A contrastivist approach to the emergence of sound inventories Jade - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

jsandstedt@gmail.com jsandstedt.hcommons.org A contrastivist approach to the emergence of sound inventories Jade J. Sandstedt Humboldt University of Berlin 25. May 2�19 Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 1 / 28

Contrasts and features Basic observation : ▶ size/shape of a language’s sound inventory ~ active phonological features (Hall 2��7; Dresher 2��9, 2�18; Mackenzie 2�13, 2�16; Iosad 2�17) Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 2 / 28

Contrasts and features (1) Contrastivist Hypothesis (Hall 2��7, p. 2�) The phonological component of a language L operates only on those features which are necessary to distinguish the phonemes of L fsom one another Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 3 / 28

☞ Acquired contrasts : {u, ɔ, i, ɛ} Step 1: Identifz contrasts (2) Sample of Chewa (N.31) vowel contrasts (Downing & Mtenje 2�17, ch. 3) a. túm- ‘send’ b. ɡɔ ́ n- ‘sleep’ c. phík- ‘cook’ d. tsɛ ́ k- ‘close’ Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 4 / 28

☞ Acquired contrasts : {u, ɔ, i, ɛ} Step 1: Identifz contrasts (2) Sample of Chewa (N.31) vowel contrasts (Downing & Mtenje 2�17, ch. 3) a. túm- ‘send’ b. ɡɔ ́ n- ‘sleep’ c. phík- ‘cook’ d. tsɛ ́ k- ‘close’ Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 4 / 28

Step 1: Identifz contrasts (2) Sample of Chewa (N.31) vowel contrasts (Downing & Mtenje 2�17, ch. 3) a. túm- ‘send’ b. ɡɔ ́ n- ‘sleep’ c. phík- ‘cook’ d. tsɛ ́ k- ‘close’ ☞ Acquired contrasts : {u, ɔ, i, ɛ} Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 4 / 28

Step 2: De�ne features {u, ɔ, i, ɛ} Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 5 / 28

Step 2: De�ne features {u, ɔ, i, ɛ} [labial] (non-labial) {u, ɔ} {i, ɛ} Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 5 / 28

Step 2: De�ne features {ɔ, u, ɛ, i} [labial] (non-labial) {ɔ, u} {ɛ, i} [open] (non-open) [open] (non-open) /ɔ/ /u/ /ɛ/ /i/ Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 5 / 28

Implication: 1. Acquire segmental contrasts 2. De�ne features What about acquisition? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 6 / 28

What about acquisition? Implication: 1. Acquire segmental contrasts 2. De�ne features Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 6 / 28

Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Questions: Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? ▶ e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts features What about acquisition? Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? ▶ e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? ▶ e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

What about acquisition? Questions: 1. How do language learners acquire contrasts in the absence of features? 2. Once a contrast is acquired, how do language learners select their features? ▶ e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /i/ : [open], [close], [ATR], [RTR], something else? ▶ e.g. /ɛ/ vs. /ɔ/ : [labial], [dorsal], [coronal], something else? ☞ it is unclear how we go fsom contrasts → features Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 7 / 28

The top-down focus of contrastivist approaches: phonemic inventory features * requires serious abstraction seems to be the wrong direction Crux of the problem: Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 8 / 28

* requires serious abstraction seems to be the wrong direction Crux of the problem: The top-down focus of contrastivist approaches: ▶ phonemic inventory → features Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 8 / 28

Crux of the problem: The top-down focus of contrastivist approaches: ▶ phonemic inventory → features * requires serious abstraction ▶ seems to be the wrong direction Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 8 / 28

Outline A bottom-up contrastivist approach 1 Micro-cue model of acquisition Chewa test case: distinctions in lexical meaning and phonological behaviour 2 Conclusions Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 9 / 28

A bottom-up contrastivist approach Top-down limitations on sets of features are not the only way: ▶ we can go fsom the bottom-up by re-de�ning the Contrastivist Hypothesis Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 1� / 28

(3) Correlate Contrastivist Hypothesis The phonemes of a language L are equal to the sum of features and feature co-occurrence restrictions which are minimally necessary for the expression of phonological regularities in L . ☞ features phonemes not features phonemes A bottom-up contrastivist approach Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 11 / 28

☞ features phonemes not features phonemes A bottom-up contrastivist approach (3) Correlate Contrastivist Hypothesis The phonemes of a language L are equal to the sum of features and feature co-occurrence restrictions which are minimally necessary for the expression of phonological regularities in L . Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 11 / 28

A bottom-up contrastivist approach (3) Correlate Contrastivist Hypothesis The phonemes of a language L are equal to the sum of features and feature co-occurrence restrictions which are minimally necessary for the expression of phonological regularities in L . ☞ features → phonemes ▶ not features ↚ phonemes Jade J. Sandstedt (Humboldt University of Berlin) Emergence of sound inventories 25. May 2�19 11 / 28