Transcript Slide 1

JPN494: Japanese Language and Linguistics
JPN543: Advanced Japanese Language and
Linguistics
Phonology & Phonetics (2)
Two major types of sounds
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Consonants: speech-sounds produced
when the speaker either stops or severely
constricts the airflow in vocal tract.
Vowels: speech-sounds produced with a
relatively open vocal tract, which functions as
a resonating chamber.
Vowels in English and Japanese
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Five Vowels in Japanese
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ア [a], イ [i], ウ [ɯ], エ [e], オ [o]
English
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many more!
From the articulatory viewpoint …
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Three major factors that characterize a vowel:
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How high the tongue position is (or how wide the mouth is
opened) (high, mid-high, mid-low, low)
How forward the tongue position is (front, central, back)
The form of the lips (rounded, neutral, spread)
Simple vowels (monophthong) can be combined to
form a diphthong (e.g. English [aɪ] as in I am …) or
triphthong.
From the acoustic viewpoint …
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Vowels differ from one another in their “quality”; or more
technically, in their overtone structure.
A sound consists of multiple harmonics:
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The frequency of the first harmonic (the fundamental frequency) is
determined by the vibration speed of the sound source (e.g. your
vocal cords)
The frequencies of the second, third, … harmonics (overtones) are
whole number multiples of that of the first harmonic; the intensity
of each overtone is determined by the condition surrounding the
sound source (e.g. the shape of your vocal tract).
the first harmonic = the basic tone; 125 Hz
the second harmonic = the first overtone; 250 Hz
the third harmonic = the second overtone; 375 Hz
…
Formants
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Formant = Group of “emphasized” overtones within a
certain pitch range
People distinguish vowels largely based on two
formants: F1 and F2 (F2 is higher)
Roughly speaking: F1 has a higher frequency when
the tongue is lowered, and F2 has a higher
frequency when the tongue is forward; both F1 and
F2 are lowered when the lips are rounded.
F0 = the fundamental frequency
Praat
Formants
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F0 varies widely across speakers and in
individual sounds (of the same speaker).
Average F0; male: 125 Hz, female: 225 Hz
The frequencies of F1 and F2: more or less
constant across speakers/in individual
sounds.
L05:184ff
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Acoustic characteristics of consonants too
can be largely stated in terms of overtone
structures – but this is a more complicated
story. (see L05:197)
Vowels in Japanese
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ア [a]: low-central-unrounded
イ [i]: high-front-unrounded
ウ [ɯ]: high-back-unrounded
エ [e]: middle-front-unrounded
オ [o]: middle-back-rounded
ア: F1 - 880Hz, F2 - 1350Hz
 イ: F1- 320Hz, F2 - 2720Hz
 ウ: F1 - 370Hz, F2 - 1670 Hz
 エ: F1 - 480Hz, F2 - 2300 Hz
 オ: F1 - 500Hz, F2 - 920 Hz
(a female speaker)
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あか: F1 __ , F2 __
いき: F1 __ , F2 __
うす: F1 __, F2 __
えせ: F1 __, F2 __
おと: F1 __, F2 __
Vowels in English
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English vowels can be divided into:
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full (strong) vowels vs. reduced (weak) vowels
reduced vowels: [ə] (ago), [ɪ] (chicken) (wide
dialectal/individual variation; L93:85-6)
Full vowels can be divided into:
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lax (short) vowels vs. tense (long) vowels
lax vowels: [ɪ] (bit), [ɛ] (bet), [æ] (bat), [ʊ] (book),
[ʌ] (buck)
Vowels in English
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Tense vowels have a special class called
diphthongs:
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monophthongal tense vowels:
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[ɑ] (pot), [ɔ] (bought), [i] (beat), [u] (boot)
(In some American dialects, [ɑ] and [ɔ] are not
distinguished and [ɑ] is invariably used (e.g. law vs. la, cot
vs. caught))
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r-colored (rhotacized) vowel: [ɝ] (bird)
diphthongs: [eɪ] (bait), [oʊ] (boat), [ɔɪ] (boycott),
[aʊ] (bounce), [aɪ] (bite)(, [ju] (cue))
Vowels in English
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reduced vowels = unstressed vowels?
According to Ladefoged (2005):
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Full vowels can be either stressed or not stressed.
Reduced vowels are always not stressed.
Phonemically, there is only one reduced vowel: /ə/
(allophones: [ə], [ɪ], etc.). (Some scholars do not
count it as an independent phoneme.)
Full vowels can be “reduced” to [ə], [ɪ], etc. by the
reduction rule (L05).
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explain → explanation
recite → recitation
Vowels in English
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Other things being equal, tense vowels tend to be
longer than lax vowels.
A consonant that follows a tense vowel is shorter
than one that follows a lax vowel.
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e.g. beat vs. bit
A lax vowel cannot form an open syllable (a syllable
ending with a vowel)
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–
beat [bit] : bee [bi] / bit [bɪt] : ??
bait [beɪt] : bay [beɪ] / bet [bɛt] : ??
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“R-coloring”, or rhoticization, refers to lowering of F3
(which can be caused by curling up the tongue,
among other ways).
The opposition of reduced/lax/tense is orthogonal to
the position of the tongue.
R-colored vowels in GA:
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[ɝ]: bird [bɝd] (or [bɜɹd]) (no non-R-colored counterpart;
entirely rhotacized)
beer [bɪɹ], bare [bɛɹ], bar [bɑɹ], bore [bɔɹ], (boar [boʊɹ],) tour
[tuɹ], burr [bʌɹ], fire [faɪɹ], hour [aʊɹ], (coir [cɔɪɹ],) (pure [pjuɹ])
brother [bɹʌθəɹ]
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R-coloring can be understood as a process whereby [ɹ] is
“absorbed” into the preceding vowel. (The case of [ɝ] may be
exceptional)
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Some scholars think that [ɹ] is still there, and it causes rcoloring on the preceding vowel.
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car [kɑɹ]
bird [bɝd] (or [bɜɹd])
car [kɑɹɹ]
Yet others think that there is an r-colored reduced vowel [ɚ]
instead of r-coloring on a regular vowel or [ɹ].
–
car [kɑɚ]
In addition to the axes of “front-back”,
“high-low”, and “rounded-spread”, English
vowels can be characterized by:
 full vs. reduced
 tense vs. lax
 monophthong vs. diphthong
 rhotacization
American vs. British English
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American (GA):
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spa [spɑ], hot [hɑt], caught [cɔt] (or [cɑt])
far [fɑɹ], brother [bɹʌθəɹ] (r-coloring)
here [hɪr], air [ɛr], tour [tʊr] (r-colored monophthongs)
bird [bɝd] (r-colored monophthong)
British (RP):
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spa [spɑ], hot [hɒt], caught [cɔt]
far [fɑ], brother [bɹʌθə] (no r-coloring)
here [hɪə], air [ɛə], tour [tʊə] (diphthongs)
bird [bɜd] (non r-colored monophthong)