Basics of Phonology

Some Really Basic
Concepts of Phonology
Marla Yoshida
University of California Irvine Extension
International Programs
Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certicate Program
Next slide Previous slide Title slide Phonology Phonemes/Allophones Phonemic Alphabets
Thursday, March 1, 12
What is phonology?
Phonology is the study of speech sounds in

language.
Phonologists study the sounds themselves and

how they are produced, and also how they
work together as a system in a particular
language.
Consonants and Vowels
We usually divide the sounds of a language

into two groups: Consonants and vowels.
Consonants are the sounds in which the air

stream meets some obstacles on its way up from
the lungs. Words like big, map, and see
begin with consonants.
Vowels are sounds in which the air stream
moves out very smoothly. Words like apple,
east, over, and out begin with vowels.
Phonemes and Allophones
Every language has its own set of phonemes.
Phonemes are the distinctive sounds of a

languagethe sounds that a native speaker of
the language considers to be separate sounds.
Changing from one phoneme to another

changes the meaning of the word. Sometimes
it makes a word meaningless.
For example, if I say rock (/rak/), it

means.....
But if I say lock (/lak/), then it means...
Because changing /r/ to /l/ changed one word

into a different word, we can tell that /r/
and /l/ are separate phonemes in English.
They function as different sounds.
On the other hand, if I say rock with an

American-style /r/, it means...
If I say rock with a rolled /r/, it still

means...
Because changing one kind of /r/ to another

kind of /r/ did not change the meaning of the
word, we can tell that these two sounds are
not separate phonemes in English. Theyre just
two variations of the same phoneme.
Variations of a phoneme that are still heard

to be the same sound are called allophones of
the same phoneme. Theyre different sounds
that function as the same sound.
A phoneme is an abstract concept. Its related

to the way our minds perceive and categorize
soundsnot so much to the physical sounds
themselves.
Consider this analogy....

What color are these boxes?
Theyre all blue, right? And yet none of them

are exactly the same color. So why do we call
them all by the same name?
We can call them all blue because English has

a category blue that includes all these colors,
not because theyre really physically the same.
We could say that all these colors:

are allocolors * of the same coloreme. *
We understand them as all being blue, even
though theyre really different. They all belong to
the language category of blue.
* These are not real words, so you dont have to remember them.
In the same way, allophones are groups of

(usually) similar sounds that native speakers
think of as being the same sound. Often we
dont even notice that they are actually
different.
Heres another example: The words car and

key both start with the same sound: /k/.*
But if you listen carefully and feel the position

of your tongue, youll notice that the sounds
are not exactly the same.

* One is spelled with c and the other with k, but that doesnt affect the
sound. These are just two ways of spelling the same sound.
When you say /k/ in car, your tongue

touches much farther back in your mouth
than when you say key. (Try whispering the
two words to hear the difference better.)
The sound of /k/ changes because its affected

by the vowel that comes after it. /k/ sounds
one way before the back vowel in car and a
different way before the front vowel in key.
We say that these two kinds of /k/ are two

allophones of the phoneme /k/.
These two allophones are in complementary

distribution. That means we can predict which
allophone well hear based on its
environmentthe other sounds around it.
Complementary distribution is kind of like Clark Kent and Superman.
Theyre really both the same guy, but you never see them at the same
time. When things are calm, you see mild-mannered reporter Clark
Kent. When theres trouble, he turns into Superman. The environment
(trouble or no trouble) determines who will show up.
Every language has its own set of phonemes.

No two languages have exactly the same
system.
Two sounds that are separate phonemes in

one language might be heard as the same
sound in another languagein that language,
theyre just different allophones of the same
phoneme.
For example, in English, /s/ and /S / are separate

phonemes. (Seal and shell are different
words. Changing /s/ to /S / changes the meaning.)
But in Japanese, these sounds are allophones of

the same phoneme. They function as the same
sound. [S ] comes before /i/, and [s] occurs
before other vowels.
(Did you notice that this is another case of complementary distribution? Clark Kent
and Superman again!)
Sounds and letters
Sounds and letters are not the same. Be careful

not to confuse letters with the sounds they
represent. When we talk about pronunciation,
were talking about sounds, not letters.
s
You cant see sounds!
This is a letter:
This is a sound:
The Phonemic Alphabet
A phonemic alphabet is a set of symbols that

represent the sounds of a language. One
symbol represents exactly one phoneme.
Some of the symbols, like /g/ and /A /, look the

same as letters used in ordinary spelling, but
they dont always represent the sounds were
used to. Other symbols, like /D / and / /, are
not found in ordinary spelling.
Why do we need a phonemic alphabet?

No language has a perfect spelling system.
We seldom have exactly one symbol for
exactly one sound, especially in English!
For example, the letter c can spell at least

three different sounds in English:
/k/ in cat
/s/ in city
/tS / in cello
The next two slides show a phonemic

alphabet for American English.
This is not the only possible phonemic

alphabetthere are many other variations.
You may be familiar with different symbols
for some of the sounds. Thats OK.
Most phonemic alphabets are based on IPA

the International Phonetic Alphabetbut none
of them are exactly like real IPA.
Phonemic symbols for consonants

Phonemic Symbols for American English Consonants
Sound Examples Sound Examples Sound Examples
/b/ boy, cab
/p/ pie, lip
/d/ dog, bed
/t/ toe, cat
/g/ go, beg
/k/ cat, kit, back
/v/ view, love
/f/ fill, phone, life
/D/ the, bathe
/T/ thin, bath
/z/ zoo, buzz, goes
/s/ see, city, bus, thinks
/Z/ leisure, beige
/S/ shy, dish, special
/h / his, ahead
/dZ/ joy, giant, budge
/tS/ cheek, watch, cello
/m/ me, seem
/n/ no, sun
/N/ sing, singer, think
/l/ long, full
/r/ run, car
/w/ win, swim, away
/y/ you, loyal
Phonemic symbols for vowels

Phonemic Symbols for American English Vowels
Sound Examples Sound Examples
/iy/ beat, see, machine
/I/ bit, him
/ey/ bait, made, they
/E/ bet, leg, head
/Q/ bat, has
/!/ but, mother
// sofa, around

/uw / boot, blue, shoe
/U/ book, full
/ow/ boat, home, blow
// bought, saw
/A/ box, car, father
/ay/ bite, sight
/aw/ about, cow
/oy/ boy, noise
Summary
We have learned about these basic concepts:
Phonology
Consonants and vowels
Phonemes and allophones
The phonemic alphabet
Click on any of these terms to go back and

read the explanations again.

Basics of Phonology

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Basics of Phonology

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Some Really Basic

Phonology is the study of speech sounds in

Phonologists study the sounds themselves and

We usually divide the sounds of a language

Consonants are the sounds in which the air

Every language has its own set of phonemes.

Phonemes are the distinctive sounds of a

Changing from one phoneme to another

For example, if I say rock (/rak/), it

But if I say lock (/lak/), then it means...

Because changing /r/ to /l/ changed one word

On the other hand, if I say rock with an

If I say rock with a rolled /r/, it still

Because changing one kind of /r/ to another

Variations of a phoneme that are still heard

A phoneme is an abstract concept. Its related

Consider this analogy....

What color are these boxes?

Theyre all blue, right? And yet none of them

We can call them all blue because English has

We could say that all these colors:

In the same way, allophones are groups of

Heres another example: The words car and

But if you listen carefully and feel the position

When you say /k/ in car, your tongue

The sound of /k/ changes because its affected

We say that these two kinds of /k/ are two

These two allophones are in complementary

Every language has its own set of phonemes.

Two sounds that are separate phonemes in

For example, in English, /s/ and /S / are separate

But in Japanese, these sounds are allophones of

Sounds and letters are not the same. Be careful

A phonemic alphabet is a set of symbols that

Some of the symbols, like /g/ and /A /, look the

Why do we need a phonemic alphabet?

For example, the letter c can spell at least

The next two slides show a phonemic

This is not the only possible phonemic

Most phonemic alphabets are based on IPA

We have learned about these basic concepts:

Consonants and vowels

Phonemes and allophones

The phonemic alphabet

Click on any of these terms to go back and

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