An Introduction to Phonology Francis Katamba (original) (raw)
Related papers
Generative Phonology: The Basic Model
1974
The term generative phonolgy refers to statements, rules or axioms which can produce all but only those well-formed utterances of a language. The goal of this theory is to make precise and explicit the ability of native speakers to produce utterances of a particular language. In generative phonology, the level of the phoneme is redefined to match the deeper level of abstraction aimed for in the most efficient conception of phonological processes. It is the task of the phonological rules to account for the predictable aspects of pronunciation whether they relate to alternate pronunciations of the same basic morpheme or different phonetic forms that a sound can take. These rules, made to look like "mathematical formulas," provide an explicit means of capturing the general principles of various phonological processes: 1) assimilation, 2) neutralization, 3) deletion, 4) coalescence, 5) epenthesis, and 6) redistribution. The incorporation of distinctive features into a generative phonology allows the linguist to state explicitly important generalizations about the phonology of a language. (PM)
1979
Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle founded the Generative School of Phonology in the late 1950's. It's basic premises are that phonological structure reflects the linguistic competence of the individual native speaker to compute a phonetic representation for the potentially infinite number of sentences generated by the syntactic component of the grammar and that this competence can be investigated in a serious scientific fashion. The generative point of view has become dominant in the field of linguistics and has had varying degrees of influence on other cognitive sciences. This entry surveys the development of the generative approach over three fifteen-year segments and concludes with current research trajectories.
2012
As is well known the physical properties of speech are determined by a large number of factors. They vary depending on the language spoken, on the age, gender and identity of the speaker. They undergo stylistical modifications in innumerable ways owing to the interaction of physiological, cognitive, social and communicative factors. Linguistics deals with this problem by assigning the study of the speech signal to phonetics. Phonology investigates postulated sound structure, that is abstract entities and processes which are assumed to underlie speech behavior and which are by definition independent of performance and language use. In this way, the study of speech sounds is split into two: Phonology becomes digital, and phonetics analog. “ … the fundamental contribution which Saussure made to the development of linguistics … “ was “ … to focus the attention of the linguist on the system of regularities and relations which support the differences among signs, rather than on the detail...
When we speak, we use sounds. Through these sounds, we are able to understand each other. This is because there are different types of relationships that exist between the sounds that we use in speech acts. This is the principal objective of Phonology: to study the relationships between speech sounds within a language system. Bearing in mind the afore-mentioned, a brief report is given on one chapter from Davenport and Hannahs’ (1998) book, shedding light on the importance of Phonology in the study of language. This paper discusses what generative grammar is about, and how phonology fits into this grammar. Attention is paid to the similarities and differences between phonetics and phonology and their relevance to language study, providing relevant examples to substantiate certain claims. Concluding remarks are given, based on the information presented. Keywords: phonology, phonetics, sound, speech sound, phoneme, language, communication, generative grammar.
Introduction: models of phonology in perception
The aim of this book is to provide explicit discussions on how perception is connected to phonology. This includes discussions of how many representations a comprehensive view of phonology requires, and how these representations are mapped to each other in the processes of comprehension and production. Of the two directions of processing, this book centres on comprehension, the direction that has received relatively little attention from phonologists.
Phonological Processes and Phonetic Rules
2009
1. Relating phonological representations to phonetic output In both generative and natural phonology, phonological representations and alternations have been described in terms of categorical feature values, as in Jakobson, Fant, & Halle’s (1963) original conception. This categorical representation contrasts with instrumental phonetic data, which present the speech signal as temporally, qualitatively, and quantitatively non-categorical and continuous. The question that will be addressed here is how phonetic representation (‘surface’ phonological representation) and speech are related. Generativists and naturalists have taken two quite different views on this. The generativist view, and that of most recent writers on phonetics, has been that phonetic representation and speech are related by language-specific phonetic rules that associate binary phonological values with gradient phonetic values. The naturalist position has been that the relationship is universally determined in the ac...