Human Language, Segmental distribution of speech sounds in prosodic domain: Evidence

from 20th century Modern Phonological paradigms and theories

Dr.Hemanga DuttaAssistant Professor, Department of Linguistics and Contemporary

English, School of Language SciencesThe English and Foreign languages University, (EFLU)

Hyderbad: 500007Mail id: hemangadutta1@gmail.com

Language from various perspectives: History, Philosophy, Biology and Sociology

• What is Language?• Language , pre structural paradigm and

philological concerns• Language and Structural principles of Saussure

and B.F. Skinner• Language, Cognitivism, Chomsky and generative

paradigm• Language, Communication and Functional

prerequisites to competence model

Phonetic underpinnings of Human linguistic mechanism

• Phonetics: three main components – Articulatory, Acoustic and Auditory

• Articulatory phonetic paradigms: Air stream mechanism, Process of Phonation, Oro nasal process

• Speech organs• Manner of articulation: Plosive, Fricative, Affricate,

Laterals, Approximants, Nasals• Place of articulation: Bilabial, Labio dental, Dental,

Alveolar, Post alveolar, Retroflex, Velar, Uvular, Glottal etc.

Phonology and Generative paradigm

• Phonology as organization of sounds in to patterns

• Phonology as Functional Phonetics• Difference between Phonetics and Phonology• Integration model between Phonetics and

Phonology• Classical Phonemic model: Phoneme,

Allophones, Contrastive and Complementary Distribution and Free variation

Phonemic analysis of Lambada

• Contrastive Distribution: Contrastive distribution refers to a process in which two phones can occur in identical environment and the substitution of one sound with another creates a semantic difference.

• /p/, /b/• [pɑːɳi] - water• [bɑːɳi] broom• [pa:p] sin• [baːp] father• Here /p/ is substituted by the phoneme /b/.

Free variation

Two phonetically identical sounds are always in free variation. Where the one occurs the other can occur without changing the meaning.

• /dʒ/, /ð/• [kaːgədʒ] -paper• [kaːgəð]-paper• Here /dʒ/ is substituted by the phoneme /d/ which does not

bring change in meaning. • /k/, /θ/• [tʃoːkraː] -boy• [tʃoːθraː] -boy

Complementary distribution

• When two sounds occur in mutually exclusive environment they are called allophones according to the principle of complementary distribution.

• The distribution of clear /l/ and dark // in English

kli:n ‘clean’ lait ‘light’ lit ‘little’

Distinctive feature theory and the issue of Binarism

• Distinctive feature theory the essence of which can be traced back to Panini’s Pratyaharas, was first formalised by the Prague Structuralists although it attained its prominence in the hands of Chomsky and Halle in 1968 with the publication of SPE.

• Motivations:• All segments must be characterizeable in terms of unique combination

of features. They can show the segment inventories of the language.• They should be able to show the segmental contrast in the world

languages.• The segments must be characterizable in phonetic terms. This has led

to the requirement of the Natural ness condition (Postal 1968), according to which distinctive features must have a phonetic underpinnings.

Major class features

• [+/- sonorant]: [+sonorant] segments are produced with a constriction in the vocal tract which allows an air pressure behind it and in front of it to be relatively equal, while it is not the case for [-sonorant] segments. [+sonorant] segments include vowels, glides, liquids and nasals while [-sonorant] are plosives, fricatives, affricates and laryngeal segments.

• [+/- consonantal] : [+consonantal] segments have a constriction somewhere along the centre line in the vocal tract which is at least as narrow as that required for a fricative. [-cons] lacks such constriction. [+cons] segments are plosives, affricates, fricatives, liquids and nasals. [-cons] sounds are vowels, glides.

• [+/-approximant]: [+approx] segments allow frictional escape of air (Ladefoged 1971, Clements 1989). Vowels and non nasal sounds like laterals and rhotics are [+approx].

• [+/- syllabic]: segments which can become nucleus of a syllable are [+syllabic].

• Laryngeal features:• Laryngeal features imply the glottal properties

of the segments.• [+/-voice]• [+/-spread glottis]: [+s.g] segments are

characterized by a vocal cord configuration that produces audible glottal friction. Aspirated segments are [+s.g].

• Manner features:• Manner features are based on the type of constriction or the

manner of articulation.• [+/-continuant] : continuant sounds are produced when the

primary constriction in the vocal tract does not block the air flow. In the case of non continuant sounds the air flow through the mouth is stopped. Plosives, affricates, nasal s, laterals are [-cont] whereas vowels and fricatives are [+cont].

• [+/-nasal]• [+/-lateral]

Place features

• [LABIAL] : segments are articulated with the lips and in the case of vowels with lips rounding. LABIALS may be specified for [+/round].

• [CORONAL]: These segments are articulated with a raised tip or blade of the tongue. t, d, s etc are [+coronal] where as p, b, m etc are [-coronal]. [CORONAL] segments are further specifies for the features [+/- anterior] and [+/-distributed]

• [+/-anterior] sounds are articulated in front of the palato alveolar region of the mouth..

• [+/-distributed] sounds are those during the production of which the articulatory constrictions extends for a considerable distance along the direction of the air flow. Apical consonants are [-distributed] whereas laminal consonants are [+distributed].

• [DORSAL] sounds are articulated with dorsum. Velars and uvulars are [+dorsal].• [Radical] also known as [Pharyngeal] articulated with root of the tongue

Features relating to the body of the tongue:

• [+/-high]: when the body of the tongue is raised above the neutral position, the resultant sound is high.

• [+/-low]: Low sounds are produced when the body of the tongue is lowered below the neutral position.

• [+/-back] : Retraction of the back of the tongue from the neutral position during the production of a sound makes it a back sound.

• [+/-tense]: [+tense] vowels are produced with considerable muscular effort.

Acoustic feature

• [+ /-strident] : [+strident] sounds are marked acoustically by greater noise than non strident sounds. Fricatives are [+strident] sounds.

DF and some questions

• Do DFs characterizing a language from part of a universal inventory?• Are the correlates of DF primarily articulatory, acoustic or both?• Should DFs be binary or not?• DF is conceived as a universal inventory capable of describing the

phonology of any language. One standard argument in favour of universalism is that recurrent and finite nature of dimensions that phonologists refer to in the analysis of phonological systems, whether in terms of rules, phonotactic statements or in system inventories.

• Although DFs are more abstract than their implementations, they are grounded in phonetics.

Assamese phonotactics and initial onset consonant cluster: sonority, optimality and

binding principles• Stop + Liquid • /pr/ pran ‘life’• prem ‘love’• /pl/ plawon ‘shower’ • plawito ‘filled with water’• /br/ brɒhmandɒ ‘universe’• /bʰr/ bʰrɒm ‘illusion’• /bl/ blauz ‘blouse’• /tr/ troyudox ‘thirteenth’• tritiyo ‘third’• /dr/ drɒbjɒ ‘substance’• dristi ‘vision’• /kr/ krɒm ‘serial’• krɒmannoye ‘gradually’• /kl/ klantɒ ‘tired’• /gr/ grismɒ ‘summer’• grɒhɒn ‘eclipse’• /gl/ glani ‘repentance’• /gʰr/ gʰran ‘smell’• /tj/ tjag ‘sacrifice’• /gj/ gjan ‘knowledge’ The unpermitted initial consonant cluster comprising of stop and liquid are */tl/ and */dl/ although they conform to the

principle of sonority hierarchy.

Nasal +Liquid• /mr/ mrityu ‘death’ mrigo ‘deer’• /ml/ mlan ‘pale’• /nr/ nritjɔ ‘dance’• /nj/ njai ‘justice’• In Assamese phonotactics the alveolar and velar nasal

can not constitute the cluster with liquid in initial onset position of a syllable. So the prohibited patterns are */nl/, */ŋr/ and */ŋl/.

• Fricative + Liquid• /sr/ srɒm ‘labour’• sristi ‘creation’• sriŋɒ ‘peak’• /hr/ hridɒi ‘heart’• In Assamese phonotactics there are only two fricatives

/s/ and /h/ which can function as the initial member of a cluster comprising of fricative and liquid.

• The prohibited patterns are:• */zr/, */zl/, */hl/

• Fricative + Stop• / st/ stɒmbʰɒ ‘pillar’• stɒn ‘breast’• stʊti ‘prayer’• /stʰ/ stʰan ‘place’• stʰanijɒ ‘local’• /sp/ spɒrxɒ ‘touch’• spriha ‘desire’• /spʰ/ spʰʊliŋɒ ‘ashes’• /sk/ skrin ‘screen’• /skʰ/ skʰɒlɒn ‘degradation’• This is the special property of the Assamese post alveolar fricative /s/ that can

function as the initial member of a consonant cluster followed by voiceless stops. But it cannot make cluster with the voiced plosives of Assamese. So, the prohibited shapes in Assamese consonant cluster phonotactics are: */sd/, */sb/, */sg/

• Fricative + Nasal• /sm/ smɒxam ‘graveyard’• /sn/ snigdʰɒ ‘calm’• snan ‘bathe’• The post alveolar fricative /s/ can form consonant cluster with

bilabial and alveolar nasal as initial member of the consonant cluster. The velar nasal /ŋ/ never becomes the member of any consonant cluster. What is interesting to note that other ficative sounds /z/ and /h/ are not allowed in Assamese phonotactics to be the members of a consonant cluster with nasals. Hence the prohibited consonant clusters are : */sŋ/, */zm/, */zn/,*/zŋ/, */hm/, */hn/, */hŋ/

• Word initial clusters such as /pl, gl, pr, tr, dr, gr/ are found but such as */lp, rt/, etc, where the sonority relations are reversed, are not present in the phonotactics of Assamese. So, it can be argued that sonority constraints play an important role in the patterning of segmental distribution in the phonotactics of a language.

• This hierarchy of onsets yield markedness constraints on onset sonority, as proposed in de Lacy (2001)

• *ONS/L >> *ONS/N>>*ONS/OIn Assmese, the ban on liquids as the first member in word initial cluster can be represented by using the constraints in OT framework in the following way:

• *ONS-L >> IDENT-I0 [approx] insures that liquid onsets will be eliminated.

• But word initial syllables in Assamese are allowed to begin with nasal consonants. It can be shown by the following ranking of the OT constraints:

• IDENT-IO [approx] >>*ONS/N

• Moreover, what is seen from Assamese onset consonant cluster is that the second member of the cluster agrees in terms of feature [voice] with the first member of the cluster. It can be formulated in the following fashion in the form of a constraint: Given a consonant cluster C1C2, if C1 is voiced, then C2 must be.

• Word initial onset cluster in Assamese can be formed by combining either stop + liquid or nasal+liquid. But liquid does not have the potential to be the initial member of the onset cluster. As, for instance the following are not the onset cluster in Assamese permitted by the phonotactic constraints in Assamese: *rp, *rt, *lp, *rk, *rm, *lm

The asymmetry here is motivated by the Complexity Condition: nasals containing three elements have priority over liquids, which contain two or sometimes only one element. Thus if we argue in lines of Harris (1990) it is to be noted that sonority is structurally encoded where a correlation can be established between sonority and segmental complexity. As we have seen in the above illustration of Assamese data plosives govern liquids on the ground that plosives are more complex than liquids in terms of internal components involved in representation. According to Harris (1990) the more sonorant a segment, the less complex its representation. But Rice (1992) has argued that greater sonority implies greater complexity.

• Harris (1990) interpretation: Coronal stop Coronal nasal Coronal lateral x x x ? Rᵒ Rᵒ• Rᵒ ?ᵒ ?ᵒ hᵒ N+ H-• Here, ? = occlusion ; Rᵒ = coronal; hᵒ= noise and H- = stiff vocal cords Representation of coronal stop, nasal and lateral in the framework of

Harris(1990)

Rice (1992) interpretation: • ROOT ROOT ROOT• SL AF SL AF SL AF Place Place SV Place SV• Lateral• Here, SL= Supralaryngeal ; AF= Air Flow; SV= Sonorant VoiceRepresentation of coronal stop, nasal and lateral in the framework

of Rice(1992)

sonority profile within an onset is met only if the second consonant has more SV structure than the first.

Stop Lateral

ROOT ROOT SL SL SV

Margin hierarchy approach and consonant cluster arrangment

• Margin hierarchy of Prince and Smolensky (1993), gives preference to segments of low sonority. This constraint is applicable to singleton onsets or to the first member of an onset cluster and it is known as M1 hierarchy. In the same way, the M2 hierarchy applies both to the second member of an onset and a singleton coda. It differs from M1 hierarchy in the sense that it gives preference to consonants of high sonority.

M1 hierarchy (preference given to consonants of low sonority) *M1/r >> *M1/ l >> *M1/ Nas >> *M1/obs M2 hierarchy (preference given to consonants of high sonority) *M2/ obs >> *M2/ Nasal >> *M2/l >> *M2/r

• The *ONSET/X subhierarchy assumed here is shown below:

• *ONS/GLIDE>>*ONS/RHOTIC>>*ONS/LATERAL>>*ONS/NASAL>>*ONS/VOICED

• OBST>>*ONS/VCLSOBST• Smith (2003) claims what is appealing about the

*ONSET/X subhierarchy is that, as this sub hierarchy is based on the sonority scale and the perceptual preference for low sonority onsets, it is functionally grounded.

• This preference for low sonority onsets is assigned functional motivation too. The auditory system is particularly sensitive to rapid changes in spectral patterns (Stevens 1989; Ohala 1992; Delgutte 1997; Warner 1998). Delgutte (1997) claims that a low sonority onset is preferred because it is more distinct from the syllable nucleus than a high sonority onset would be.

Assamese phonotactics, Binding principle and OCP constraint:

• In Assamese phonotactics we have observed that some clusters are not permitted to occur in word initial position. The cluster types are */tl/, */dl/, */sl/, */zr/, */zl/, etc. A bound consonant contains dependent structure. i.e. identical Place structure to the consonant that binds it or no Place structure.

Binding is not allowed within an onset (i.e. a consonant can not be syllabified into an onset if it shares place with the adjacent syllabified consonant.

A consonant must be bound for Place heterosyllabically (i.e. a consonant may be syllabified into a rhyme if it is non distinct in Place from the following onset). (parametric).

• Binding: /p/ and /l/ differ in place of articulation, and thus /l/ is not bound.

Hence, the syllabification is well formed. But the prohibited consonant cluster such as

*/dl/ can be accounted for in the light of binding principles.

• s as Branching onset (Carlisle 1988, Major 1996,2001, Ohala 1999)

• σ • • ONS R• • X X X• • s t o

• s as Complex segment (Selkirk 1982, Lamontagne 1993, Van de Weijer 1996)

• σ

• ONS R• • X X• • s t o

• s as Adjunct (Barlow 2001, Barlow and Dinnnsen 1998, Kaye 1989, Kenstowicz 1994)

• σ

• ONS R

• X X X • s t o

• s as Extrasyllabic (Appendix) (Goad and Rose 2004, Fikkert 1994, Levin 1985, Giegerich 1992)

• σ• • ONS R• • X X• • s t o

• In opposition to the branching onset approach the other alternative approaches ranging from complex segment approach to extrasyllabic approach aim at eliminating the SSP violations via the assignment of abstract representations.

• Moreover, sonority sequencing constraints such as syllable contact treats s-obstruent clusters differently from obstruent- sonorant clusters. s-obstruent clusters have falling sonority; hence epenthesis at the edge is possible and preferred. Consider the Assamese example:

• skul > is.kul

• skrin >is.krin• In the above example of loan word in Assamese, epenthesis

occurs at the edge. The crucial assumption here is that the default site of epenthesis in loan words is at the edge.

• It is observed that edge epenthesis violates NO CODA and ONSET whereas the dispreferred internal epenthesis satisfies NO CODA, ONSET and SYLLABLE CONTACT. In order to justify this edge epenthesis Gouskova (2001) talks about the constraint CONTIGUITY

• CONTIGUITY: elements adjacent in the input must be adjacent in the output. This constraint ensures edge epenthesis when SYLLABLE CONTACT is not at stake. SYLLABLE CONTACT implies sonority must not rise across a syllable boundary (Davis 1998, Hooper 1976, Murray and Vennemann 1983, Vennemannn 1988).

/skul/ *COMPLEX DEP SYLL CONTACT CONTIGUITY

is.kul * si.kul * *!

• In the above tableau SYLLABLE CONTACT is not violated and hence, CONTIGUITY ensures that edge epenthesis is optimal. So from this tableau it is revealed that SYLLABLE CONTACT determines the epenthesis site: at the edge for falling sonority clusters and internal epenthesis for rising sonority clusters. This outcome can be expected as long as SYLLABLE CONTACT is ranked above CONTIGUITY, although its ranking in relation to DEP is not crucial. This pattern is termed as the Emergence of the Unmarked effect.

Gemination • Gemination as a process triggered by liquids and semivowels:• In this section I am proposing a problem that in Sanskrit gemination of

obstruents is triggered by the following liquids and glides such as j,r,l,ʋ but not other segments such as nasals and obstruents. jətfrə - jətf.tfrə (here)

• tfətfrə - tfətf.tfrə (there)• ʃukrə - ʃuk.krə (venus)• bʰədfrə - bʰədf.dfrə (descent)• nepətfʰjə - nepətf.tfʰjə (back stage)• karjə - kar.rjə (work)• pədfjə - pədf.dfjə (poetry)• pəkʋə - pək.kʋə (ripe)• sətfʋə - sətf.tfʋə (white)• tfətfʋə - tfətf.tfʋə (theory)• ʃuklə - ʃuk.klə (bright)

• The reason behind the motivation for the process of gemination triggered by glides and liquids can be supported with cross linguistic observation. For convenience, consider the internal representation of a word ‘sətjə’ (truth):

• This internal representation can be made in two ways:• If we consider word internal stop as a better candidate for the coda position

the representation will be as follows•  • σ σ• • • s ə t& . j ə• Figure : Representation of word internal stop in coda position

• In contrast, stop and liquids form well formed consonant cluster cross linguistically. From this perspective, the following will be the representation:

•  • σ σ•  • • s ə . t& j ə•  • Figure No 1/E: Representation of word internal stop in the onset position forming

a cluster with following liquid• From the above representations it is clear that either coda condition or well

formed onset cluster condition will be fulfilled. But from cross linguistic evidence it is seen that alveolar and velar stops function not only as better candidates for the coda position in a word but also form well formed consonant cluster with liquids and glides.

• The fulfilment of these two conditions lies in the process of gemination of the stops as shown in the following representation:

• σ•  •

• • • s ə t& . t& j ə• Figure No 1/F: Representation of word internal stop both in the coda and the

onset position• But, what is interesting to note in this context that other sounds apart from

these liquids and semi vowels do not have the potential to trigger gemination to the previous obstruent.

• As, for illustration consider the following instances:• (5)• santi - *san.nti• ʃəbdə - * ʃəb.bdə• məndə - *mən.ndə• atma - *at.tma• The motivation hidden behind the non occurrence of the process of

gemination of the obstruents followed by nasals and obstruents can be assigned to the fact that obstruent and nasals do not serve as well formed consonant cluster. Hence, it can be argued that glides and liquids have the special property of being appropriate coda as well as a member in the onset consonant cluster resulting in the process of gemination. In addition, another generalization can be observed from the above process of gemination that the asymmetry in phonological processes can be attributed to the segmental properties and cross linguistic well formedness conditions.

Conclusion

• segmental property inherent in a sound and cross linguistic well formed conditions also play a significant role in the triggering of certain phonological processes.

• Behind the patterning of consonant cluster in a specific manner the notion of phonological strength and phonotactic patterns can be realized.

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