PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES: DISCUSSION PROBLEM Lango1 1. Make a phonetic chart of all the consonants in the data from the next page.. 2. This problem deals with the distribution of the sounds [p, ɸ, t, ɾ , tɕ, ɕ, k, x]. NOTE: The stops, but NOT the continuants (fricatives and sonorants) can all occur as geminates, i.e. [pp, tt, ttɕ, kk] but no *[ɸɸ, ɾ ɾ , ɕɕ, xx]. 3. ANALYSIS: Make a table of just environments for the labials [p, pp, ɸ]. (In principle, you would do this for all the target sounds, but let’s keep things simple for the moment!) 4. Set up the minimum number of labial phonemes and write a rule or rules accounting for the environments where the allophones occur. “Elsewhere” is a legitimate environment. 5. Now look at the other sounds listed in (2) above. Can the analysis of (4) be generalized to account for them by using features rather than individual IPA symbols? 6. The word for ‘lazy’ is [ɲàp], with a [p]. The word for ‘laziness’ is [ɲáɸo ], with a [ɸ]. Explain how the analysis above can account for this pair of forms.. Phonetic symbols: • All symbols are IPA (so, for instance, [j] is a high front glide). • [á] marks High tone, [à] marks Low, [a ] marks Falling. • [tɕ] and [dʑ] are palatal affricates, [ɕ] is a palatal fricative. • [ɾ ] is a voiceless flap. 1 Nilotic, Uganda. About 850,000 speakers as of 1986, according to the Ethnologue. Data assembled by Bruce Hayes from Mickey Noonan, A Grammar of Lango. 1Linguistics 120A 2. Phonemes and Allophones Topic 2/page 2 LANGO DATA 1 [pɪ ] ‘because of’ 2 [ke tɕ] ‘hunger’ 3 [tɔŋ] ‘spear’ 4 [tu ttɕó] ‘to yell at’ 5 [tɕɔː] ‘men’ 6 [ʔɔ t] ‘house’ 7 [dɔ ttɔ ] ‘to suck’ 8 [pə ppɪ ] ‘fathers’ 9 [pójó] ‘to remember’ 10 [ljèt] ‘hot’ 11 [bókkó] ‘to make red’ 12 [júttɕú] ‘to throw’ 13 [èŋə ɾ o ‘lion’ 14 [ókkɔ ] ‘completely’ 15 [déɸô] ‘to collect’ 16 [dɛ k] ‘stew’ 17 [tɕùɸâ] ‘bottle’ 18 [gwɛ k] ‘gazelle’ 19 [kókkó] ‘to cry’ 20 [ɲáɸo ] ‘laziness’ 21 [ɾɛ tɕ] ‘fish’ 22 [boɾə] ‘to me’ 23 [dìppó] ‘to smash’ 24 [dwéɾ ê] ‘months’ 25 [kóddó] ‘to blow’ 26 [tɕín] ‘intestines’ 27 [gíɾ é] ‘really’ 28 [loɕə] ‘man’ 29 [kwə ɕ ê] ‘leopards’ 30 [kál] ‘millet’ 31 [màɕê] ‘fires’ 32 [àbíɕɛ l] ‘six’ 33[dáxô] ‘woman’ 34[tɕu tɕ] ‘pitch black’ 35[tóddʑó] ‘to beat up’ 36[wókkí] ‘a few minutes ago’ 37[dɪ ə xə ] ‘wet’ 38[máxâtɕ] ‘scissors’ 39[pé] ‘snow, hail’ 40[kɔ ppɔ ] ‘cup’ 41[pàttɕó] ‘to peel’ 42[pámmà] ‘cotton’ 43[mɔɾɔ xa ] ‘car’ 44[bə p] ‘to deflate’ 45[lwɪ ttɛ ] ‘to sneak’ 46[ɲàp] ‘lazy’ 47[bwɔ ttɔ ] ‘to retort insultingly’ 48[tèttó] ‘to forge’ 49[tɕàmmó] ‘to eat’ 50[tɔ p] ‘to spoil’ 51[tɕɔ k] ‘near’ 52[pàɸó] ‘father’ 53[ŋwɛ ttɕó] ‘to run from’ 54[bót] ‘to’ 55[dɛ ppó] ‘to collect’ 56[gɔ t] ‘mountain’ 57[jɪ tɕ] ‘belly’ 58[bìttó] ‘to unshell’ 59[dɔ k] ‘to go back’ 60[kòp] ‘matter’ 61[tɪ n] ‘today’ 62[kít] ‘kind’ 63[àkká] ‘purposely’ 64[tɕàk] ‘milk’Linguistics 120A 2. Phonemes and Allophones Topic 2/page 3 Toward a Solution of Lango Allophonic Distribution This problem illustrates (1) the notion of sounds in COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION being allophones of one PHONEME, (2) the methodology of laying out environments, and (3) the notion of natural classes. 1. Make a phonetic chart of all the consonants in the data from the next page. (We’ll let you do that!) 2. This problem deals with the distribution of the sounds [p, ɸ, t, ɾ , tɕ, ɕ, k, x]. NOTE: The stops, but NOT the continuants (fricatives and sonorants) can all occur as geminates, i.e. [pp, tt, ttɕ, kk] but no *[ɸɸ, ɾ ɾ , ɕɕ, xx]. 3. ANALYSIS: Make a table of just environments for the labials [p, pp, ɸ]. (In principle, you would do this for all the target sounds, but let’s keep things simple for the moment!) Example # [p] Example # [pp] Example # [ɸ] 1 8 etc. ___i ___e 8 ə___i 15 e___0 - [p] should appear only at the beginning or end of a word - [pp] and [ɸ] should appear only intervocalic (Word periphery or intervocalic are the only environments in this data set.) 4. Set up the minimum number of labial phonemes and write a rule or rules accounting for the environments where the allophones occur. “Elsewhere” is a legitimate environment. /p/ Æ [ɸ] / V___V /p/ Æ elsewhere (at word peripheries or in geminate clusters)2 5. Now look at the other sounds listed in (2) above. Can the analysis of (4) be generalized to account for them by using features rather than individual IPA symbols? [stop] Æ [continuant] / V__V, that is ANY stop turns into its fricative counterpart between vowels (You’ll need a little “fix-up” to account for /t/ Æ [ɾ ], since [ɾ ] is not just the “continuant” counterpart of [t], but is liquid, or better, [sonorant] consonant in addition to being a voiceless continuant) [stop] Æ [stop] elsewhere 2 Professor Hayes, who first introduced Lango as a 120A discussion problem, had a different solution, i.e. to treat geminates as a separate phonemes. I prefer a reductionist approach, i.e. one that proposes the smallest number of phonemes that one can get away with.Linguistics 120A 2. Phonemes and Allophones Topic 2/page 4 6. The word for ‘lazy’ is [ɲàp], with a [p]. The word for ‘laziness’ is [ɲáɸo ], with a [ɸ]. Explain how the analysis above can account for this pair of forms.. The rule [stop] Æ [continuant] / V___V actually takes care of this. We developed the rule to account for the distribution of allophones, that is, why we find only [p] and other stops at the beginnings or endings of words and why we find only [ɸ] and other fricatives between vowels. This distribution is dynamic, however. That is, if we create an environment that puts a sound into another distributional situation—in this case, we put a sound that was a stop in word final position into a