The Basis for the transcription of speech sounds

1
Chapter 2

• The Basis for the transcription of speech sounds
• Different Types of Transcription
• Transcription Practice
• Distinctive Features

2
Some Sounds Differ according to their Environment

• kip keep there is usually no puff of air
  (aspiration) with the p
• pik peek there is always aspiration with the
  p
• Q Is the difference between these two ps
  significant?

3
What are the basic or significant sounds of
English?

• The significant sounds differentiate meaning
• 1. aI s? D? mAb
• 2. aI s? D? mApH (p with aspiration)
• 3. aI s? D? mAp (p without aspiration)
• (1) and (2) differ in meaning
• (2) and (3) do not.
• (1) and (2) are contrastive.
• So, p and b represent different phonemes in
  English
• But p and pH do not.

4
The Phoneme

• A phoneme is a speech sound that is capable of
  differentiating meaning.
• The sequence
• pill bill till dill kill gill
• indicates that p,b,t,d,k,g are phonemes in
  English

5
Variation within a Phonemeworksheet 1-4

• Question What about p and pH (aspirated
  p)?
• Do they represent different phonemes in English?
• ( Problem 4 shows that p and pH do represent
  different phonemes in Hindi)
• Answer They do not.
• p and pH are allophones of the phoneme p
• p and pH are in complementary distribution
• where pH occurs, p does not
• where p occurs, pH does not
• (Think Superman Clark Kent)

6
Complementary Distribution

• The distribution of allophones in their
  respective phonetic environments such that one
  never appears in the same phonetic context as the
  other.
• For example, the p and pH allophones of /p/
  are in complementary distribution in the word
  initial vs. post-s environments pHIn
  and spIn
• pIn and spHIn

7
Phonemic Notation

• /p/ phoneme
• pH p p allophones
• for p lips remain closed

8
How do we determine the significant sounds of a
language?

• 1. aI s? D? mAb
• 2. aI s? D? mAp
• Significance is determined by contrast, as in
• mAb versus mAp
• mAb and mAp are contrastive or minimal pairs

9
The significant sounds are found by testing
minimal pairs

• pHIl
• bIl dIl tHIl kHIl
• gIl fIl vIl 1 mIl
• wIl Til2 Dil3 sIl
• zIl4 nIl lIl ?Il
• Sil tSIl Nil5 dzIl
• Zil 6 hIl
• pHil contrasts with bil, and pHil contrasts with
  dil, etc.

• 1pHaIl vaIl
• 2 pHIn Tin
• 3pHaI DaI
• 4pHA? zA?
• 5?Ip ?iN
• 6No contrast for Z vs. p
• but Z and p are not phonetically similar so
  we assume they are separate phonemes.

10
The Need for an Alphabet

• We need to represent the contrasting sounds of
  any given language unambiguously
• We need an alphabet to do this

11
Transcription Which Alphabet?

• We need unambiguous representation of sound
• How about the English spelling system?
• Same sound, different symbols to,too,two
• Different sounds, one symbol dad, father, call,
  sofa
• One sound, sequence of symbols tough, physics
• One symbol, sequence of sounds exit EgzIt
• Symbols, but no sound pneumonia

12
Phonetic Transcription

• Conclusion We need a phonetic alphabet
• with ONE SYMBOL for ONE SOUND
• Two systems used by linguists
• American
• IPA

13
American Transcriptions, z, c, j, y

• arose from need to transcribe indigenous
  languages of North America
• a practical system for publication
• (typographically easy)
• aims at phonemic transcription
• with phonetic detail consigned to discussion
  notes
• intended for American languages only

14
International Phonetic Association/Alphabet

• founded in France in 1886
• an organization for teachers of language
• originally
• aims at a system that will represent all
  languages

15
The International Phonetic AlphabetPrinciples of
the IPA

• a separate letter for each distinctive sound
• universal use of one symbol for the same sound
  across languages
• use of ordinary letters of roman alphabet where
  possible
• alphabet should accord with phonemic principle
  and cardinal vowel system
• diacritic marks only for
• suprasegmentals
• non-meaningful distinctions
• minute shades of sound for scientific purposes

16
English Articulation of b(Lab 3)
lips
Silence (no v. cord vibration)
b

v.cord vibration
LABM030
17
English Articulation of ph(Lab 3)
lips
Silence (no v. cord vibration)
p

v.cord vibration
LABP030
h (aspiration)
18
Hindi Articulation of p(Lab 3)
lips
Silence (no v. cord vibration)
p

v.cord vibration
(no aspiration)
19
IPA Non-roman Consonant Symbols

• N eng
• T theta
• D eth
• S esh
• Z yogh
• ? turned r
• Pullum Ladusaw. Phonetic Symbol Guide. U of
  Chicago Press.

20
IPA non-Roman Vowel Symbols

• E epsilon
• Q ash
• U upsilon
• ? open o
• A script a
• ? turned v
• ? schwa

21
Notational Conventions in Transcription

• / / encloses phonemic transcriptions
• encloses phonetic (allophonic)
  transcriptions
• denotes a word boundary
• denotes a morpheme boundary
• V stands for any vowel
• C stands for any consonant
• C0 stands for a sequence of zero or more
  consonants

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Transcription Types

• Phonemic Transcription
• ? bEt? pA?t
• Broad Phonetic Transcription
• ? bER? pHA?t
• Narrow Phonetic Transcription
• ? bER? pHA?t
• WWW

23
Relations between Speech Soundsworksheet Free
Var.

• Relation Element Example
• contrast phoneme /p/ vs. /b/
• complementary allophone p vs. pH pin vs.
  spin
• distribution
• free variation phoneme/allophone
• p vs. pH stop vs. stoph
• E vs. i
• economics

24
New Symbols to Capture Variation

• Symbol Name Articulation
• ? fishhook r flap
• ? glottal stop glottal stop
• ? tilde l velarized l
• l6 under-ring devoicing
• n syllabicity mark same as n

25
Doing Phonemic Analysis

• Determining the relationship of 2 sounds
• Are there minimal pairs pQt vs. bQt
• if yes, then the relation is contrast
• If no, do the sounds differ predictably
• pHIn vs. spIn
• if yes, then the relation is complementary
  distribution. Determine the basic allophone.
• If no, the sounds must be in free variation.
• Phonemic Analysis Problems

26
The Trick of Phonemic AnalysisList all
environments of the sound in question

• Burmese
• Voiced nasals occur Voiceless nasals occur
• ___ i h ___ i
• ___ w h ___ w
• e ___ h ___ y
• ___e h ___ e
• ___ w h ___ w
• The voiceless nasal occurs after . . .
• The voiced nasal occurs . . .

27
The Elsewhere Condition

• a principle governing two overlapping rules which
  dictates that the more specific rule should be
  tried first followed by the more general rule
• EXAMPLE In Burmese,
• - nasals are voiceless after /h/,
• - elsewhere they are voiced.

28
The Notion of a Natural Class

• Speech sounds can be described by articulatory
  features
• t - a voiceless alveolar stop
• m - a voiced bilabial nasal
• Sounds can be grouped by features
• Voiced stops b,d,g
• Labials p,f,b,v,m,w
• We call such a grouping a natural class of sounds

29
Natural Classes of Sounds

• Capture generalizations about
• the sound systems of a language
• e.g. English plural s vs. z relies on
  voicing
• dialect variation
• the pronunciation of borrowed words
• first language acquisition
• processes of sound change
• worksheet Natural Classes

30
Background on Distinctive Features

• Until the 1960s, the phoneme prevailed as the
  basic unit of the analysis of sound
• The system that treated the phoneme as the basic
  unit was called Taxonomic Phonemics
• in the 60s, linguists (in particular Noam
  Chomsky and Morris Halle) pointed out
  difficulties with the rigid system of T.P.
• we will now look at one of these difficulties

31
Taxonomic Phonemics

• developed by American linguistics
• divorced sound from meaning
• assumed certain principles that would lend a
  scientific precision to phonemics

32
The Phoneme

• A phoneme is a family of similar sounds which
  language treats as being the same.
• If there is a contrast between two sounds in one
  environment, then these two sounds must be
  considered different phonemes in all
  environments.
• Bernard Bloch. Phonemic overlap.

33
In most environments, the presence of A and
A? is predictable

• The long/short distribution in
• pAt pA?d
• lAk lA?g
• mAp mA?b
• indicates that A and A?are allophones
• in complementary distribution

34
But in some words, A vs. A? is the only
contrasting sound

• The contrast of /A/ and /A?/ in
• bomb bAm balm bA?m
• indicates that /A/ and /A?/ are phonemes in
  contrast
• Contrast also in
• sorry starry
• bother father

35
Asymmetry in Phonemic Representations

• To account for the phonemic contrast of
• bomb bAm balm bA?m
• Taxonomists had to claim that the distinction in
  pAt pA?d
• was also phonemic even though the variation is
  predictable from context

36
Features

• Chomsky pointed out that we could have both the
  predictability of pAt pA?d and the contrast
  of bAm bA?m by describing the sound variation
  with
• a unit smaller than the phoneme (the feature)
• a lexicon that contained underlying features
• rules to describe the variation
• Chomsky, N. 1964.
• Chomsky, N. M. Halle. 1967.

37
A Feature Account of the A A? Distinction

• Lexicon Phonological Rule Pronunciation
• /bAm/ bAm
• /bA?m/ bA?m
• /pA?t/ V?-long/__-voiced pAt
• /pA?d/ pA?d
• -long, -voiced are called distinctive features

38
A Feature Matrix in the Lexicon

• A word is represented as a Feature Matrix

39
Distinctive Features

• Many features are based on articulation
• labial coronal dorsal
• Some are based on acoustics
• strident high sonorant
• Most are based on a combination of articulation
  and acoustics
• round lateral continuant

40
Advantages of Distinctive Features

• Features allow the statement of generalizations
• V ? V / _________ C
  V
• tense ?tense -stress
• divine divinity aI ? I
• profane profanity eI ? Q
• serene serenity i ? E

41
Advantages of Features

• Features represent allophonic variation as a
  systematic rather than a random process
• English V ? V / _____ -Voiced
• -long
• Features directly reflect the articulatory and
  acoustic activity involved in each sound

42
Features as Universals

• Currently about 24 are used
• they constitute a claim about what is possible in
  human phonological behavior
• the binary (/-) nature of the features plays
  into claims of universality

43
Feature OppositionsRoman Jakobson, 1941

• Silence
• -consonantal consonantal
• high -high oral -oral
• -back back labial -labial labial -labial
• apply in language acquisition
• apply in language dissolution
• correspond to the frequency of sounds in the
  worlds languages _

44
Feature Oppositions

• Stage 1 /-consonant papa or baba
• Stage 2 /-oral papa, mama
• Stage 3 /-labial mama/nana, papa/tata
• Stage 4 /-high papa, pipi
• Stage 5 /-back pipi, pupu

45
References

• Chomsky, N. 1964. Current Issues in Linguistic
  Theory.
• Chomsky, N. M. Halle. 1967. The Sound Pattern
  of English.
• Jakobson, Roman. 1941. Childs Speech, Aphasia,
  and Linguistic Universals.