36602 - Phonology -- פונולוגיה

עברית

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk
Office 7812
Office hours: Sundays and Wednesdays 2:45-3:30

Semester B 2010-2011 Sundays and Wednesdays 10:30-12:00 in room 2606
1st year BA requirement, Linguistics Department, Generative Linguistics Program
Course Language: Hebrew

Basic concepts in phonology: phonemes and underlying representation, abstractness, phonological rules, distinctive features, autosegmental representation, syllable structure, stress systems, markedness and optimality. Examples will be drawn from a variety of languages.

Course Outline

  1. Introduction and Review of phonetics
  2. The Basics of Phonology
    1. Phonology vs. Phonetics
    2. Underlying Representation
    3. Abstractness
    4. Phonological Rules
  3. Distinctive Features
    1. Phonological Properties
    2. Stricture Features
    3. Articulator Features
  4. Autosegmental Phonology
    1. Structure of the Feature System
    2. The Skeleton (Timing Tier)
  5. Syllables
  6. Stress Systems
  7. Markedness
    1. Phoneme Inventories and Markedness
    2. Optimality Theory

Course requirements

  • Homeworks; worth 50% of the grade. Due in class one week after they are assigned. (If you want to do assignments on computer and would like help with phonetic symbols, phonological rules, features, etc., in word-processing, click here.)
  • Final exam 50%. Exams from previous years (in Hebrew) can be downloaded here and here. This year there will be a change in the structure of the exam. Question 4b is eliminated and what is left of question 4 (4a) will be worth 15 points. A new 10-point question on stress will be added; a sample question may be downloaded here.

    Handouts available for downloading in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format

    Note: If these don't print correctly on your printer but display properly in Acrobat, try using the "Print as image" option in Acrobat.
    Syllabus (13 February)
    Place of Articulation (13 February)
    Phonetic Symbols (13 February)
    Basic Concepts (20 February)
    "Phonemehood" (23 February)
    Phonemes of Spanish (27 February)
    Underlying Representation (2 March)
    Abstractness (6 March)
    Rule Ordering (9 March)
    Some English Phonology (13 March)
    Stricture Features (23 March)
    Ewe Liquids (30 March)
    Articulator Features (30 March)
    Natural Classes -- in-class practice (3 April)
    Geometry of the Feature System (6 April)
    The Skeleton (10 April)
    Swahili (13 April)
    Feature Spreading (13 April)
    Sonority (1 May)
    Nucleus + Coda (4 May)
    Rhythm and Metrical Grids (11 May)
    Stress Rules (11 May)
    Metrical Constituents (15 May)
    Moras (18 May)
    Stress Exercise (18 May)
    Phoneme Inventories (22 May)
    Markedness Constraints (25 May)
    The Effects of Markedness (25 May)
    Optimality Theory (29 May)

    Announcements

    Phonological terminology in English and Hebrew

    Homeworks

    Assigned 16 February; due 23 February: Phonetic Transcription
    Assigned 23 February; due 2 March: Minimal Pairs
    Assigned 2 March; due 9 March: Underlying Representation Homework
    Assigned 9 March; due 16 March: Rule Ordering Homework
    Assigned 16 March; due 27 March: Some Mohawk Phonology
    Assigned 3 April; due 10 April: Natural Classes
    Assigned 13 April; due 1 May: Indonesian Verb Prefixes
    Assigned 1 May; due 11 May: English and French
    Assigned 11 May; due 18 May: Syllable Constraints
    Assigned 18 May; due 25 May: Stress Homework