Witsuwit en phonetics and phonology. LING 200 Spring 2006

Transcription

1 Witsuwit en phonetics and phonology LING 200 Spring 2006

2 Announcements Correction to homework #2 (due Thurs in section) 5. all 6. (a)-(g), (j) (rest of assignment remains the same)

3 Announcements Clickers model Responsive Innovations ResponseCard RF available in bookstore, textbook section, check-out counter set to channel 41 Press and release GO button While light is flashing red and green, enter 41 Press and release GO again Press and release 1/A button. If flashes yellow, confirms set to right channel.

4 Reminder Quiz on Ch. 7 (Phonology) is now open, closes Wed. noon

5 Organization 1. The Witsuwit en language and Athabaskan family 2. Witsuwit en phonetics 3. Witsuwit en phonology

6 Bear Lake Takla Lake Babine River Kispiox River Bulkley River Babine Lake Witsuwit en apx. 180 speakers a dialect of the Witsuwit en-babine language Athabaskan family New Hazelton Smithers Telkwa Fort Babine River Moricetown Skeena Takla Landing Houston Broman Lake Burns Lake Morice River Fran ois Lake Morice Lake Grassy Plains Ootsa Lake Tahtsa Lake Whitesail Lake

7 Eyak Tlingit Witsuwit en Navajo Tsek ene Athabaskan family variant spellings: Athapaskan, Athabascan, Athapascan about 37 lgs in this family estimated timedepth: 2500 years

8 Na-Dene Tlingit Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak Eyak Proto-Athabaskan CAY S.AK Tset CBC PCA NW Can Sar Apachean Deg Xinag Witsuwit en Tsek ene CAY = Central Alaska-Yukon; S.AK = S. Alaska; Tset = Tsetsaut, CBC = Central BC, PCA = Pacific Coast Athabaskan; NW Can = NW Canada; Sar = Sarcee

9 Some Witsuwit en speakers Mabel Forsythe Lillian Morris, Peter John

10 A Witsuwit en text Lillian and Mabel talking together 2:39 conversation recorded 1997 some background noise what unfamiliar sounds do you hear?

11 Glottal stop [ ] stop made at the glottis: vocal cords brought together so no air can pass through the glottis uh-oh Hawaii (Hawai i) button important [ o] [h waj i] [b n] [ mp r nt]

12 [ ] in Witsuwit en [pe ] dried fish [ en] he, she [so mpi] no one [c te ni] legend

13 Some Witsuwit en sounds Ejective stops and affricates: transcribed [C ] How to make a (canonical) velar ejective: 0. Make a velar stop. Make a glottal stop.

14 Ejective affricates [ts ] = ejective alveolar affricate [p ts q] his little finger Compare [ts] = voiceless alveolar affricate [p ts q] his outer ear Waveforms: (waveform = acoustic graph of energy x time) [p t s q] [p t s q] Time (s) Time (s)

15 Ejective stops [t ] = ejective alveolar stop [nt q] your collarbone Compare [t] = voiceless alveolar stop [nt q] up [n t q] [n t q] Time (s) Time (s)

16 Uvular place of articulation

17 [p t ene] he s cooking Uvular place of articulation [q] = voiceless uvular stop [qis] Chinook salmon [q ] rabbit [nt q] up [q h ] = voiceless aspirated uvular stop [q h ] footwear [q ] = voiceless uvular ejective (stop) [q ] backwards [ ] = voiceless uvular fricative [ ] grease [ ] = (voiced) uvular approximant

18 Palatal place of articulation

19 Palatal place of articulation [c] = voiceless palatal stop [c s] hook [nece] it healed [wec t h s] I m not strong [c h ] = voiceless aspirated palatal stop [c h s] down feather [c ] = palatal ejective (stop) [c t h j] gun [ç] = voiceless palatal fricative [l zt h ç] knife [n teç] he s dancing [j] = (voiced) palatal glide

20 Labio-velar place of articulation

21 Labio-velar place of articulation [k w ] = voiceless labio-velar stop [k w e ] bag [k wh ] = voiceless aspirated labio-velar stop [k wh n] fire [k w ] = labio-velar ejective (stop) [k w is] (personal name) [k w s l] bead [x w ] = voiceless labio-velar fricative [x w s] thorn [w] = (voiced) labio-velar glide [n w s] soapberry

22 Lateral fricative and affricates [l] = (voiced) lateral approximant [l zt h ç] knife [ ] = voiceless lateral fricative [ j l] it s white; goat (lit. that which is white ) [t ] = voiceless lateral affricate [s t et] it s licking me [t h ] = voiceless aspirated lateral affricate [n c t h s] I m kneading it [t ] = ejective lateral affricate [s t et] he farted

23 Witsuwit en consonant chart labial alveolar palatal labio-velar uvular glottal stops p p t t h t c c h c k w k wh k w q q h q affricates ts ts h ts lateral t t h t fricatives s z ç x w h lateral nasals m n approxim ants j w lateral l

24 Witsuwit en vowels front central back unrounded unrounded rounded high mid higher-mid lower-mid i e u o low æ

25 Further details about Witsuwit en sounds [t z] driftwood [t h z] cane Why wasn t [ ] listed in the vowel inventory for Witsuwit en? Answer: [ ] is a predictable detail about the pronunciation of Witsuwit en, and predictable information is usually omitted.

26 Broad vs. narrow transcription A transcription can vary in the amount of phonetic detail included Relatively a lot of detail: narrow transcription e.g. [t h z] cane [t z] driftwood Relatively less detail: broad transcription e.g. [t h z] cane [t z] driftwood When should [ ] be included in a transcription of Witsuwit en?

27 Languages contain predictable vs. unpredictable information Unpredictable, list-like information this kind of information represented in dictionary Predictable, rule-like information e.g. in Witsuwit en, schwa is pronounced as a lower-mid central vowel (in one context) this kind of information represented in grammar a phonological rule

28 Broadest transcription Represents only unpredictable information Phonemic representation: phonological rules /t h z/ e.g. lower vowel phonetic representation [t h z] Phonemes: the elements of a phonemic representation (enclosed in slash brackets)

29 When to use broad vs. narrow transcription? Typically, transcription is as broad as possible Symbols in consonant, vowel charts are phonemes In Witsuwit en, [ ] would be transcribed only in a phonetic study of vowel quality (e.g. Ch. 4 of Hargus (to appear))

30 / / Lowering In Witsuwit en, [ ] is pronounced [ ] context of phonological rule after voiceless aspirated stops, ejective stops, or voiceless fricatives.

31 Context for / / Lowering After any of: labial alveolar palatal labio-velar uvular glottal stops p t h t c h c k wh k w q h q affricates ts h ts lateral t h t fricatives s ç x w h lateral

32 Distribution of [ ], [ ] in Witsuwit en [ ] occurs after p t c k w q ts t z m n l j w [ ] occurs after p t h t c h c k wh k w q h q ts h ts t h t s ç x w h

33 Distribution of [ ], [ ] in Witsuwit en All the places / /can occur in Witsuwit en t e.g. [t z], [m n], [p n], [p l t], [p z z] m p l z s etc. t h x w e.g. [t h z], [ z], [x w s], [ t], [s s]

34 Distribution of [ ], [ ] in Witsuwit en The distribution of [ ] complements that of [ ]. Or,[ ] and [ ] are in complementary distribution. Only the basic member of a set of sounds which are in complementary distribution is considered phonemic (appears in vowel chart, etc.).

35 Which of [ ], [ ] is more basic? Which of the contexts is simpler? e.g. reduces to natural class of sounds or single position within word rule applies in simpler context (not easy to tell in this case from just the information provided so far; other facts suggest that [ ] is derived from / /)

36 Summing up [ ], [ ] in Witsuwit en these vowel phones in complementary distribution [ ] derived by lowering rule Post-script /o/ lowers to [ ] and /æ/ retracts to [ ] in the same context that / / lowers to [ ]

37 Inventory of Witsuwit en vowel phones front central back unrounded unrounded rounded high mid low higher-mid lower-mid i e æ u o

38 Sounds which are not in complementary distribution Contrast, i.e. occur in the same context [ ] vs. [l] [ ] dam [ l] conifer [s] vs. [z] [c z s] bag, case [c z z] hide, skin [m] vs. [p] [m n] roof [p n] lake

39 Applied phonology The Witsuwit en writing system represents the phonemes, not all of the phonetic sounds Designed by a missionary in the 70s for use on a typewriter Revised 1993 (by your professor)

40 Word list transcribed (broadly) phonetic orthographic driftwood [t z] <diz> cane [t h z] <tiz> footwear [q h ] <kë> grease [ ] <khë> straight up [nt q] <ndik> your collarbone [nt q] <nt ik>

41 More detail As transcribed on a previous slide, [c s] hook [c h s] down feather Why not [c s] hook [c h s] down feather

42 Summary Phonetic transcription typically as streamlined as possible Predictable, rule-governed details are omitted Distribution is a major clue as to predictability Languages differ in inventories of contrastive sounds rules for pronunciation of sounds

43 Phonetics vs. phonology transcription phonetic detail contrast sounds phonetics narrower okay explicitly represented how is a particular contrast realized? what are articulatory, acoustic, perceptible properties? phonology must be broad, streamlined detail is predicted by rule system what is contrastive? how do sounds form patterns, classes?