Questions tagged [phonology]
The study of the abstract aspect of the sounds or *phonemes* in a given language.
1,010
questions
69
votes
9
answers
114k
views
When should one use slashes or square brackets when transcribing in IPA?
When should one use /fubar/ and when [fubar] when transcribing in IPA? What are the differences?
- 8,451
47
votes
15
answers
490k
views
What's the difference between phonetics and phonology?
Having practiced armchair linguistics for some years I should be able to sum up the difference off the top of my head, yet often I don't know which term to use.
And looking them up on Wikipedia doesn'...
- 14.6k
45
votes
6
answers
6k
views
How do linguists place the vowels of a language precisely on the vowel trapezoid?
Since vowels in human speech are a continuous spectrum rather than a discrete set, many descriptions of languages I’ve seen — not only on Wikipedia — place the vowels of a language as dots in a two-...
- 831
33
votes
10
answers
7k
views
Is pronouncing loanwords according to their "native" pronunciation stigmatised across most cultures and languages?
This old CollegeHumor sketch highlights an interesting phenomenon: it's often frowned upon or disapproved of, at least in the US and England, to pronounce a loanword according to the phonetics of the ...
- 1,270
30
votes
5
answers
15k
views
Is there a difference between an affricate and a plosive+fricative consonant cluster?
Is there a difference between an affricate and a plosive+fricative consonant cluster?
According to wikipedia, there is a difference between a plosive+fricative sequence, as in the following example
...
- 1,412
26
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Is the seeming relation between the sound /n/ and negativity purely coincidental?
I have noticed that in many languages, words for "no", negative verb forms, etc. often begin with the sound /n/. Although I understand it is by no means universal, is there any relationship between ...
- 734
26
votes
8
answers
7k
views
American English : are [ə] and [ʌ] different phonemes? (schwa vs. chevron)
What case can be made for considering whether [ə] and [ʌ] are different phonemes or not in American English? Please note the focus is on standard American English. EDIT: i.e.: on General American.
...
- 563
26
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is it common to use the minor third for calling someone?
In German, calling someone's two-syllable name is tied very strongly to the minor third.
In languages that like to have a stressed last syllable, I would expect the last syllable to be higher than ...
- 1,425
26
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Are consonant mutations in Indo-European languages specific of the Celtic group?
Consonant mutations are a strong characteristic of the Celtic languages. An example in Breton would be:
Khaz /kaz/: cat
Ar c'haz /aʁ.xaz/: the cat
The /k/ is altered to /x/ after ar.
According ...
- 860
24
votes
2
answers
37k
views
Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?
Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?
- 249
24
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Do onomatopoeias resist sound change?
Regular sound changes can of course affect phonemes used in onomatopoeias. For example, consider a language containing /mjaw/, referring to the call of a cat. Suppose that final /w/ is sound-changed ...
- 3,244
21
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Where did Spanish get its /x/? Arabic influence?
Most Romance languages don't have /x/ (like the j in hijo), nor did Latin. Where did Spanish /x/ come from? Internal development, Arabic influence, or something else? Since Moroccan Arabic also has /x/...
- 7,956
20
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Is the schwa sound consistent?
The first syllable in "about" (ə'baʊt) is schwa, so is the second one in the "salad" ('sæləd), but iv'e never heard them pronounced the same way.
in salad it sounds more like the i in "trick".
...
- 327
19
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What about the sound change initial n -> initial l?
While learning (a little) Cantonese, I was annoyed by the fact that every initial [n] was converted to [l], so that the word "you", written
néih hóu
in guidebooks is universally pronounced
léih ...
18
votes
6
answers
840
views
Which phenomena compensate for sound losses in languages?
There is a tendency in all of the world’s languages to drop word sounds, especially unstressed syllables. One example is the word for “winter” in Proto-Algonquian, “peponwi”, which developed into “aa” ...
- 8,198
18
votes
1
answer
993
views
How do tone languages assign phonemic tones to loanwords from non-tone languages?
How do tone languages assign phonemic tones to loanwords from non-tone languages? For example, does such assignment vary according to the phonological context in each loanword? Alternatively, does ...
- 8,711
17
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is it possible to predict language changes?
The comparative method is used to reconstruct unattested languages from the attested ones. By comparing different sounds for the same words in various sister languages, it is possible to infer some ...
- 8,198
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How did the Arabic word "allah" come to have an /lˤ/ ("emphatic l")?
In Modern Standard Arabic, phonemic /lˤ/ (a.k.a. "emphatic l") only occurs in one native word: Allah /ʔalˤˈlˤaːh/. (According to the linked article, it also occurs in a few loanwords.)
This seems ...
- 4,575
17
votes
4
answers
941
views
Why do rhotics pattern together?
Looking at the IPA, many different types of sounds are given symbols based of of the Latin R,r: approximants, trills, taps/flaps; both coronal and uvular segments.
Sometimes, these sounds are ...
user325
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How could one generate gibberish that mimics a specific language?
If given a list of languages the listener was able to understand or classify, how would you generate textual output using a standard phonetic alphabet, for example IPA, that would sound like a ...
- 1,315
16
votes
6
answers
10k
views
Why do stem-changing verbs have a vowel change in Spanish?
It may just be that I'm demonstrating my gross ignorance, but I can't seem to find a 'why' for stem-changing verbs in Spanish. I understand that there is some sort of perceived weakness in the vowel ...
- 163
16
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Where did the nasal sound in the Portuguese word "sim" come from?
Among the descendants of the Latin word sic ("thus, so, or just like that"), only the Portuguese word sim ends with a nasal consonant. Actually, in modern Portuguese, it ends with a nasal vowel, [sĩ], ...
- 8,198
15
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Is the very concept of the phoneme disputed?
I believe there was some important research published in recent decades which brought a fundamental change to the way linguists think about phonemes.
Or is it that the concept of the phoneme has ...
- 14.6k
15
votes
10
answers
9k
views
Is there an easy way to type IPA?
I'm currently using the virtual IPA keyboard on TypeIt, but it takes forever. Is there an easy way to type IPA? I've found this list of Unicode keyboards on SIL.org but I'm not too sure how to ...
- 1,524
15
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Can loudness of speech sounds influence meaning?
In Chinese, words can have different meanings if their tones are changed, e.g. 是 (shì) and 十 (shí). In Italian, words can have different meanings if a consonant is geminated, e.g. sete and sette.
My ...
- 1,179
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
In Japanese, why do certain consonants change depending on the vowel?
I was wondering why in Japanese, certain consonants change depending on the vowel. For example:
Consonants that do not change:
ka / ki / ku / ke / ko
na / ni / nu / ne / no
Consonants that do ...
- 401
15
votes
2
answers
633
views
If two syllables in Mandarin have the same vowels but different tones, can the syllables be said to rhyme?
If two syllables in Mandarin have the same vowels but different tones, can the syllables be said to rhyme according to native speakers?
I was tempted to ask this question about all tone languages, ...
- 8,711
15
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What does Optimality Theory explain that rule-based phonology doesn't?
I understand how basic Optimality Theory (as applied to phonology) works, but I've never understood how it came into popularity. I'm guessing, though, that there are good reasons why it arose.
So ...
- 323
15
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Did Ancient Greek have a rising intonation for questions?
Unlike English, Ancient (e.g. Attic) Greek does not reorder words to formulate a question. The particle "ἆρα" does modify a statement into a question, but is not always present. In that case, I ...
- 417
14
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Are there any natural languages in which /ʂ/ and /ʃ/ are distinct phonemes?
I'm having a difficult time trying to find languages that have a phonemic contrast between /ʂ/ and /ʃ/.
I can hear the difference without difficulty because /ʂ/ sounds like a lower frequency range of ...
- 8,711
14
votes
3
answers
14k
views
What is a mora?
What is a mora? I tried to read the Wikipedia article that answers this question, but found it difficult to understand.
Ditto with the related LSE question: Is the concept of syllables ...
- 8,711
14
votes
1
answer
517
views
Whispering in languages heavily dependent on pitch or phonation distinctions
When whispering in English all (segmental) phonological distinctions can – as far as I am aware – still be made, which may be due to redundancy (or simply because voicing is optional). I even ...
14
votes
1
answer
5k
views
How does vowel harmony typically arise in a language?
How does vowel harmony typically arise in a language?
Here's a definition of vowel harmony from the WALS chapter on Vowel Quality Inventories: http://wals.info/chapter/2.
"When a language is ...
- 8,711
13
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Is the "p" in "spin" really a "b"?
Daniel Everett claims in Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes (Ch. 11) that the English "p" and "b" in "pin" and "bin" are separate phonemes, since they alone distinguish the words "pin" and "bin," whereas ...
- 683
13
votes
8
answers
10k
views
Are there any languages without /a/ or /i/?
Arabic languages include only three vowels: /a/, /i/ and /u/.
Japanese is the only language I know about that doesn't have a /u/ sound - it has /ɯ/ instead.
Do there exist any languages that do not ...
- 577
13
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why does schwa have a special place among vowels?
What makes schwa so special? On my phonology exam my tutor phrased the question something like: Why is schwa the ruler/king of vowels? I don't know what he meant by this but I suppose it's got ...
- 939
13
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How languages compare with the number of different syllables from all words?
Note: I am not a linguist, please provide any corrections for terminology.
I would like to find some approximate data (if it exists) comparing several languages with the number of different syllables ...
- 299
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Is the "principle of least effort" a real factor behind language change?
I have heard and read several times that one of the forces that drive language change is the so called "principle of least effort". According to this account, several changes are caused by an economy ...
- 8,198
13
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Have ejective consonants ever arisen on their own?
In an old comment on another question, jlawler mentions in passing:
Much the same can be said about ejective consonants -- other languages can pick them up, but nobody knows where they come from. ...
- 64k
13
votes
1
answer
775
views
What's the difference between a syllabic consonant and a schwa followed by a consonant?
I'm a native speaker of a language which has syllabic consonants, here are the examples
კლდე/k'lde, [kʼl̩dɛ] "cliff"
ქრთამი/krtami, [kʰɾ̩tʰami] "bribe"
ბრძენი/brdzeni, [bɾ̩d͡zɛni] &...
13
votes
2
answers
786
views
Dental fricatives for Brazilian Portuguese speakers
Whenever I observe my fellow Brazilian countrymen learning to speak English, a clear sound change pattern stands out:
[θ] → [f]
[ð] → [d], syllable-initial
[f], syllable-final
So, for example,...
- 8,198
12
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Any languages that consider the alveolar and uvular trill distinct consonant phonemes?
I am intrigued by the difference between alveolar and uvular trills (and related phones) within and across languages, e.g., per this map of European /r/ usage (taken from this comment), which seems to ...
- 223
12
votes
5
answers
15k
views
What is the difference between a diphthong and a glide?
It's easy for me to imagine the difference, but hard for me to conceptualize it. I guess one involves two vowels and the other involves a consonant, right? Am I on the right track, or is there a more ...
- 516
12
votes
4
answers
23k
views
When you think one word, but write another, similar sounding word?
If you are writing or typing and you are thinking of one word, but then type another word made of the same phonemes, what is that called and what are the linguistic and /or psychological phenomena ...
- 1,955
12
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What's the evidence for and against isochrony?
The question
What evidence is currently known that favors or disfavors the hypothesis that a regular beat of some kind—that is, an “isochrony”—plays some important role in languages?
I've run across ...
- 223
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Do voiceless approximants exist? What is the consensus among phoneticians/phonologists?
Voiceless sounds that are produced with supralaryngeal configurations that would be considered approximants if voiced are attested in languages (i.e. [j̊], [l̥], etc.), but none are found to contrast ...
- 4,922
12
votes
1
answer
424
views
Why do onsets not count for syllable weight in phonological processes?
Whether a syllable has a heavy or light rime is often important in whether it will participate in phonological processes, and whether it will receive stress. For example, in Latin, stress is on the ...
user325
12
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Common problems in second language pronunciation
Transfer of some phonetic/phonological features from the first language to a second language is common in second language acquisition. For example, aspiration is not phonemic in English. Voiceless ...
- 4,279
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How does the nonsense word "frabjous" conform to English phonotactics?
I am aware that this question is rather more complex than I am treating it, but I am looking for a few general rules (e.g. basic phonotactic constraints) that would lead to the conclusion that the ...
- 119
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why IPA does not indicate "soft" consonants in English?
I am a native Russian speaker. Sometimes I encounter English speakers who are trying to learn Russian and wonder how to pronounce "soft" consonants.
At the same time while learning English I noticed ...
- 6,622