This document is an introduction to phonology, the study of sound systems and patterns in human languages. It includes definitions of phonemes and allophones, as well as articulatory processes such as assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, epenthesis, metathesis, and vowel reduction. The document explains how phonemes can change meaning in minimal pairs and highlights the contrastive relationships between sounds in speech.

1. Introduction to Linguistics
Session 8: Phonology
Edi Brata
http://edibrata.com

2. 
The subfield of linguistics that studies the
structure and systematic patterning of
sounds in human language (Akmajian
et.al, 2010:110)
What is Phonology?

3. 
Essentially the description of the systems
and patterns of speech sounds in a
language (Yule, 2006:43)
What is Phonology?

4. 
 Governs both sound patterns and systematic
phonetic variation found in language
(O’Grady et.al, 2005: 57)
 The study of how speech sounds form
patterns (Fromkin et.al, 2011:267)
 It is a study about phonemes.
What is Phonology?

5. 
The smallest contrastive unit in the
sound system of a language.
Phoneme

6. 
Phone Vs. Phoneme
Phone Phoneme
One of many possible sounds in the
languages of the world.
A contrastive unit in the sound
system of a particular language.
The smallest identifiable unit found
in a stream of speech.
A minimal unit that serves to
distinguish between meanings of
words.
Pronounced in a defined way.
Pronounced in one or more ways,
depending on the number of
allophones.
Represented between brackets by
convention.
Represented between slashes by
convention
[b], [j], [o] /b/, /j/, /o/

7. 
• Phoneme can be identified by contrastive
analysis called as minimal pairs.
• Two sounds are said to be contrastive if
replacing one with the other results in a
change of meaning.
• Two sounds are said to be noncontrastive if
replacing one with the other does not result in
a change of meaning.
Phoneme

8. 
• A minimal pair consists of two forms with
distinct meanings that differ by only one
segment found in the same position in each
form.
• Which one(s) of these pairs are minimal
pairs?
a. [ ] and [ ]
b. [ ] and [ ]
c. [ ] and [ ]
Minimal Pairs
/ / and / / are phonemes

9. 
• Within a given language, some sounds are
considered to be the same sound, even though
they are phonetically distinct.
• Same or different?
pool [phul] spool [spul]
• phonetically different (aspirated vs. unaspirated)
• native speakers perceive the same sound
• It is called as allophones.
Same Sound or Different Sound?

10. 
English Phoneme

11. 
• One of a set of non-distinctive
realizations of the same phoneme.
• Corresponds to something physical
produced by a speaker.
• It is variants of a phoneme.
Allophone

12. Articulatory Processes

13. Articulatory
Processes
Assimilation
Dissimilation
Deletion
Epenthesis
Metathesis
Vowel reduction

14. Assimilation:
Two sounds becoming more alike
o Regressive Assimilation
• Assimilation in which a sound influences the
preceding segment.
• E.g. indefinite, impossible, incomplete
o Progressive Assimilation
• Assimilation in which a sound influences the
following segment.
• E.g. books, bags

15. [-z] or [-s]
1. Bananas
2. Grapes
3. Lemons
4. Cookies
5. Cakes
6. Tarts
7. Potatoes
8. Carrots
1. [-z]
2. [-s]
3. [-z]
4. [-z]
5. [-s]
6. [-s]
7. [-z]
8. [-s]

16. [-d], [-t], or [-id]
1. Studied
2. Kicked
3. Eliminated
4. Erased
5. Looked
6. Typed
7. Measured
8. Surrounded
1. [-d]
2. [-t]
3. [-id]
4. [-d]
5. [-t]
6. [-t]
7. [-d]
8. [-id]

17. Dissimilation:
Two Sounds Becoming Less Alike
o Fifths: [f f s]  [f f t s]
o Three fricatives  fricative+stop+fricative

18. Deletion
o A process that removes a segment from
certain phonetic context.
o In English, a schwa [ ] is often deleted
when the next vowel in the word is
stressed.
suppose: [s p z]  [sp z]

19. Epenthesis
o A process that inserts a segment into a
particular environment.
o For example:
(in careful speech) something is
pronounced
[s mp ] instead of [s m ]

20. Metathesis
o A process that reorders a sequence of
segments
o Commonly, in speech of children
o For example:
o spaghetti is pronounced pesgheti
o first become frist

21. Vowel Reduction
o The articulation of a vowel moves to a more
central position when the vowel is
unstressed.
o For example:
considerate vs. consideration
Canada vs. Canadian

22. 