Language and Mind Review for Exam

Review for Exam 1LING 275 Fall 2010Language and MindTA: Iris Ouyang

Outline

• IPA to speech sound▫ IPA charts (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/IPA_chart_(C)2005.pdf)

are in the handouts for week 2.

• Sagittal sections▫ All the graphs in this handout are generated on:

http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html

• Natural class• Ear• Waveform vs. Spectrum• Contrastive/Complementary/Free Distribution• Rules and Rule ordering

From transcription to pronunciation

• ʃəʊ mi ə spɑɾɪd ̚ hajinə=> Show me a spotted hyena.

• maj wajf əs ə tʰæln ̩ɾɪd pʰɹ̩snt̩=> My wife is a talented person.

• aj dɪslajk̚ səm̃ lɪŋ̃kwəsts=> I dislike some linguists.

Ladefoged, Peter. 2006. A Course in Phonetics (5th edition). Wadsworth.

Sagittal Section

[p]

Sagittal Section

[f]

Sagittal Section

[ð]

Sagittal Section

[n]

Sagittal Section

[s]

Sagittal Section

[ʒ]

Sagittal Section

[g]

Important characteristics of sound• Velum lowering => Nasal

• Vocal folds are: ▫ closed => glottal stop [ʔ]▫ vibrating => voiced

(vowels, glides [j w], liquids [l ɹ], nasals [m n ŋ], voiced stops [b d g], voiced fricative [v ð z ʒ])

▫ neither closed nor vibrating => voiceless(voiceless stops [p t k], voiceless fricative [f θ s ʃ])

• Which class of sound has the least constriction in the mouth? => Vowels

Natural Class

• l ɹ j ▫ [l, ɹ, j]: approximants▫ []: nasal (stop)

• ɪ ɛ o ɔ▫ [ɪ, ɛ, ɔ]: lax tongue shape [-ATR]▫ [o]: tense tongue shape [+ATR]

• ʐ c ɣ▫ [, ɣ, ʐ]: voiced▫ [c]: voiceless

Natural Class

• i y œ ɔ▫ [y œ ɔ]: rounded▫ [i]: unrounded

• b d ɹ l ▫ [d, l, ɹ]: alveolar▫ [b]: bilabial

• ɤ ʌ a ɑ▫ [ɤ, ʌ, ɑ]: back▫ [a]: front

More natural classes…• Obstruents

▫ Sounds which are produced with an significant obstruction of the airflow, and thus require more effort to be voiced

▫ Stops, Fricatives, Affricates

• Sonorants▫ Sounds which are produced with a relatively open passage for

the airflow, and thus typically voiced▫ Vowels, Nasals, Approximants

• Stridents (Sibilants)▫ Sounds which are made by directing the airflow air through a

narrow channel towards the sharp edge of the teeth, and hence perceptually greater noise

▫ The fricatives and affricates with more turbulence, such as/s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/

Ear

• Outer ear – amplify and localize sounds▫ Sound amplification:

particularly for frequencies employed in human speech▫ Sound localization:

since we have one ear on each side

• Middle ear – increase intensity (pressure)▫ Tympanic membrane (eardrum):

sensitive to air pressure fluctuations▫ Ossicles:

convert the motion of tympanic membrane into mechanical energy

Ear• Inner ear – analyze the frequency components of sounds

▫ Cochlea Fluid-filled

▫ Basilar membrane (within the cochlea) Convert the physical movements into a electrical (neural) signal Base (the portions more exterior):

narrow and stiff, resonate to higher frequencies Apex (the portions more interior):

wide and less stiff, resonate to lower frequencies

▫ Hair cells (on the basilar membrane) The number of hair cells are fixed. Damaged or dead hair

cells are not recoverable or regenerable.

Waveform

X axis: time Y axis: amplitude

Period (T) = seconds/cycle Frequency (f) = cycles/second f = 1/T; T= 1/f

Frequency Pitch Amplitude Intensity

Waveform

Time (ms) [1 sec = 1000 ms]

(a) period = 5 ms frequency = 200 Hz(b) period = 3.33 ms frequency = 300 Hz(c) period = 10 ms frequency = 100 Hz

http://sail.usc.edu/~lgoldste/General_Phonetics/Waves/Waves.html

(a)

(b)

(c)

Spectrum

X axis: frequency Y axis: amplitude

Fundamental frequency (F0): the lowest frequency Harmonics: integer multiples of F0

If F0 = 150 Hz; the harmonics = 300 Hz, 450 Hz, 600 Hz, …If F0 = 300 Hz; the harmonics = 600 Hz, 900 Hz, 1200 Hz, …

Waveform & Spectrum

http://sail.usc.edu/~lgoldste/General_Phonetics/Source_Filter/SFb.html

Phonemes

• The abstract mental representation of a set of sounds which are identified as the same sound

• The sounds in a given language which show contrastive distribution▫ A change in the phonemes changes the meaning of the word.▫ Minimal pairs should be found, especially for the phonemes

which belongs to the same natural class.

Allophones• The concrete variants of a phoneme

• Some allophones of a phoneme may show complementary distribution. – The forms are predictable when given a context.e.g. [kʰɑjt] ‘kite’ [skɑj] ‘sky’

• The other allophones of a phoneme may show free variation. – The forms are neither predictable by context nor contrastive in meaning.e.g. [pʰɑt̚] ‘pot’ [pʰɑt] ‘pot’

Recap: 3 types of distribution

• Contrastive Distribution▫ Two sounds in the same environment bring about

different meanings. (minimal pair) ▫ Which form will appear is not predictable by context.

• Complementary Distribution▫ Two sounds never appear in the same environment.▫ Which form will appear is predictable by context.

• Free variation▫ Two sounds in the same environment don’t result in

different meanings.▫ Which form will appear is not predictable by context.

Georgian /L/: [L] [l]

1. [ʟamazad] ‘prettily’ 2. [kaʟa] ‘tin’ 3. [leʟo] ‘goal’4. [xoʟo] ‘however’5. [saxʟʃi] ‘at home’

6. [leʟo] ‘goal’7. [zarali] ‘loss’8. [xeli] ‘hand’ 9. [ʦʰoli] ‘wife’10. [vxleʧʰ] ‘to scrape’

Georgian /L/: [L] [l]• Consider the left-hand context:

▫ Both laterals may appear at the beginning of a word, after the vowels [a] [e] [o], and after the consonant [x].

• Consider the right hand context: Complementary Distribution▫ The velar lateral [L] appears in a wide variety of contexts: before

the vowels [a] and [o], and before the consonants [ʃ]. In contrast, the alveolar lateral appears only before the vowels [e] and [i] — the front high vowels.

▫ /L/ → [l]/__[i, e]/L/ → [L]/elsewhere

• Lateral Alveolarization: ▫ Laterals become alveolar before front vowels.▫ [+lateral] → [+alveolar]/__[+front, +high, +vowel]

stem stem-in stem-an glossbukas buks-in buks-an ‘open’kapit kapt-in kapt-an ‘embrace’tubos tubs-in tubs-an ‘redeem’

Tagalog vowel deletion

• Vowel Deletion: V → ∅ / VC __ CV

• Could the rule be Vowel Insertion? ∅→ V / C__C (No)

Tagalog vowel raising

• /o/-Raising: o → u / __ CC

• Could the rule be /u/-Lowering? u → o / ??(No)

stem stem-in stem-an glossopos ups-in ups-an ‘stop’posod pusd-in pusd-an ‘tuft’tubos tubs-in tubs-an ‘redeem’

Tagalog [h]-insertion/deletion stem stem-in stem-an glossbata bath-in bath-an ‘suffer’bili bilh-in bilh-an ‘buy’polo pulh-in pulh-an ‘ask for trifles’

• [h]-Insertion: ∅→ h / V __ VInsert a [h] between adjacent vowels.

• Could the rule be /h/-Deletion? h → ∅ / __ #(Yes)

Tagalog nasal place assimilation

• Nasal Place Assimilation:Assimilate the alveolar nasal /n/ to the place of articulation of the following consonant.

• Is Nasal Place Assimilation ordered before or after Vowel Deletion?

stem stem-in stem-an glossdamit damt-in damt-an ‘clothe’baniɡ baŋɡ-in baŋɡ-an ‘mat’ɡanap ɡamp-in ɡamp-an ‘fulfill’

Tagalog – rule ordering

UR /baniɡ + in/Nasal Place Assimilation ---Vowel Deletion banginSR *[bangin]

UR /baniɡ + in/Vowel Deletion banginNasal Place Assimilation baŋginSR [baŋgin]

Polish final devoicing

Final Devoicing: obstruent → [–voice] / __ #An obstruent becomes voiceless at the end of a word.

singular plural gloss

klup klub-ɯ ‘club’trut trud-ɯ ‘labor’wuk wuɡ-ɯ ‘lye’ɡrus ɡruz-ɯ ‘rubble’ʒur ʒur-ɯ ‘soup’buj boj-ɯ ‘fight’

Polish vowel raising

• /o/-Raising: /o/ becomes [u] before a final voiced non-nasal consonant.

singular plural glossdom dom-ɯ ‘house’dzvon dzvon-ɯ ‘bell’sul sol-ɯ ‘salt’trup trup-ɯ ‘corpse’ʒwup ʒwob-ɯ ‘crib’nos nos-ɯ ‘nose’vus voz-ɯ ‘cart’

Polish – rule ordering

UR /roɡ/ /voz/ /boj/ /dom//o/-Raising ruɡ vuz buj ---Final Devoicing ruk vus --- ---SR [ruk] [vus] [buj] [dom]

UR /roɡ/ /voz/ /boj/ /dom/Final Devoicing rok vos --- ---/o/-Raising --- --- buj ---SR *[rok] *[vos] [buj] [dom]

GOOD LUCK in the exam!

• Contact Iris:▫ “Discussions” on Blackboard▫ Email: [email protected], [email protected]▫ Office hours: Mon 9:30-10:30 GFS 342▫ Additional office hours: Sep 29, Wed 2:30-3:30