1. [bnik] Knowledge of Sounds
Phonology: The study of sound patterns in language
Part 1: Phonemes and Allophones
©2000, Andrew Carnie

2. Phonology
The study of the mental organization of a language’s sound system.
Units of organization:
Biggest: syllables, metrical feet, words
Middle: segments (phonemes and allophones)
Smallest: features

3. Segmental Phonology There are hundreds of possible speech sounds
Each language only uses a few of these.
What is of interest to phonologists is which sounds contrast.
Sounds contrast when their presence alone distinguishes forms with different meanings

4. The Minimal Pair Test
Two sounds contrast (or are distinctive) if you can find a pair of words that differ in only that sound, that mean different things.
[pæd] [bæd] minimal pair
Mean different things: /p/ and /b/ contrast
[pæt] [pæth] not minimal pair
Mean the same thing: [t] and [th] do not contrast

5. Crucial concept 1: Phoneme
When two sounds contrast they are part of different phonemes.
/p/ and /b/ are different phonemes
Phonemes are abstract mental units that represent sounds.
Be careful! Phonemes are not sounds themselves, they are mental units representing sounds!!!

6. Crucial Concept 2: Allophones
Phonetic forms that don’t contrast (make a difference in meaning) are called allophones
[t] and [th] are allophones of the phoneme /t/
Allophones are the various pronunciations of a phoneme.

7. Phonemes & Allophones Phonemes are written between / / brackets
Allophones are written between [ ] brackets
/t/ phonemic (abstract/mental) category
[t] [th] allophonic (phonetic) realizations
in your mind
what you actually say

8. Language Specificity
In English, [ph] and [p] are allophones of the same phoneme (/p/), meaning that a word doesn’t change its meaning if you substitute one sound for the other.
For example: [phaj] vs. [paj] ‘pie’

9. Language Specificity
But in Thai, [ph] and [p] are not allophones of a single phoneme; each is an allophone of a separate phoneme.
For example: [pAA] ‘aunt’ vs. [phAA] ‘cloth’
This is a minimal pair: two words that differ only in the pronunciation of a single sound.
A minimal pair’s existence tells you that the sounds in question are separate phonemes in that language.

10. Language Specificity
The status as a phoneme is a language specific matter
English Thai
/p/ /p/ /ph/
[p] [ph] [p] [ph]

11. File 4.4, Exercise 1.1 Sindhi
[p´nu] leaf [b´dZu] run
[b´nu] forest [b´tSu] be safe
[ph´nu] snake hood
There is a minimal pair (trio) between ‘leaf’, ‘forest’ and ‘snake hood’. Therefore /p/, /b/ and /ph/ are all different phonemes in Sindhi.
There is a minimal pair between ‘run’ and ‘be safe’. Therefore /dZ/, /tS/ are different phonemes in Sindhi.

12. Sounds in context
The pronunciation of a phoneme is often determined by the other sounds around it.
The nearby sounds around a phoneme are called the environment of that phoneme.
E.g. in the word [pæt], [p__t] is the environment for the [æ].

13. Crucial concept 3: Complementary Distribution
When two phones are mutually exclusive, i.e., they appear in different environments
[spæt] [phæt] *[sphæt] *[pæt]
[spul] [phul] *[sphul] *[pul]
[ph] and [p] are in complementary distribution (which means they are allophones of the same phoneme).
When sounds are in complementary distribution, you can predict where you get each sound.

14. Complementary Distribution
Another example:
[blu] blue [pl6aw] plow
[glim] gleam [kl6Qp] clap
[slIp] sleep [pl6ej] play
[flAg] flog

15. The mental concept of “supermanhood”
(phoneme)
In complementary distribution: never seen in the same place at the same time. Allophones!

16. NOT in complementary distribution: can both be present at the same time: allophones of different phonemes

17. Crucial Concept 4: Free Variation
When two sounds appear in the same environment, but don’t make a difference in meaning:
[lip] leap [lip|] leap
[sowp] soap [sowp|] soap
Perceived as the same sound: another kind of allophony. This is called free variation.

18. How can I tell if two sounds are phonemes or allophones? Method 1
Check for minimal pairs. If there is a pair then the sounds are separate phonemes
Check for complementary distribution. Are the sounds found in the same phonetic environment? If not, they are allophones of the same phoneme.

19. How can I tell if two sounds are phonemes or allophones? Method 1
If two sounds are in complementary distribution then (a) figure out which one is predictable and which one is the “elsewhere” variant. The elsewhere variant is the symbol that we use for the phoneme
/X/ Phoneme (in your mind)
[X] [Y] Allophones (what you say)
elsewhere predictable
same symbol

20. How can I tell if two sounds are phonemes or allophones? Method 1
and (b) write a rule that spells out where the predictable variant is found.
/X/  [Y] / environment ____ environment
A fairly rare situation: If the two sounds are in the same phonetic environment (and there were no minimal pairs!) Then they are possibly in free variation.

21. Method 2 data No Yes Yes No The sounds are in List the
environments
of the sounds
same environment?
The sounds are in
complementary distribution
and are allophones of the
same phoneme No
same meaning?
Yes
The sounds are
in free variation
and are allophones
of the same phoneme
Yes
Minimal Pair:
The sounds are
different phonemes No

22. Sample problem: English long vowels
Question: are long and short vowels in English allophones of single phonemes, or are they separate phonemes?
(a vowel followed by the symbol [:] is a long vowel)
[phæ:d] ‘pad’ [phæt] ‘pat’
[hu:d] ‘who’d’ [hut] ‘hoot’
[mi:d] ‘mead’ [mit] ‘meet’
[row:m]‘roam’ [rowp] ‘rope’
[ti:D] teethe [tiT] ‘teeth’
[flu] ‘flew’
Are there any minimal pairs? NO! (There are no examples that differ in ONLY one sound!)
Do long and short vowels occur in the same phonological environment? NO!
Therefore, these are in complementary distribution and each long/short vowel pair represent allophones of same phoneme. V:
_ d _m
_ D V
_ t
_ p
_ T
_ #
Is there any overlap between the columns?

23. English long and short vowels, continued...
What is the rule for vowel lengthening in English, based on the data we just saw?
To answer this question, we must make a generalization about the environment in which we find long vowels.
The generalization is…
English vowels are long before a voiced consonant.

24. Phonological Rules
When the distribution is predictable, we can write a rule that represents this distribution.
These rules are part of your knowledge of language.

25. Phonological Rules The rules take the form:
elsewhere  predictable / environment
English long vowels:
/V/  [V ] / ___ Cvoiced
This rule expresses a generalization about what the speaker of English knows about their language.

26. Sample Problem:Classical Arabic
1. kalb dog
2. qari:b near
3. kubba meatloaf
4. kuds heat
5. qalb heart
6. quds sanctity
7. kari:m noble
8. qubba dome
are [k] and [q] allophones of the same phoneme?
Near minimal pair
Minimal pairs

27. Sample Problem: Tojolabal
1. kisim my beard
2. k'iSin warm
3. sak white
4. ?ak' read
are [k] and [k'] allophones of the same phoneme?
No, we have 2 near-minimal pairs here. (Same environment for sound)

28. File 4.4, exercise 0.0 Mokilese
[pi6san] full of leaves [uduk] flesh
[dupu8kda] bought [kaskas] to throw
[pu8ko] basket [poki] to strike something
[ki6sa] we two [pil] water
[su8pwo] firewood [apid] outrigger support
[kamwçki6ti] to move [ludZuk] to tackle
same distribution?
NO!
therefore complementary distribution and allophones of same phoneme
[i6]
p_ s
k_s
k_t
[i]
t__#
p_l
p_d
k_#
[u8]
p_k
s_p
[u]
#_d
l_dZ
d_k
d_p
dZ_k
/i/,/u/  [i6],[u8] / C8 _____ C8

29. [at´m] atom [dAlÚ] he gave [dva] two [pA:…k´] stick
File 4.4, Exercise 1.4 Russian
(Data corrected)
more predictable a
#_t
v_#
d_r
m_zj
mj_t A
p_…
d_…
r_…
[at´m] atom [dAlÚ] he gave
[dva] two [pA:…k´] stick
[dar] gift [ukrA…´] she stole
[mazj] ointment [brA…] he took
[mjat´] mint
less predictable: elsewhere
same environment? no
therefore in complementary distribution and allophones of the same phoneme
/a/
[a]
[A]
/a/[A]/___…

30. Summary Phonemes, abstract mental unit of sound
Distinctive/contrastive: minimal pairs
Allophones: variant forms of a phoneme
Complementary distribution: different environments
Free variation: same environment but no diff in meaning
Forms in complementary distribution are predictable by rules.