Phonetics

The Balance between Phonetic Forces 285

therefore prefer utterances that have sounds that remain constant and distinct on all occasions. Perceptually, what matters is that sounds that affect the meaning of a word should be sufficiently distinct from one another. A language must always maintain sufficient perceptual separation. Therefore, languages constrain speakers so that they keep words sufficiently distinct. The language makes sure that there is sufficient perceptual distance between the sounds that occur in a contrasting set, such as the vowels in stressed monosyllables (as in beat, bit, bet, bat, etc.).

The principle of perceptual separation does not usually result in one sound affecting an adjacent sound, as occurs with the principle of maximum ease of articulation. Instead, perceptual separation affects the set of sounds that potentially can occur at a given position in a word, such as in the position that must be occupied by a vowel in a stressed monosyllable. Articulatory processes are syntagmatic, affecting adjacent items in a sequence, whereas perceptual processes are paradigmatic, affecting the set of items that can occur in a given place in a sequence.

We have already noted some of the ways in which languages tend to maximize the perceptual separation between sounds. As we saw in Chapter 9, this tendency explains why some vowel systems are more likely to occur than others. If the vowels of a language are to be maximally distinct, the formant frequencies will be such that the vowels are as far apart as possible when plotted on a vowel chart. Consequently, there is a natural tendency in languages for vowels to be spaced at approximately equal distances and on the outside of the possible vowel area. This tendency is most evident in languages with a comparatively small number of vowels. Hundreds of languages have only five contrasting vowels (e.g., Spanish, Hausa, Japanese, and Swahili, to name four completely unrelated languages). In all these languages, the vowels are roughly evenly distributed so that there are at least two front vowels and two back vowels. No language has only five vowels unevenly distributed so that all are front vowels. But there are, of course, many languages like English that have five front vowels and an approximately similar number of back vowels.

If there is a possibility that a pair of contrasting sounds will occur in the same place within a word, then there will be a tendency for the perceptual distance between them to be increased. Conversely, whenever a language does not distinguish between two similar sounds, the actual sound produced will tend to be between the two possibilities. Thus, as we have seen, English distinguishes between voiced and voiceless stops as in pie, buy. But this distinction cannot occur after / s /. Consequently, the stop in spy is between these two possibilities (but closer to the stop in buy).

Other examples of this phenomenon have also been mentioned. We saw that before [ N ], English does not distinguish between tense and lax vowels. Consequently, the vowel that occurs in, for example, sing has a quality between that of [ i ] and [ I ]. Similarly, there is no distinction between tense and lax vowels before [ ® ]. The vowel in here in most forms of American English is also intermediate between [ i ] and [ I ].

The principle of maximum perceptual separation also accounts for some of the differences between languages. French has two high rounded vowels, [ u ]

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

286 CHAPTER 11 Linguistic Phonetics

as in tout [ t1u] “all,” and [ y ] as in tu [ t1y] “you.” These two possibilities are kept distinct by one’s being definitely a front vowel and the other definitely a back vowel. But English does not have this opposition. Consequently, the high rounded vowel that occurs in, for example, who, two varies considerably. In some dialects (for example, most forms of American English), it is a central or back vowel, and in others (for example, some forms of Scottish English), it is a front vowel not very different from French [ y ]. As far as this vowel is concerned, what matters most in English is that it should be high and rounded. Whether it is front or back is less important.

All these examples illustrate how languages maintain a balance between the requirements of the speaker and those of the listener. On the one hand, there is the pressure to make changes that would result in easier articulations from a speaker’s point of view. On the other hand, there is the pressure from the listener’s point of view that there should be sufficient perceptual contrast between sounds that affect the meaning of an utterance.

PERFORMANCE EXERCISES

The material at the end of this chapter will help you review many of the sounds that have been described in previous chapters. It consists of real words in different languages. If possible, compare your pronunciation of these words with that of an actual native speaker. In any case, you should listen again to the sounds on the CD. If the sounds are not available, try to pronounce the words just on the basis of the transcription provided. You might begin your review by trying to pronounce the data given in the following tables, which provide material on specific languages. All the following tables are on the CD.

CD 6.2

CD 6.3

CD 6.4 CD 6.8

CD 6.9

CD 6.10

CD 7.1

CD 7.3

CD 7.7

6.1	Lakhota	(ejectives)
6.2	Sindhi	(implosives)
6.3	Xhosa	(clicks)
6.5	Gujarati	(murmured vowels)
6.6	Thai	(stops)
6.7	Hindi	(stops)
7.1	Ewe	(bilabial and labiodental fricatives)
7.2	Malayalam	(places of articulation)
7.3	Quechua	(palatal, velar, and uvular plosives and
		ejectives)

Now try to say the following words.

A. Navajo

Navajo has a three-way stop contrast that will require your making voiceless CD 11 unaspirated and ejective stops that do not occur in English. There are also Perf. Ex. A several different affricates.

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

		Performance Exercises 287
Voiceless unaspirated	Voiceless aspirated	Ejective
tota	txa̋…/	t'ah
‘not’	‘three’	‘just’
ha̋títsɪ	tsÓah	ts'ah
‘you will speak’	‘awl’	‘sagebrush’
	t¬Óah	niSt¬'a…
	‘ointment’	‘left’
!
)	t2SÓa…/	t2S'ah
t2S i
‘day’	‘beaver’	‘hat’
	bIkÓa̋…	k'a…/
	‘its surface’	‘arrow’
B. Zulu

Zulu has a series of clicks which are similar to those in Xhosa.

Dental	Alveolar	Alveolar lateral
k˘a̋…gȁ	!ȁk…ka̋	k˘˘a̋…gȁ
‘to whitewash’	‘to undo’	‘to put into a fix’
k˘Óa…ga!	k!Óa~…k!Óa~	k˘˘Óa!…ga
‘to identify’	‘to rip open’	‘to link horses’
g˘o~…∫a!	!o~g…∫a!	g˘˘o~…∫a!
‘to grease’	‘to milk’	‘to beat’
í~sí~…N˘e!	~sí~…N!e!	~sí~…N˘˘e!…le~
(kind of spear)	‘rump’	‘left hand’
C. Burmese

CD 11

Perf.

Ex. B

Burmese contrasts voiced and voiceless nasals at four places of articulation.

Voiced nasals	Voiceless nasals
ma$0 'lift up'	9am$0 'from'
na# 'pain'	n9a# 'nose'
≠a# 'right'	≠9a# 'considerate'
Na$'fish'	N9a$ 'borrow'

D. Greek

Greek is one of the comparatively few languages that contrast both voiced and voiceless palatal and velar fricatives. It also has interdental fricatives.

Dental	Palatal	Velar
Tiki 'box'	CE|I 'hand'	xOma 'soil'
Diki 'trial'	JE|I 'old men'	Voma 'eraser'

CD 11

Perf.

Ex. C

CD 11

Perf.

Ex. D

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

288 CHAPTER 11 Linguistic Phonetics

E. Ewe

Ewe contrasts voiced and voiceless bilabial and labiodental fricatives both

CD 11	intervocalically and in clusters with [ l ].
Perf. Ex. E
	Voiceless
		e!Fa!	e!Fle
	bilabial	‘he polished’	‘he bought’
	Voiceless	e!fa!	e!fle$
	labiodental	æhe was cold’	‘he split off’
	Voiced	”~B”~	e~Blo!
	bilabial	æEwe’ (the language)	‘mushroom’
	Voiced	”~v”~	e!vlo!
	labiodental	‘two'	‘he is evil’

F. Zulu

In addition to a complex set of clicks, Zulu has several different contrasts

CD 11	involving laterals.
Perf. Ex. F
		Voiced	Voiced	Voiceless
		lateral	lateral	lateral
		approximant	fricative	fricative/affricate
	Alveolar	la!la~	La!la~	¬a$nza~
		‘sleep’	æplay’ [imperfect]	‘vomit’
	Nasal+		i!nLa~la~	!nt°i¬’a~nt°¬’a~
	alveolar		‘hunger’	‘good luck’
	Velar			$
				k°l’ina!
				‘be naughty’

The exercises below review vowels and semivowels. As noted in Chapter 9, the main features of vowel quality cannot be adequately described by means of written descriptions. Listen to the recordings on the CD, and, if you can, find native speakers of some of the languages listed below and try to imitate their pronunciation.

Note that the symbols do not have the same values that they have in the transcription of English.

G. French

	French has twelve contrasting oral vowels. (Some speakers of French do not
CD 11	make all these distinctions.)
Perf. Ex. G	li	lit	‘bed’
	le	les	‘the’ [plural]
	l”	laid	‘ugly’
	la	la~	‘there’

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

		Performance Exercises
lA	las	‘tired’
lO‰	Lore	(name)
lo	lot	‘prize’
lu	loup	‘wolf’
ly	lu	‘read’ [past participle]
lø	le	‘the’ [masc. sing.]
l{‰	leur	‘their’
l”)	lin	‘flax’
la)	lent	‘slow’
lo)	long	‘long’
l{)di	lundi	‘Monday’
French also has three contrasting semivowels.
mj”t	miette	‘crumb’
mμ”t	muette	‘mute’
mw”t	mouette	‘sea gull’
lje	lie!	‘tied’
lμi	lui	‘him’
lwi	Louis	‘Louis’
μit	huit	‘eight’
wi	oui	‘yes’

H.German

German has so-called tense and lax vowels, which differ in both length and quality. The symbol [ ʏ] denotes a slightly lowered high front vowel—a

rounded version of [ I ].

bi…ten	bieten	‘to offer’
be…tEn	beten	‘pray’
b”…tEn	bäten	‘asked’ [subjunctive]
ba…tEn	baten	‘asked’
vʏ…tEn	wüten	‘to rage’
b„…tEn	böten	‘offered’ [subjunctive]
bu…tEn	buhten	‘booed’
bo…tEn	boten	‘boats’ [dative plural]
bItEn	bitten	‘to ask’
b”tEn	betten	‘beds’
latEn	latten	‘bars’
bʏtEn	bütten	‘tubs’

289

CD 11

Perf.

Ex. H

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

290 CHAPTER 11 Linguistic Phonetics
b{tiNEn	Böttingen	(town name)
bÁtE	butter	‘butter’
bOtiC	bottich	‘vat’
vaItEn	weiten	‘to widen’
bOʏtE	beute	‘booty’
baÁtEn	bauten	‘built’

I. Swedish

Swedish has long and short vowels; the short vowels are followed by long consonants. The symbol [ ʏ] denotes a slightly lowered high front vowel— a rounded version of [ I ]. The symbol [ ɵ] denotes a more centralized high rounded vowel—a slightly lowered [ ¨ ].

®i…ta	rita	‘draw’
®e…ta	reta	‘tease’
®”…ta	räta	‘straighten’
hœ…®	här	‘here’
®A…ta	rata	‘refuse’
®o…ta	Rota	(name of a valley)
®u…ta	rota	‘root’
®y…ta	ryta	‘roar’
®„…ta	ro·ta	‘rot’
hœ…®	hör	‘hear!’
®¨…ta	ruta	‘windowpane’
®It…	ritt	‘ride’ [noun]
®”t…	rätt	‘correct’ [adjective]
hœ®…	herr	‘Mr.’
®at…	ratt	‘steering wheel’
®Ot…	rått	‘raw’
®Át…	rott	‘rowed’
nʏt…a	nytta	‘use’ [noun]
®{t…	rött	‘red’
®ɵt…	rutt	‘route’

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

Performance Exercises 291

J.Vietnamese

Vietnamese has eleven vowels, including contrasting back rounded and unrounded pairs. Tones in this exercise are marked as follows: mid-level tone is unmarked, high-rising tone has an acute accent [ ! ].

Front	Back
	unrounded	rounded
ti	tU	tu
‘bureau’	‘fourth’	‘to drink’
te	tøØ	to
‘numb’	‘silk’	‘soup bowl’
t”!	ØN	tO
‘to fall down’	‘favor’	‘large’
œN	tA
‘to eat’	‘we/our’

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

Appendix A

Additional Material for Transcription

The full text of the story “Arthur the Rat,” recorded on the accompanying CD by both British and American English speakers, was used by fieldworkers as they conducted interviews for the Dictionary of American Regional English (Harvard University Press). A similar story was used for recordings made by the Linguistic Survey of Scotland. Both versions are based on a much older story called “Grip, the Rat,” devised for dialect studies in the nineteenth century.

The first paragraph of this story and some additional freely spoken sentences were recorded by speakers with accents typical of the following places: Alabama, Edinburgh, London, Dublin, and New Zealand.

Arthur the Rat

Once there was a young rat named Arthur, who could never make up his mind. Whenever his friends asked him if he would like to go out with them, he would only answer, “I don’t know.” He wouldn’t say “yes” or “no,” either. He would always shirk making a choice.

His aunt Helen said to him, “Now, look here. No one is going to care for you if you carry on like this. You have no more mind than a blade of grass.”

One rainy day, the rats heard a great noise in the loft. The pine rafters were all rotten, so that the barn was rather unsafe. At last the joists gave way and fell to the ground. The walls shook and all the rats’ hair stood on end with fear and horror. “This won’t do,” said the captain. “I’ll send out scouts to search for a new home.”

Within five hours, the ten scouts came back and said, “We found a stone house where there is room and board for us all. There is a kindly horse named Nelly, a cow, a calf, and a garden with an elm tree.” The rats crawled out of their little houses and stood on the floor in a long line. Just then, the old one saw Arthur. “Stop,” he ordered coarsely. “You are coming, of course?”

“I’m not certain,” said Arthur, undaunted. “The roof may not come down yet.”

“Well,” said the angry old rat, “we can’t wait for you to join us. Right about face. March!”

Arthur stood and watched them hurry away. “I think I’ll go tomorrow,” he calmly said to himself, but then again, “I don’t know; it’s so nice and snug here.”

293

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.

294 APPENDIX A

That night there was a big crash. In the morning some men—with some boys and girls—rode up and looked at the barn. One of them moved a board and he saw a young rat, quite dead, half in and half out of his hole. Thus the shirker got his due.

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.