II. The Representative Characters

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 556.

I. I. The History of the Prague School Phonology

Almaty, 2013

The forerunner of the Prague School was the Moscow Linguistic Circle founded in 1915. It is a circle consisted of a group of young scholars such as Roman Jakobson (1896-1982)and Nikolai S. Trubetzkoy (1890-1938) The issues that this circle concerns are of both language and linguistics including problems of poetics, literature analysis, and general artistic structure under the influence of Slavic and historical linguistics. The sources of their study are based on Saussure and Baudouin's works.

1. Roman Jakobson (1896-1982)

Jakobson's contribution to linguistics can be represented as the concept such as feature, binary opposition, markedness, redundancy, and universals. He also focuses the importance of linguistics on language acquisition, aphasia, act of communication, meaning in grammar, poetry, and the systematicity of language change. Jakobson's greatest insight, distinctive feature, (after the phoneme) belongs to the (Functional) Structuralist Phonology. Jakobson's contribution in the Prague school phonology can be represented as the Prague Circle manifesto, which changes the direction of the development of the European phonology.

2. Trubetzkoy, Nikolai Sergeyevič (1890-1938)

2.1 Contribution

Trubetzkoy's chief contribution in phonology was taken in the sense of functional phonology. Trubetzkiy's notable contributions made to phonological theory are as follows:

b. Clarifying the distinction between phonetics and phonology by the criterion of function

c. Investigating insistently on phonic substance in terms of its various functions in individual languages

d. Emphasizing on the concept of phonological opposition (primary) over phoneme (secondary)

e. Classifying phonological oppositions typologically instead of binaristic

There are more that 140 works wrtten by Trubetzkoy.

Main Theories and Tasks

1. Main Theory

Following de Saussure's emphasis on the differential function of linguistic elements, both Jakobson and Trubetzkoy attached great importance to the oppositions among phonemes rather than to the phonemes themselves.

Besides discussing the nature of distinctive oppositions in theoretical terms, Trubetzkoy also surveys analytical procedures and gives extensive examples of the different oppositions of various languages. He follows through the implications of the structural approach in a number of ways, particularly in the classification of oppositions. He is also responsible for the concepts neutralization and archiphoneme which are consistent with a functional view of the phoneme.

Jacobson and Trubetzkoy also initiated modern distinctive feature theory. The notion of component features is already implicit in the idea of opposition. The notion was made explicit by Jakobson's and Trubetzkoy's recognition of such features as ‘differential qualities' or ‘relevant properties'.

2. The Prague Circle manifesto, which changes the character of the European phonology, points out the tasks of phonology are as follows:

a. To identify the characteristics of particular phonological system, in terms of the language particular range of significant differences among “acoustico-motor images”

b. To specify the types of differences that can be found in general, and in characterize multiple pairs of elements (e.g., voicing separates p from b)

c. To formulate general laws governing the relations of these correlations to one another within particular phonological systems

d. To account for historical change in terms of the phonological system (rather than the individual sound) which undergoes it, and to construe such changes as teleologically governed by considerations of the system

e. To found phonetic studies on an acoustic rather than an articulatory basis, since it is the production of sound that is the goal of linguistic phonetic events and that gives them their social character.

II. Important Concepts of Prague School

1. Distinctive Features:

Jakobson (1939, 1949) drawing on earlier phonological concepts of de Saussure and Hjelmslev, pointed to the limited number of “differential qualities” or “distinctive features” that appeared to be available to languages. Jakobson's interest was in showing hoe oppositions – as the constitutive features of relations among phonemes – reflected a hearer's response to an acoustic signal. Just as this signal contains a limited number of variables, so perceptual response to it operates with a limited number of categories.

Jakobson and Halle employed only 12 features, which were listed with articulatory correlates as well as acoustic cues. All of the features are polar oppositions, allowing relative values. So the acute vowels of one language need not to be identical in nature with the acute vowels of another, provided that they are more acute than the grave vowels to which they are opposed. Moreover, the same acoustic effect can be achieved by different articulatory means. Lip rounding, pharyngealization and retroflexion, for instance, may all be covered by the one distinctive feature of “flatness”. Each feature is binary, with only two opposed values along a single dimension.

Distinctive Features

1. Vocalic/Nonvocalic

Distinguishes vowels and vowel-like sounds from nonvocalic sounds like stops and fricatives.

2. Consonantal/

Nonconsonantal

Distinguishes sounds with low energy and relatively substantial obstruction in the vocal tract from nonconsonantal sounds; thus, for example, a typical vowel can be considered vocalic and nonconsonantal, an approximant such as lateral both vocalic and consonantal.

3. Compact/Diffuse

Refers to the acoustic spectrum and distinguishes sounds with energy concentrated in the central region of the spectrum from those with a more ‘diffuse' spread of energy.

4. Tense/Lax

5. Voiced/Voiceless

6. Nasal/Oral

7. Discontinuous/

Continuant

8. Strident/Mellow

Distinguishes ‘noisy' sounds like sibilant [s] from more ‘mellow' fricatives.

9. Checked/Unchecked

Refers to the higher rate of energy discharge in glottalized sounds and therefore distinguishes ejectives from pulmonic sounds.

10. Grave/Acute

Refers to the acoustic spectrum and distinguishes sounds with more energy in the lower frequency ranges from those with greater concentration of energy in the upper frequencies.

11. Flat/Plain

Refers to the lowering or weakening of upper frequencies created by some kind of narrowed aperture: distinguishes lip rounded sounds from nonrounded, as well as other articulations with comparable acoustic consequences, notably pharyngealized consonants from their ‘plain' counterparts.

12. Sharp/Plain

More or less the opposite of ‘flat/plain' and refers to the upward shift of upper frequencies characteristic of palatalized consonants.

2. Neutralization:

For any particular system, biuniqueness is a requirement that phonemes and allophones can be unambiguously assigned to each other. A problem in this connection is that contrastive systems are often unequally exploited. This means, for example, that two phonemes may be distinguished in some structures but not in others. Following Trubetzkoy (1939) we may say that some phonemic oppositions are suspended or neutralized under certain conditions. Trubetzkoy distinguishes three kinds of neutralization.

Firstly, a language has a contrast but only one of the relevant phonemes occurs under neutralization. Suppose a language has a contrast of voiced and voiceless plosives in word-initial and word-final positions, nut only voiceless plosives occur word-finally. Since the word-final plosives are not in contrast with voiced plosives, the contrast of voicing is inoperative or neutralized word-finally.

Secondly, neutralization may be represented by some kind of variation or alternation among the otherwise contrasting phonemes. For example, in Indonesian, there are four nasal consonant phonemes (bilabial, alveolar, palatal and velar). But sequences of nasal plus other consonants are homorganic, that is the nasal and following consonants are at the same point of articulation. So, we can find clusters such as /mb/ and /nd/, but not /md/ and /nb/.

Thirdly, neutralization may be represented by a sound which is distinct from both of the otherwise contrasting phonemes. One of the most common instances of this kind of neutralization is where vowel contrasts are reduced under certain conditions.

IV Historical Status and Influence

1. Historical Status:

a. Prague school linguistics' success essentially changed the character of European linguistics.

b. Trubetzkoy's contributions were inherited and further elaborated by Martinet and his associates who

found the Functionalist School, i.e., Prague School is the cradle of Structuralism.

2. Influence:

The concept of neutralization and the theory of markedness is expanded in generative grammar as well as nowadays.

V. Related Websites

1. Roman Jakobson's website:

http://www.heartfield.demon.co.uk/jakobson.htm

2. About distinctive features:

http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~rmannell/ling210/features/jakobson.shtml

3. Trubetzkoy's contribution in phonology:

http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~rmannell/ling210/features/trubetzkoy.shtml

The source : http://www.ling.fju.edu.tw/phono/prague.htm

Prague School Phonology

· The Representative Characters;

. Roman Jakobson (1896-1982)

Trubetzkoy, Nikolai Sergeyevič (1890-1938)

Trubetzkiy's notable contributions:

b. Clarifying the distinction between phonetics and phonology by the criterion of function

c. Investigating insistently on phonic substance in terms of its various functions in individual languages

d. Emphasizing on the concept of phonological opposition (primary) over phoneme (secondary)

e. Classifying phonological oppositions typologically instead of binaristic

The Prague Circle manifesto, which changes the character of the European phonology;

a. To identify the characteristics of particular phonological system, in terms of the language particular range of significant differences among “acoustico-motor images”

b. To specify the types of differences that can be found in general, and in characterize multiple pairs of elements (e.g., voicing separates p from b)

c. To formulate general laws governing the relations of these correlations to one another within particular phonological systems

III. Important Concepts of Prague School

1.Distinctive Features:

1. Vocalic/Nonvocalic

2. Consonantal/ Nonconsonantal

3. Compact/Diffuse

4. Tense/Lax

5. Voiced/Voiceless

6. Nasal/Oral

7. Discontinuous/ Continuant

8. Strident/Mellow

9. Checked/Unchecked

10. Grave/Acute

11. Flat/Plain

12. Sharp/Plain

2. Neutralization

. Related Websites