This collection of recent papers in Laboratory Phonology approaches phonological theory from several different empirical directions. Psycholinguistic research into the perception and production of speech has produced results that challenge current conceptions about phonological structure. Field work studies provide fresh insights into the structure of phonological features, and the phonology-phonetics interface is investigated in phonetic research involving both segments and prosody, while the role of underspecification is put to the test in automatic speech recognition.

Despite the recent advances in the integration of lexical tone and intonation in phonological theory, all too often the study of intonation and the study of lexical tone are viewed as belonging to different research traditions. This collection strengthens the integrated approach by studying tone and intonation within a common framework, and by tracing their interaction in specific prosodic systems. Some papers deal with the structural properties of lexical tone andintonation, while others focus on the historical development of prosodic systems. The volume also includes a re-evaluation of a classic paper on thetypology of tone rules, and a survey of features signalling question intonation in African languages.

This collection of recent papers in Laboratory Phonology approaches phonological theory from several different empirical directions. Psycholinguistic research into the perception and production of speech has produced results that challenge current conceptions about phonological structure. Field work studies provide fresh insights into the structure of phonological features, and the phonology-phonetics interface is investigated in phonetic research involving both segments and prosody, while the role of underspecification is put to the test in automatic speech recognition.

This volume presents 14 experimental studies of lexical tone and intonation in a wide variety of languages. Six papers deal with the discriminability or the function of intonation contours and lexical tones in specific languages, as established on the basis of listener responses, as well as with brain activation patterns resulting from the perception of tonal and intonational stimuli. The remaining eight papers report on detailed phonetic findings on a variety of tonal phenomena in a number of languages, including declination in tone languages, final lowering, consonant-tone interactions and pitch target alignment.

Using examples from a wide variety of languages, this book reveals why speakers vary their pitch, what these variations mean, and how they are integrated into our grammars. All languages use modulations in pitch to form utterances. Pitch modulation encodes lexical "tone" to signal boundaries between morphemes or words, and encodes "intonation" to give words and sentences an additional meaning that isn't part of their original sense.

This handbook presents detailed accounts of current research in all aspects of language prosody, written by leading experts from different disciplines. The last four decades have seen major theoretical and empirical breakthroughs in the field, many of them informed by interdisciplinary approaches, as reflected in this volume. Following an introductory section covering the fundamentals of language prosody research, Parts II and III trace out the position of prosody in linguistic structure and explore prosody in speech perception and production. Part IV provides overviews of prosodic systems across the world, with case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Pacific, and the Americas. The chapters in Parts V, VI, and VII investigate prosody in communication, in language processing, and in language acquisition, while Part VIII examines prosody in technology and the arts. The volume's comprehensive coverage and multidisciplinary perspectives will make it an invaluable resource for all researchers, students, and practitioners interested in prosody.

Understanding Phonology, Fifth Edition, provides a clear, accessible and broad introduction to phonology. Introducing the basic concepts, it provides a comprehensive account of phonological topics like segmental contrasts, syllables and moras, quantity, tone and intonation, word stress, and prosodic constituent structure. This new edition has been streamlined to match widely applied course requirements. Key features include:

Reorganized chapters to introduce key concepts earlier and increase accessibility for new students.

New developments and an updated bibliography.

Illustrations from languages spoken all over the planet, including Arabic, Central Alaskan Yupik, Hawaiian, Mandarin, French, Yabem, Yanyuwa, Yine and Zulu.

Over 100 exercises to test understanding.

A consistent illustration of Optimality Theory as applied to word stress.

Updated online resources for students and instructors, including audio files, a key to questions, teaching goals and PowerPoint slides.

Understanding Phonology is essential reading for students coming to this topic for the first time.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

The IPA Chart

1. Structures in languages

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Awareness of linguistic structure

1.3 Language diversity

1.4 What linguists do

1.4.1 Language-external evidence

1.4.2 Language-internal evidence

1.5 Morphosyntactic structure

1.5.1 Morphemes and words

1.5.2 Syntax: phrases, clauses and sentences

1.5.3 Some mismatches between phonology and morphosyntax in English

1.6 Changing sounds

1.7 Conclusion

2. The production of speech

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The lungs and the larynx

2.2.1 The vocal folds: the open and vibrating glottis

2.2.2 Devoicing and aspiration

2.2.3 Special types of phonation

2.2.4 Pitch

2.2.5 The glottal stop

2.3 The vocal tract

2.3.1 The pharynx

2.3.2 The nasal cavity

2.3.3 The mouth

2.4 Vowels

2.4.1 Monophthongs

2.4.2 Diphthongs

2.4.3 Nasalization

2.5 Consonants

2.5.1 Places of articulation

2.5.2 Types of constriction

2.6 Segmental durations

2.7 Complex consonants

2.7.1 Secondary articulations

2.7.2 Double articulations

2.7.3 Manner-contour consonants

2.8 Nonpulmonic consonants

2.9 Conclusion

3. Some typology: sameness and difference

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Varying complexity

3.3 Universals and implicational relations

3.3.1 Plain or special?

3.3.2 Avoiding complexity

3.3.3 A word of caution

3.3.4 Speech ergonomics

3.3.5 System gaps

3.4 Cultural and ambient factors in the development of sound systems

3.5 Conclusion

4. The varying shapes of sounds and words

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Allophonic variation

4.3 Loanword adaptation

4.3.1 The process of nativization

4.4 Morpheme alternants

4.5 The underlying form

4.5.1 Choosing the underlying form

4.5.2 Grammars vs ‘dictionaries’

4.6 Conclusion

5. A system of distinctive features

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Features for consonants

5.2.1 Major class features

5.2.2 Laryngeal features

5.2.3 Manner features

5.2.4 Place of articulation features

5.3 Features for vowels

5.4 Redundant vs contrastive features

5.5 Complex segments

5.6 Conclusion

6. Making the form fit: serial rules or violable constraints?

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Serial rule application

6.2.1 Rule formats

6.2.2 Serial rule ordering

6.3 Constraints

6.3.1 Tableaux

6.3.2 OT and loanwords

6.4 Serial rules or ranked constraints?

6.5 Conclusion

7. Lexical phonology, postlexical phonology and phonetic implementation

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Defining an intermediate level of representation

7.3 Lexical Phonology

7.3.1 Reference to morphological labels

7.3.2 Exceptions

7.3.3 Structure preservation

7.3.4 Native-speaker intuitions

7.3.5 Application across word boundaries

7.3.6 Lexical rules apply before postlexical rules

7.4 Reference to phonological information in the lexicon

7.5 Beyond surface representations

7.5.1 Models of implementation

7.5.2 Deciding between phonology and phonetic implementation

7.6 Conclusion

8. Between the segment and the syllable

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Syllabification and the Maximum Onset Principle

8.2.1 The Sonority Profile

8.3 Expanding the representations: hierarchies and autosegments

8.3.1 Skeletal slots

8.3.2 Autosegments

8.3.3 Unfilled and unassociated slots

8.3.4 Compensatory lengthening

8.4 Moras

8.5 Syllable-based generalizations

8.6 Post-MOP syllabification rules

8.7 Conclusion

9. Tones

9.1 Introduction

9.2 The inadequacy of a linear model

9.3 Word melodies

9.3.1 Language-specific association

9.4 Tone stability

9.5 Tonal morphemes

9.6 Accent

9.7 The phonetic implementation of tone

9.7.1 The vertical dimension: scaling

9.7.2 The horizontal dimension: phonetic alignment

9.8 Not by f0 alone

9.8.1 Voice quality

9.8.2 f0 perturbations and tone distribution

9.9 Conclusion

10. Word stress

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Primary stress, secondary stress and no stress in English

10.3 Basic dimensions of foot structures

10.3.1 Foot type

10.3.2 Aligning words and feet

10.4 Syllable weight

10.4.1 Uneven feet?

10.5 Stress clash

10.6 Unbounded systems

10.7 The roles of morphology

10.8 Interactions of stress with segments and tones

10.8.2 H-tones attracting stress

10.9 Conclusion

11. Phonology above the word

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Generalizations involving prosodic constituents

11.3 The Strict Layer Hypothesis

11.4 Factors determining prosodic phrasing

11.5 Prosody above the foot

11.5.1 The prosodic word

11.5.2 The phonological phrase

11.5.3 The intonation phrase

11.5.4 The phonological utterance

11.6 Deriving prosodic constituents

11.6.1 Clitics

11.6.2 The syntactic residue

11.7 Conclusion

References

Language Index

Subject Index

Using examples from a wide variety of languages, this book reveals why speakers vary their pitch, what these variations mean, and how they are integrated into our grammars. All languages use modulations in pitch to form utterances. Pitch modulation encodes lexical "tone" to signal boundaries between morphemes or words, and encodes "intonation" to give words and sentences an additional meaning that isn't part of their original sense.