sounds are produced with a vocal tract configuration sufficiently open, obstruent
sounds are produced with a vocal tract constriction (Vowels, glides, liquids, nasals vs. stops
and fricatives)
4. Coronal/noncoronal: ((+/- cor).
Coronal sounds are produced by raising the tongue blade towards the teeth or the hard palate,
noncoronal sounds are produced without such a gesture (Dentals, alveolars, palato-
alveolars, palatals vs. labial, velars, ulvulars, pharyngeals).

5. Anterior/posterior: (+/- ant).

Anterior sounds are produced with a primary constriction at or in front of the
alveolar ridge, while posterior sounds are produced with a primary constriction
behind the alveolar ridge (Labials, dentals, alveolars vs. palato- alveolars,
palatals, velars, uvulars, pharayngeals)
Assignment

A. Restate the following statement (distribution) into formal notations (phonological rules)

(1) A labial voiceless stop sound becomes the corresponding voice if it occurs in a word-
final position.
(2) The voiceless fricative and alveolar sounds change into the corresponding voice if they
are preceded by a voiceless consonant and they occur in different morphemes.
(3) Delete any nasal if it is followed by another nasal and they occur in different
morphemes.

B. Rewrite the following phonological rules into statements

(1) + Nas Ø / + Syll #

- Son
(2) - Cont + + Nas
+ Voice
- Ant + Lab
- Voice

+ Syll - Son - Son

+ High - Cont - Cont
(3) Ø + + Cor
- Back + Cor
+ Voice
The analysis of speech sound alternations
Please pay attention carefully for the English consonants in the following data. First of all, write the data
phonetically, then examine the sounds /d/, /t/, and /id/ in the data belong to the same phoneme
or different phonemes.
walked, stopped, described, tried, posted, provided, climbed, wanted, jumped
First step: write the data in the phonetic transcription
/wo:kt /, /stopt/, /diskraibd/, /traid/, /poustid/, /prəvaidid/, /klaimd/, /wontid/, /dƺ۸md/

Second step: identifying the sounds [t, d, id]

By examining the data above, we cannot establish a minimal pair, a pair of words that differ by
only a single sound in the same environment. They always occur in a complementary distribution.
The voiceless stop sound [t] occurs if it is preceded by a voiceless sound, and they happen in
different morphemes such as: /wo:kt/, /stopt/, the sound /d/ takes place after the voice sound
(voice consonant and vowel), while the sounds [id] are used when the verb ends with /d/ or /t/.
This context can be stated in the following table.

Phoneme Allophones Distribution

[t] if it is followed by a voiceless consonant and

/d/ they occur in different morphemes

[id] it is followed by an obstruent, coronal, anterior

consonants, or a vowel ], and they occur in
different morphemes.
Phonological rules

Rule 1: /d/ becomes [t] / followed by a voiceless consonant , and they occur in different
morphemes (voicing assimilation rule)
- Son
- Cont
+ Son
- Lab - Voice +
- Ant
- Voice
+ Voice

Rule 1 says ‘assimilate the voice alveolar consonant into the corresponding voiceless one if it
is followed by any voiceless consonant, and they occur in different morphemes’.

Rule 2: Insertion rule /d/ becomes [id] / followed alveolar consonants (d, t)

- Son
+ Syll
Ø + - Cont
+ High - Lab
- Back + Ant

Rule 2 says ‘insert a high front vowel /i/ between two alveolar consonants (t, d), and they
occur in different morphemes.

The next step is how to generate the right phonetic representation from the underlying
representation (derivation and rule ordering)
Derivation and Rule Ordering
When we have to analysis a complex data, we may need more than rule. If we have
more than one rule, it is necessary to pay attention the order of the rules to derivate the correct
data from the underlying representation (UR). Otherwise, we may produce the wrong data. As we
have done for the phoneme (as well as the morpheme) meaning past tense in English, there are
two rules produced to explain the sound changes. They are voicing assimilation rule, and
insertion rule. Which rule should apply first to generate the correct data.

First attempt: Rule 1 followed by Rule 2.

wolk + d diskraib + d prəvaid + d poust + d

wolkd diskraibd prəvaidd poustd

Rule 1: wolkt NA NA poustt

Rule 2: NA NA prəvaidid poustit

PR wolkt diskraibd prəvaidid poustit*

The second attempt: Rule 2 followed by Rule 1

wolk + d diskraib + d prəvaid + d poust + d
wolkd diskraibd prəvaidd poustd
The second attempt: Rule 2 followed by Rule 1

wolk + d diskraib + d prəvaid + d poust + d

wolkd diskraibd prəvaidd poustd

Rule 2: NA NA prəvaidid poustid

Rule 1: wolkt NA NA NA

PR wolkt diskraibd prəvaidid poustid

The Created Language

1. beb ‘bird’ bebib ‘birds’

2. lot ‘tree’ lodib ‘trees’
3. mek ‘dog’ megib ‘dogs’
4. raba ‘fire’ rabib ‘fires’
5. sonob ‘rock’ sombib ‘rocks’
6. if ‘run’ ifa ‘ran’
7. tif ‘not’ tifa ‘did not run’
8. eso ‘swim’ esa ‘swam’
9. teso ‘ not swim tesa ‘did not swim’
10. kinap ‘eat’ kimba ‘ate’
11. etkinap ‘not eat’ etkimba ‘did not eat’
12. sime ‘walk’ sima ‘walked’
13. estime ‘not walk’ estima ‘did not walk’
14. sarot ‘sleep sarda ‘slept’
15. estarot ‘not sleep’ estarda ‘did not sleep’
Finding the phoneme

(1) Study the morpheme/phoneme meaning plural in the language.

The morpheme/phoneme is /ib/ as in data no. 1 – 5.
What sound alternation can you find in these data?

beb + ib = bebib, but lot + ib = lotib lodib, t d

mek + ib = mekib megib k g

Can you find any similar sound alternation? Pay attention data no. 9

/kimba/ ‘ate’ the present tense of this verb is /kinap/ ‘eat’.

/kimba/ = /kinap + a/ or kinapa kinaba, p b

Based on the data, it seems that the sounds /p, t, k/ will assimilate into the corresponding voice if
they occur between two vowels. This situation can be stated into the formal notation as

Rule 1: Stop voicing assimilation rule

+ cons
- lab + voice / + syll] + ______ + syll
+ ant
- voice
The next data show that a vowel is deleted when it is preceded by a stressed syllable and
followed by another syllable, as it happens in data 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13.
éso + a = ésoa ésa, téso + a = tésoa tésa, síme + a = símea síma

This context can be stated in the formal notation as follows:

Rule 2: Vowel deletion rule
+ Syll
+ Syll Ø/ + + Syll
+ Stress

Some data (no. 5, 9) present that a nasal should assimilate with the following consonant in terms
of the place of articulation.

sónob + ib = sónobib sónbib sómbib

kínap +a = kínapa kínaba kínba kímba

Rule 3: Nasal assimilation rule

+ Nasal
+ Nasal + Lab
+ Lab +
 On the basis of data 7 and 9 [tif] ‘not run’ and [teso] ‘not swim’ , it is evident that
negation is marked on the verb by the prefix [t]. If this prefix is added to the verb
[kinap] ‘eat’, it yields the underlying representation [tkinap], but its phonetic realization
is [etkinap]. Other negative forms such as [estime] ‘not walk’ and [estarot] ‘not sleep’
show that the appearance of the sound [e] is general phenomenon in this language.
Therefore, it is logic to establish a vowel insertion rule which guides that a vowel [e]
should be inserted before a cluster of two consonant at a word-initial position. This
context can be expresses using the following rule:

/t + kinap / ‘not + eat’ = [tkinap], but the phonetic manifestation is [etkinap] ‘not eat’
/t + sime / ‘not + walk’ = [tsime] , but PM is [estime] ‘not walk’,
/et + sarot/ ‘not + sleep’ = /etsarot/, but the PM is /estarot / ‘not walk

Rule 4: Vowel Insertion rule

+ Cons
+ Syll
- Back
Ø / _____________ + Cons + cons
- high
- Low
Since the verb ‘walk’ is [sime], the underlying representation of ‘not walk’ must be [tsime].
Following the vowel insertion rule, the consonant cluster in word-initial position should
added by [e] which becomes [etsime], but the phonetic manifestation (as given in the
data) is [estime]. It also applies to the verb ‘sleep’ [sarot] if it is added by the negative
prefix [t], it must becaome [tsarot]. Vowel insertion applie to [tsarot], the result being
[etsarot], but the phonetic manisfastation is [estarot]. Apparently, this language operates
a rule that reverse the order of the segements [ts] into [st]. Such a phonological rule is
called metathesis rule. This term is used to indicate a change in the order of sound
segments which can be stated below.

Rule 5: Metathesis rule

[ts] / [st]
- son - son - son
- cont + cont + cont - cont
+ cor + cor + cor + cor
- voice - voice - voice - voice

Derivation and Rule Ordering

Derivation and Rule Ordering

Underlying Representation (UR): [ t + kinap + a] [t + sarot + a]

tkinapa tsarota

R 1: stop voicing assimilation tkinaba tsaroda

R2: vowel deletion tkinba tsarda
R3: nasal assimilation tkimba tsarda
R4: vowel insertion etkimba etsarda
R5: metathesis NA estarda

Phonetic Manifestation etkimba estarda