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Sounds in the mind and hands

Sounds in the mind and hands. Linguistics lecture #4 November 7, 2006. Overview. Interfaces again The atoms of phonology Phonological rules and constraints Phonological structure Sign language phonology. semantics. MIND. LANGUAGE. phonology. Mental representations. Physical world.

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Sounds in the mind and hands

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  1. Sounds in the mind and hands Linguistics lecture #4 November 7, 2006

  2. Overview • Interfaces again • The atoms of phonology • Phonological rules and constraints • Phonological structure • Sign language phonology

  3. semantics MIND LANGUAGE phonology Mental representations Physical world Propositions Syntax Phonology Physical world

  4. Phonology and the world • Phonology is a mental interface with physics, but it is not itself physics • For example, which of these two words have the “same main vowel”? 天 貪 貼 ㄊ－ㄢ ㄊㄢ ㄊ－ㄝ • Mentally, these are more similar • But physically these are more similar

  5. /th/ /i/ /a/ /n/ Phonemes • Phonemes (音素) are in your head • They are turned into phonetic forms by the rules of your grammar [thin] rules

  6. Phonemes as atoms • Phonemes are like the “atoms” of phonology, but unlike words, they are meaningless － ㄨ ㄩ ㄚ ㄋ ㄌ

  7. Uniquely human? • The atom + rule structure in syntax is expected, since it’s crucial to express meaning • The atom + rule structure of phonology is perhaps a more surprising discovery • Unlike other animal communication systems, human language has two levels of patterning: duality of patterning - patterning of both meaningful and meaningless units

  8. Formal rules in phonology • Phonology shows patterns that do not seem to be directly related to physics sign [ai] signal [Ig] resign [ai] resignation [Ig] Rule: Change /Ig/ to [ai] before word-final /n/

  9. Rule interactions • Another clue that phonology isn’t just physics: rules interact in complex ways • Mandarin Tone 3 rule: 3  2 before 3 買馬 老虎 • Tone 0 rule: Tone  0 at end of word (optional) 媽媽 謝謝 • But what if both can apply…?

  10. /3 3/ /3 3/ Input form Input form Tone 3 rule Tone 0 rule Tone 0 rule Tone 3 rule (can’t apply) Rule ordering? 點點 姐姐 2 3 3 0 [2 0] [3 0]

  11. Formal constraints in phonology • Some patterns cannot be described with rules of the form A  B • Instead, they require constraints ㄠ ㄡ ㄞ ㄟ － ㄨ iau *uau iou *uou ?    uai *iei     uei ?iai Constraint: *V1 V2 V1 (V1 = same vowel)

  12. Constraint interactions • Constraints can conflict with each other • V1V2 constraint: ie (ㄧㄝ) *io (ㄧㄛ) *ue (ㄨㄝ) uo (ㄨㄛ) • V2V3 constraint: ei (ㄟ) *eu *oi ou (ㄡ) • What happens in words with V1V2V3, where both constraints can apply…?

  13. Constraint ranking • Question: Which constraint is ranked higher in Mandarin grammar? • Answer: The V2V3 constraint. iou, uei: V2V3 obeyed, but V1V2 is violated *ieu, *uoi: if V1V2 is obeyed (but it’s really not) • Ranking: V2V3» V1V2

  14. Phonological structure • The ranking of these constraints relates to the structure of Mandarin syllables (音節): Syllable th i a n

  15. N V NP N V N Phonological structure • There are also larger phonological structures that link to syntactic structure: 2 3 3 2 3 老 李 買 好 酒 2 3 2 2 3

  16. ZERO FIVE SIX Sign languages:duality of patterning • Signs also have atoms, such as handshapes • Examples from Taiwan Sign Language:

  17. Sign languages:duality of patterning • The same handshapes appear in other signs with totally unrelated meanings CUT CLASS HAVE FAST

  18. Different sign languages,different grammars • Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) has handshapes that are not used in American Sign Language (ASL)

  19. A phonemic handshape in ASL • ASL uses the following handshape for “B”, which is also in the sign meaning BLUE:

  20. NONSENSE PLEASE DOOR Rule-generated “B” in TSL • But the “B” handshape is not basic in TSL. Instead, it is always derived by a rule: Close thumb only if touching body (otherwise )

  21. Phonology and functionalism • Phonological grammar (competence) is formal • But phonology is also affected by language use (performance), especially physics • “Difficult” forms are avoided: - Difficult sounds like // sound are rare across the world’s languages, and so are difficult handshapes • Rules often “simplify” forms: - For example, /sIgn/ ends a complex way, but [sain] doesn’t. This makes the /Ig/  [ai] rule “natural”.

  22. Phonology and functionalism • Phonological forms may even relate directly to meaning - For example, the shapes of signs often “make sense” (e.g. DOOR in TSL) - Sometimes this is so for spoken language too: snore, sneeze, snot, sniff….

  23. Summary • Phonology involves formal “atoms” (phonemes) • Phonological grammar also involves rules and constraints • Phonological atoms are arranged in structures like syllables • Even sign languages have phonology • Phonology is also influenced by physics

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