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I am a researcher in
generative (or theoretical) linguistics. Linguistics is roughly the study of
the structure of human language.
Broadly, I concentrate on phonology, the phonetics-phonology interface
and the phonology-morphology interface. Basic definitions and examples of phonetics, phonology and morphology
are given below. 1. Phonetics: the study of the physical attributes of speech sounds - articulation
(vocal organs), perception (auditory organs), and acoustics (sound waves) Examples
of the major articulators and the auditory system are shown below, as is a
graphic representation of the sounds used in the word “spectrogram”. The major vocal and auditory organs 2. Phonology: the study of the patterns of human speech sounds and the nature of
the mental representation of those speech sounds An
example of the mental representation of the French sound “b” is shown in the
following figure (using the Parallel Structures Model of feature geometry
that I have been developing over the past several years). This sound is composed of several
components (i.e. features) based on the articulatory system. ·
It is made by
completely closing the vocal tract. This is represented by
C-manner[closed]. ·
It is made with both
lips. This is represented by
C-place[labial]. ·
It is made with vocal fold
(i.e. cord) vibration, which results from holding the vocal folds loosely
together and blowing enough air through to cause vibration via the Bernoulli
Effect. This is represented by C-laryngeal[lax]. Combining
all three features (manner of articulation, place of articulation, state of
the vocal folds) into a single unit, we get a French “b” sound. 3. Morphology: the study of the structure of words An
example of word structure is shown below using “denationalize”. This word can be broken down into
several components that contribute to the overall meaning and combine in a
particular order. ·
The noun “nation”
combines with the suffix “-al” to form an adjective. ·
The adjective
“national” combines with the suffix “-ize” to form a verb. ·
The verb “nationalize”
combines with the prefix “de-” to form a verb with a different meaning.
4. Example of phonetics, phonology and morphology
combined: the behavior of the
English plural “s” (simplified) ·
Some English
consonants are made with and others without vibrating vocal folds (e.g. “v”
and “z” versus “f” and “s”). To feel the difference, put your hand on your
Adam’s apple and say, “zzzssszzzsss.” ·
English (like many
languages) insists that certain combinations of consonants within words
either all have vibration or none have vibration. ·
This requirement can
cause sounds to change from one instance to the next depending on the
context. This is what we call a
sound alternation. ·
So, if we take the
English plural “s” and add it to words either ending in vibrating or
non-vibrating sounds, the “s” will surface as vibrating or non-vibrating
depending on what it is next to. “wave” + “s” versus “waif” + “s” The
following diagrams show the morphological structure of the plural form of
“wave” and “waif”.
The
following diagram shows the phonological relationship between the “v” and “s”
in “waves”. ·
The two sounds share
the C-laryngeal[lax] feature (indicated by the dashed lines). ·
The C-manner[open]
feature indicates that the vocal tract is open enough to cause a hiss-like sound
- what we call a fricative,. ·
The C-place[coronal]
feature indicates that the front of the tongue is raised toward the roof of
the mouth just behind the teeth.
The
following diagrams show the vibration shared by the “v” and beginning of the
plural in “waves”, and the lack of vibration during the “f” and beginning of
the plural in “waifs”. Waveforms and spectrograms of the words “waves”
and “waifs”
5. Phonetics-phonology interface: the relationship between the mental representation
of speech sounds and their articulatory/perceptual/acoustic correlates. 6. Phonology-morphology interface: the relationship between the mental representation
of speech sounds and their combinations within words and/or meaningful
subparts of words. Sign
language phonetics and phonology Part of my research
includes comparing the phonetics and phonology of signed and spoken
languages, looking for similarities and differences, and developing a theory
to explain the facts. Below is
just a sample of this. Recall that phonetics is the
study of the physical attributes of “speech sounds” and that phonology is the
study of the mental representations of “speech sounds.” These definitions are slightly
misleading because signed languages also have a “phonetics” and a “phonology”
that works just like spoken languages, despite the fact that they do not
(usually) use sounds. Therefore,
we should really use the more neutral term “segment” to refer to both spoken
and signed language “speech sounds.” 1. Phonetics Just
like spoken languages use a set of active articulators (e.g. movable - lower
lip, tongue tip, tongue blade) and passive articulators (e.g. stationary -
upper lip, upper teeth, roof of mouth), sign language also uses a set of
active and passive articulators.
The difference is in the actual articulator used. Rather than relying on the vocal
tract anatomy, which is good at making distinct sounds but is not easy to
see, sign languages use the hands and other parts of the body, which are easy
to see. Further, the combination
of active and passive articulator for both spoken and signed languages is
subject only to physical limitations, and sign language seems to have fewer
of these limitations. For example:
Spoken
and signed languages also use degrees of constriction to distinguish among
segments. For spoken language,
this constriction shapes the vocal tract to create different types of sounds
(i.e. manner of articulation).
For sign language, this constriction creates different handshapes.
2. Phonology If
we assume that the mental representation of all languages (including the
segments of spoken and signed languages) is the same, but that articulation
can differ from language to language, then we find that spoken and signed
languages are actually much more similar than is usually assumed. This can be seen if we compare the
representations for “f” and the American Sign Language “i”. Here we see that each segment has
C-manner[open] corresponding to the degree of constriction. For spoken languages, this entails a
fricative (i.e. “hissing” sound) and for signed languages, this entails a
mostly closed handshape (i.e. a fist) but with at least one finger
extended. We also see that each
segment has a C-place feature corresponding to an active articulator.
In
fact, the following diagrams illustrate phonological similarities between
spoken and signed segments using my Parallel Structures Model. Spoken
Segment Geometry versus Signed Segment Geometry
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Last updated December 2007 -- By the way, my name is pronounced like "more rain" with the stress on the second syllable. |
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