Questions tagged [phonology]
The study of the abstract aspect of the sounds or *phonemes* in a given language.
976
questions
3
votes
1
answer
390
views
Are there any languages that have syllabic /w/ or /j/?
I heard somewhere that the following consonants can make a syllable on their own (i.e. syllabic consonants): /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/, /w/, /j/. Of these, I've seen /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/ that make a ...
user30668
0
votes
1
answer
55
views
Evidence for segmental phonology in the acoustic speech signal
What evidence for segmental phonology could be found in the acoustic speech signal?
I think the parameters of acoustic speech signals include f0, amplitude, duration, wave form, etc., which are ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
313
views
Claim that the american r sound is actually [ʁ] out west
This quora answer by Kit di Pomi (and if you browse his other answers he uses a similar uvular transcription) claims that: [ʀ] isn’t used anywhere off-stage as far as I know, typically American ...
user32747
0
votes
0
answers
65
views
Proof of definite beginning and ending of syllables where three or more consonants in between?
(Note: I am not sure on how to phrase this question, so if you can, please edit for clarity)
So, recently a question came into my mind about whether we can actually define where syllables begin and ...
0
votes
1
answer
68
views
How should I study additional texts?
This might sound a bit stupid. I just completed phonetics and phonology from Grady's "Contemporary Linguistics". I'm still in my schools and preparing to join bachelor of arts linguistics in ...
- 31
1
vote
2
answers
244
views
What do these diagrams of vowels actually represent?
I've heard many times that spoken language is subjected to variations and we never make the exact same sound when we speak, even for the same word. If that's the case, how can you be so exact about ...
- 31
1
vote
2
answers
292
views
Is there a way to classify all languages that have a guttural ch (as in Achmed) sound?
Some languages, like Hebrew, Arabic, and Gaelic, have a guttural ch sound, like the clearing of your throat, as in "Achmed". What is the term for this sound and is there a term to classify ...
- 119
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What makes East-Asian languages sound different than European languages?
I'm not sure if this is on-topic here. If I get reasonable amount of comments telling that it's off-topic, I'll delete my post.
I wrote a code that generates random human-readable strings. Every other ...
user32480
1
vote
1
answer
126
views
When did the vocalic allophones of the consonant phonemes in PIE become independent vowel phonemes?
The sonants in PIE have consonantal and vocalic allophones, so the consonantal sonant and the vocalic sonant are regarded as one consonant phoneme. But many daughter languages of PIE (at least at some ...
- 67
2
votes
1
answer
202
views
Did h2 and h3 change the phonetic reality of an adjacent *e in PIE under any circumstances?
Did h2 and h3 change the phonetic reality of an adjacent *e in PIE under any circumstances? Can we treat *a and ā as allophones of *e in PIE?
- 67
0
votes
1
answer
93
views
Feature correlates of the length and tenseness contrast in the low vowel /a/
My ultimate goal is to be able to predict from external factors whether and what kind of vowel quality correlates an /a–a:/ contrast might have in a language, and specifically to determine which on is ...
- 421
3
votes
2
answers
174
views
Is a long consonant counted as C or CC in syllable structure?
There are languages that have consonants that are a bit longer in duration i.e. the same as long vowels (e.g. like /iː/). So a long consonant is represented by writing /ː/ after it: long L = /lː/, ...
user30668
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
0
votes
1
answer
290
views
Breaking a word down into its constituent phonemes [duplicate]
How should the nonsense word 'frabjous' be broken down into its constituent phonemes (e.g. the consonant blend -fr)? I would like to determine how this word is regular in English phonotactics.
- 119
0
votes
2
answers
258
views
Is there any word in other languages that begins with the urdu alphabet ṛē (ڑ)?
So in Urdu language there is no word starting with Ṛe "ڑ" IPA /ɽ/ but I think there may be some words in another language that begins with Ṛe "ڑ" or have similar sound.
- 125
6
votes
2
answers
911
views
What is the IPA of the two-syllable r sound in English?
For example, the word "Emperor" in IPA on Wiktionary for General American is written /ˈɛmpɹɚ/. But that's kind of cheating because ɚ is basically /ɹ/ as far as I can tell. Yet, when you say ...
- 3,982
1
vote
1
answer
307
views
Did Proto-Indo-European have retracted /s̠/?
Was the /s/ in PIE retracted (/s̠/) as in modern Greek, standard European Spanish and most likely ancient Greek and Latin, or was it pronounced as in modern English?
6
votes
2
answers
259
views
Did Sumerian have /ħ/?
According to Gelb 1961, the famous Sumerian sign É ("house, building") was originally pronounced /ħa/ (or ḥa in Semiticist transcription). The main evidence for this is loanwords into other ...
- 60.3k
5
votes
0
answers
88
views
How diachronically stable is release type?
Are there examples of languages completely shifting from (vocalic) release of all coda stops to, say, nasal release?
I imagine substrate effects could account for some of these cases (cf. unreleased ...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
134
views
Is /v/ cross-linguistically semi-voiced and powerless in devoicing preceding consonants in case of regressive assimilation? How to explain it?
In Danish, /v/ is semi-voiced, like a combination of [f] and [v], though /f/ does exist in Danish phonology.
Russian features general regressive assimilation of voicing, but this rule doesn't apply ...
- 1,057
1
vote
0
answers
31
views
What notable works are there that try to express the structures of linguistics by modelling them with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)?
I know of a few works in Phonology and 1 recent work in Semantics but I will not list these here since what I would really be looking for in an answer would be a survey paper or a comprehensive list.
...
- 111
0
votes
1
answer
104
views
What linguistics degree(s) would best equip someone to develop written languages from oral ones?
If one wants to work with people-groups that have an oral language but no written language and develop a written language for those people-groups, what linguistics degree(s) would best equip that ...
- 111
4
votes
2
answers
314
views
Are there languages where vowels are always oral?
I was surprised to find in Zsiga (2020: 120, 125) a claim (by Donegan & Stampe 2009) that vowels in Hawaiian, as well as oral vowels in French, are always oral.
Unfortunately Donegan & Stampe ...
- 4,805
1
vote
1
answer
62
views
Is there a device that lets linguists measure aspiration?
Is there a device that lets linguists measure aspiration? I want to find out if languages in which aspiration can be the only difference between phonemes (e.g. Chinese) have more breath difference ...
- 279
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
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Who decides the phonemes of a given language?
Who decides the phonemes of a given language and on what basis do they decide? Do the phonemes of a language change over time, if so, who changes them? I am extremely confused about this question ...
user30668
1
vote
1
answer
63
views
Which sounds in spanish sound louder: vowels or consonants?
I think vowels but I'm not so sure. I'm neither sure if vocal cords are what makes a phone be more audible and so what makes vowels be more audible than consonants or some of them.
0
votes
1
answer
165
views
What is Rich Base? [closed]
What is rich base or richness of base? Thank you for your help I have found a lot of references to it but no clear definitions.
- 19
2
votes
1
answer
210
views
Phonological rule for liquid dissimilation
I am trying to write a phonological rule for liquid dissimilation in Georgian, but I’ve run into some issues since I haven’t had much practice yet.
The rule I’m trying to write is for changing r into ...
- 21
1
vote
2
answers
180
views
How to syllabify 'behave' and 'behaviour'?
I'm well aware of the Maximal Onset Principle which says that 'intervocalic consonants should be syllabified as the onset of the following syllable as long as the Phonotactic constraints allow it'. I ...
- 1,379
0
votes
1
answer
129
views
Is there an example of ʔɓ/ʔɗ sounds in contrast to ʔb/ʔd in Vietnamese?
I'm unable to distinguish between the preglottalized implosives ɓ/ɗ and the preglottalized explosives b/d in Vietnamese. Is there any audio sample of these sounds that would allow me to make out the ...
- 23
1
vote
2
answers
604
views
How to extract specific data from a TextGrid file?
I'm new here. Just found that there is a linguistics community on stack exchange!
I have a TextGrid file that has been output from a forced aligner, webMAUS and I mainly want to understand how to ...
- 11
2
votes
1
answer
348
views
What are the core differences between generative phonology and metrical phonology?
What core features distinguish generative phonology from metrical phonology?
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
53
views
Why are Australian Aboriginal languages said to have coronal and peripheral consonants?
In most languages the world over, place of articulation is divided in a fairly obvious way, with labials, coronals, dorsals, and laryngeals (each obviously potentially having various sublocations), ...
- 6,114
3
votes
1
answer
169
views
Vowels in the second syllable of 'harmonic' and 'harmonious'
I came across a question on English Language & Usage asking about why the vowels in the second syllable of 'harmonic' and 'harmonious' are pronounced differently.
Harmonic → /hɑːˈmɒn.ɪk/
...
- 1,379
0
votes
1
answer
114
views
Turkish stem consonant alternation
I am currently writing a paper which draws on the characteristics of Turkish (or Turkic) phonology, and would like to know more about stem consonant alternation in this language. Specifically, will ...
- 1
1
vote
2
answers
216
views
Why does /zd-/ require more effort even though both the consonants have the same voicing?
In most language, the rule for combining consonants is that they should have the same voice. For example: in English, a word can never start with /zt-/ but can start with /st-/. It's not that /zt-/ ...
user30668
2
votes
2
answers
232
views
What is the exact position of the tongue for [ n ] in these circumstances?
Hi I am an English learner, and I recently had this question about pronouncing n sound. I understand the standard way of pronouncing n sound is to put my tongue behind the top teeth, however, when I ...
- 23
4
votes
0
answers
165
views
What was the original pronounciation of the Thai consonant symbols?
The Thai language was devised to serve two main purposes: to write Thai words and to write Sanskrit (or Pali) words. For this reason, the Thai alphabet has one consonant symbol for each Sanskrit sound ...
- 61
-1
votes
1
answer
75
views
Is there a paper/ source where I can find a collection of phonological rules?
I'm aware that there are many phonological rules, but I don't have a big picture of how many there are and where I can find them. Is there a book, a review paper, a website, or any source that have a ...
3
votes
1
answer
183
views
What is the consensus on Sumerian auslauts?
(Or Auslaute if you want to be pretentious, I suppose.)
In Sumerian, there seems to be uncertainty about the status of final consonants in CVC signs. For example, the unmarked form of "heart"...
- 60.3k
9
votes
1
answer
396
views
Do Russian-Ukrainian bilinguals or speakers immersed in both languages switch between the pair [ʂ ʐ] and [ʃ ʒ] when they switch between the languages?
In Russian phonology there are [ʂ ʐ], while in Ukrainian phonology there are [ʃ ʒ]. The two sets sound quite identical phonetically, while the articulation positions of the two sets are different. So, ...
- 1,057
2
votes
1
answer
169
views
What is "H5" in Egyptian?
There seems to be a general consensus that classical Egyptian had four "guttural" or "H-like" phonemes: h (building, /h/), ḥ (wick, /ħ/), ḫ (placenta?, /x/), and ẖ (animal's belly, ...
- 60.3k
3
votes
0
answers
115
views
What is the official/correct orthography for Alsatian / Elsässisch German?
As per the Wikipedia article on the Alsatian language (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsatian_dialect#Orthography) the orthography
includes the latin letters A,B,C ... X,Y,Z and the following vowels ...
- 146
2
votes
1
answer
162
views
Are markedness and the Sonority Sequencing Principle both language universals?
I'm looking into transfer in second language acquisition, specifically on the syllable structure of other L1s transferring onto English. I'm discussing the impact of transfer as well as the impact of ...
0
votes
1
answer
176
views
Approximant and vowels
Are there vowels considered as approximants, since some linguists consider /iː/ as high glide?
I'm not sure of it but I remember I read an article about it.
- 39
0
votes
2
answers
340
views
How to read sound change transcriptions? [closed]
https://chridd.nfshost.com/diachronica/
I don't understand what most of these transcriptions mean. I only know what #, #, and _x mean.
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
75
views
Are coda obstruents a universal, or is the phenomenon that is caused by coda obstruents (vowel epenthesis) a universal?
Linguistics student confused about universals here. I'm writing a paper on vowel epenthesis, and I'm very lost with the categories of everything.
Tarone (1980) claims that vowel epenthesis is actually ...
1
vote
0
answers
87
views
Moraic vs Non-Moraic Codas
What determines a coda to be moraic or non-moraic relative to stress? I am a little confused about this.
- 19
0
votes
1
answer
174
views
Epenthesis using SPE-notation
Suppose in some language the following happens:
when the stem ends in front vowels (i, e), then adding a certain suffix X requires j insertion (so it looks like [.. i j X] or [... e j X] instead of [....
user31981