LINA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Complementary Distribution, North American English, Tripe
Phonology
Part 1
American English Vowels
Speech production
• speech is a very complex phenomenon
• as articulatory organs operate independently of each other, many adjustments have to
be made in order to produce fast speech. As a result of these processes, the articulation
of one sound affects the surrounding sounds
• quite often, more than one articulator is active in order to allow the production of fast
speech
o eg. when we produce a sound sequence like [pl], we do not articulate the sound
[p], then stop, and then articulate sound [l]
o rather, as the sequence [pl] is produced, the tongue tip will start to move toward
the alveolar ridge before the lips separate
➔ this specific process is called coarticulation
Coarticulation
• as a result of more than one articulator being active, articulatory adjustments take place
• such adjustments are called (articulatory) processes
• they change the nature of individual segments
Assimilation
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- assimilation results from a sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms of
one or more of its phonetic properties
Voicing assimilation is common across languages.
→What is the difference in the pronunciation of the plural marker in the words cats and dogs?
→What about /l/ in lot and plot?
voicing assimilation: as in the case of liquids and glides which become voiceless after voiceless
stops
Try saying have to, has to, used to
[v]→ [f]
[z]→[s]
Assimilation of place is also quite common.→ Consider the different pronunciations of the
English negative prefix in intolerable and incompatible.
one typical example: the element in- added in front of various words to create a negative
meaning Possible in + possible → impossible tolerable in + tolerable → intolerable
Assimilation is either regressive (affecting the preceding sound) or progressive (affecting the
following sound).
Nasalization
Nasalization of a vowel is regressive in English:
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[bõnd] bond
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Document Summary
Speech production: speech is a very complex phenomenon, as articulatory organs operate independently of each other, many adjustments have to be made in order to produce fast speech. [p], then stop, and then articulate sound [l: rather, as the sequence [pl] is produced, the tongue tip will start to move toward the alveolar ridge before the lips separate. Coarticulation: as a result of more than one articulator being active, articulatory adjustments take place, such adjustments are called (articulatory) processes they change the nature of individual segments. Assimilation results from a sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms of one or more of its phonetic properties. What about /l/ in lot and plot? voicing assimilation: as in the case of liquids and glides which become voiceless after voiceless stops. Assimilation of place is also quite common. consider the different pronunciations of the.
