Linguistics Phonology

1. Phonology
• Phonology studies the way the speakers of a
language systematically use a selection of
sounds to express meaning.
• Description of the systems and patterns of
speech sounds in a language.
• Discover the principles that govern the way
sounds are organized in a language
Kanthimathi

2. Phoneme
• A smallest significant sound unit
• Each sound is distinctive in nature
• Phoneme can be made of one or more letters.
Eg: shoe– has 4 letters but sh is one phoneme /ʃ/ and oe is /u:/
• change of this can bring change in meaning
44 phonemes in Received Pronunciation
24 consonants - /p/ /b/, /t/ /d/, /k/ /g/, /f/ /v/, /s/ /z/, /θ/ /ð/,
/ʃ/ /ʒ/, /ʈʃ/ /dʒ/ /h/, /w/, /n/, /m/, /r/, /j/, /ŋ/, /l/.
20 vowels - /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ə/,/i:/, /ɑ:/,/ɔ:/,/ɜ:/, /u:/.
Kanthimathi

3. • Phonemes are language specific
• Each language has selected sounds into set
patterns
• English and Tamil – Difference
Hope you know to pronounce all the phonemes
• /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ə/,/i:/, /ɑ:/,/ɔ:/,/ɜ:/,
/u:/ /p/ /b/, /t/ /d/, /k/ /g/, /f/ /v/, /s/ /z/, /θ/
/ð/, /ʃ/ /ʒ/, /ʈʃ/ /dʒ/ /h/, /w/, /n/, /m/, /r/, /j/,
/ŋ/, /l/
https://images.app.goo.gl/7Ax9p9HaTTQpEMdv5
Kanthimathi

4. Kanthimathi

5. Kanthimathi

6. Common phonemes in Tamil and English
Kanthimathi

7. Allophones
• /p/,/t/,/k/ aspirated in initial position
• Different phonetic realization of a phoneme
[p] [ph]
Allophones don’t bring change in meaning
Eg: party tiger
Intelligibility problem – substitution of unaspirated for
aspirated eg- pull, touch
Kanthimathi

8. • Allophonic variants of a phoneme belong to
the same phoneme
• [k] and [kh] allophones of /k/
Phones
distinctive Not distinctive
phonemes allophones
Kanthimathi

9. phoneme
allophone
Allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds, or
phones or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular
language
Kanthimathi

10. ASPIRATION
• A puff or burst of air
• Allophones of /p/ are [p] and [ph]
• Paper – /pheipə/ pronounced with aspiration
• Spill –/spil/ pronounced without aspiration
• Try saying Stop and spot with and without aspiration for
/t/
Does aspiration change the meaning – NO
English ASPIRATION – NO change in meaning
If you know Hindi – try this –
Aspiration changes the meaning ?
Kanthimathi

11. Minimal pair
• two words are identical in form except for
contrast in one phoneme, occurring in the
same position
• Distinction of only one sound - minimal
Pin bin pan man
Kin tin fan van
• A minimal pair is a pair of words with ONE
phonemic difference only.
Kanthimathi

12. Are these minimal pair
• cat - bat k and b yes
• kite – night k and n yes
• Maid – made same pronunciation No
• Made – mode is this a minimal pair?
• Made – paid ?
• Rat – Ran ?
• Sight – light ?
Kanthimathi