PLINP201 Phonology of English

Lecture 2:Allophony

allophones of /t/

various degrees of aspiration:top, stop, letter

variability in final position:right.

variation in place of articulation:train, eighth

various special kinds of release:button, bottle

Does this word have a /t/?

taxonomic phonemics

generative phonology

postman

no(if so pronounced)

yes

soften

no yes

whistle

no no

chalet

no no

night-time

taxonomic-phonemic: phonetic:

a string of two phonemes, but only one (long) phonetic segment

A fortis plosive is aspirated when initial

A fortis plosive is aspirated when initial in a syllable with a strong vowel

A fortis plosive is aspirated when initialin a syllable with a strong vowel

dissipate

bedtime

indicate

Waveforms of the three Thai words bâ: 'crazy', pâ: 'aunt', phâ: 'cloth'. From Peter Ladefoged, 2001, Vowels and consonants, p. 122

from Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics

tie

die

sty

4. An aspirated plosive is one followed by a brief [h]-sound. That is, there is a delay between the release of the primary closure of the articulators and the beginning of the sound that follows. During this delay air continues to be expelled from the lungs through the open glottis.English are

● aspirated when at the beginning of a syllable (if it has a strong vowel)

● unaspirated when preceded by s at the beginning of a syllable or followed by an obstruent

● slightly aspirated or unaspirated elsewhere.

If a liquid (r, l) or semivowel (j, w) comes between the plosive and the vowel, then aspiration takes the form of making this consonant

voiceless.

clear before a vowel sound

let, valley, allow

dark elsewheremilk, table, middle

now perhaps vocalized