Ace Linguistics Lecture

Overview

• Focus on distribution of sounds in linguistics.
• Differentiation between phonemes and allophones.

Types of Distribution

1. Contrastive Distribution

• Key Feature: Identification through minimal pairs.
  • Minimal Pairs: Words differing by only one sound in the same position.
  • Used to determine if two sounds are phonemes.

2. Complementary Distribution

• Example Words: tap, step, bat.
  • Tap: Aspirated 't' when initial and followed by a vowel.
  • Step, Bat: Unaspirated 't'.
• Technical Notation:
  • Aspirated 't' occurs word initially followed by a vowel.
  • Unaspirated 't' occurs elsewhere.

Complementary Distribution Example: Tehran Persian

• Sound in Question: Represented by the letter 'Q'.
  • Voiced velar fricative (intervocalic).
  • Voiced uvular plosive (pronounced as 'gha').
• Environment Analysis:
  • Preceded by a vowel and followed by a vowel: Intervocalic.
  • Voiced fricative and plosive have different environments.

Distribution Notation and Symbols

• Phoneme vs. Allophone
  • Phoneme: Mental construct, represented with slashes (/ /).
  • Allophone: Actual pronunciation, represented with square brackets ([ ]).
• Example Notation:
  • Phoneme: /Q/
  • Allophones: [gha], [qa]

Conclusion

• Phoneme is a cognitive construct, not directly pronounceable.
• Allophones are the variations that occur in specific environments.
• Understanding distribution aids in deciphering phonetic rules in different languages.

Thank you for your time and attention. See you again soon.