Module 4

The Sound Patterns
of Language:
Phonology
Phonemes
The Pronunciation of Morphemes
Examples of Allomorphs
Phonology is the description of the systems and
patterns of speech sounds in a language.
It is based on a theory of what every speaker of a
The study of language unconsciously knows about sound
how speech patterns of that language.
Phonology is concerned with the abstract or
sounds form mental aspects of sounds in language.
patterns is
phonology. Phonology serves as the underlying design for all
the variations in different physical articulations of a
sound type in different contexts.
Main Difference – Phonetics vs
Phonology
Phonetics and phonology are two
Phonetics vs subfields of linguistics which studies the
Phonology sounds in language.
The main difference between phonetics
and phonology is that phonetics is the
study of speech sounds whereas
phonology is the study of sounds,
especially different patterns of sounds in
different languages.
Phonemes are the dark matter of
phonology; they are not physical
sounds and directly observable.
They are abstract mental
representations of the
PHONEMES
phonological units of a language.
The phonological rules of the
language apply to phonemes to
determine the pronunciation of
words.
Phonemes are the basic unit of sound and are
sensed in your mind rather than spoken or heard.
Each phoneme has one or more sounds called
allophones associated with it, which represent the
actual sound being produced in various
environments.
Vowel phonemes in English:
PHONEMES /ɪ/ as in ship
/ʊ/ as in book
/e/ as in egg
/æ/ as in cat
/ʌ/ as in cup
/ɒ/ as in hot
Pronounciation of a phoneme is
called a phone.Phones that are
the realizations of the same
phoneme are called allophones of
PHONEMES that phoneme.In English each
vowel phoneme has both an oral
and nasalized allophone.The
choice of the allophone is not
random it is rule-governed.
#Example: : Great Expectations (by Charles
Dickens)
“All this time, I was getting on towards the river;
but however fast I went, I couldn’t warm my
feet, to which the damp cold seemed riveted,
as the iron was riveted to the leg of the man I
was running to meet. I knew my way to
the Battery, pretty straight, for I had been down
there on a Sunday with Joe, and Joe, sitting on
an old gun, had told me that when I was
‘prentice to him, regularly bound, we would
have such Larks there!”
In this example, different phonemes are
highlighted as /g/ i/ /b/ /w/ /m/ /ie/ /d/ /s/ /f/
/h/ /j/ and /l/
Knowledge of phonology
determines how we pronounce
words and the parts of words
Morphemes we call morphemes.Often,
certain morphemes are
pronounced differently
depending on their context.
Linguists (those who study language) have deviced
the category for the smallest unit of grammar
Morphemes.Morphemes function as the foundation of
language and syntax.
Syntax is the arrangement of words and sentences to
create meaning.
We shouldn’t confuse morphemes as only a given
word , number of syllables or only as a prefix or suffix.
The term Morpheme can apply to a variety of different
situations.
nonperishable is comprised of 3 morphemes. Non-
perish-able.
-Non is an example of a prefix -Perish is a base
morpheme a morpheme that gives the Word its
essential meaning. -Able is an example of a suffix a
morpheme that follows a base morpheme.Both –non
and –able are examples of an affix a morpheme
attached prior to or following a base that cannot
function independently.
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest
grammatical unit in a language. In other words,
it is the smallest meaningful unit of a language.
Sometimes certain morphemes are
pronounced differently depending on their
context
Written as “s” and pronounced as /s/: groups,
lots, proofs, weeks
Morphemes Written as “s” and pronounced as /z/: dogs,
friends, jobs, shoes
Written as “s” and pronounced as /ɪz/: horses,
judges, prizes
Written as “es” and pronounced as /z/: ,
companies, potatoes, tornadoes
Written as “es” and pronounced as /ɪz/:
churches, classes, wishes
Examples of Allomorphs
An allomorph The English possessive morpheme and the
is one of two third person singular morpheme have
or more allomorphs that take on the same phonetic
complementar form as the plural morpheme and are
y morphs governed by the same rules:
which Possessive: Add [z] to woman to get
manifest woman ’s
a morpheme in Add [s] to ship to get ship’ s
its different Add [əz] to judge to get judge’ s
phonological
Third person singular: Add [z] to need to get
or needs
morphological
environments. Add [s] to eat to get eats
Add [əz] to rush to get rushes
Each Phoneme in a language has
variants.They are called allophones.
For Example: In the English Word ‘’pool’’

the /p/ must be pronounced using the
Allophone correct allophone.
The correct allophone of /p/ is aspirated.
The aspirated allophone of /p/ has a
brief puff of air.
Incorrect: [pul]
Correct: [ P-hul]
Whenever /p/ is before a
vowel at the begining of a
stressed syllable we use the
aspirated allophone of /p/.
‘’pie’’ ‘’pear’’
‘’appear’’ ‘’patient’’
On the other hand if /p/ is
at the begining of an
unstressed syllable we use
the unaspirated allophone of
/p/.
‘’ apple’’ ‘’polite’’
‘’copper’’
‘’typing’’
Similarly in English whenever the
/p/ sound comes after the sound
/s/ we used the unaspirated
allophone not the aspirated
allophone.
‘’ Spin’’
‘’Spool’’
‘’Speak’’
‘’Spanish’’
The smallest linguistic unit
within a language that is able,
when combined with other
units to establish word
meanings and distinguist
Questions: between them:
A. Phonetics
B. Articulation
C. Phoneme
D. Speech sound
Phonology is:
A. The study of how phonemes are
organized and function in
communication to convey meaning
B. Refers to the description of the
allowed combinations of phonemes
in a particular language
C. List of all the vowels and
consonants that function in AE to
differentiate meaning
D. A disorder
How many phonemes are
there in the word
'dangerous'?
A. Seven
B. Eight
C. Nine
Unrelated
languages often Which of the following
use different sets statements is true about
of sounds and languages?
rules for making a)All languages use essentially
sense with them (i.
e., syntax). The
the same number of sounds.
basic rules of b)All native speakers of a
grammar are language learn the basic rules of
learned in early grammar in school.
childhood, before
going to school. c)While different languages may
Formal education use different phonemes, they all
only standardizes essentially share the same syntax.
and augments the d)none of the above
rules.
How many morphemes do these
words contain?:
Plays
Replay
Cheap
Cheaply
Able
Unable
Brighten

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The Sound Patterns

For Example: In the English Word ‘’pool’’

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