Introducing Phonology

Citation

Odden, D. (2013). Introducing Phonology (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Chapter Summary

The second edition has nine chapters, a glossary, references, and indexes of languages and subjects, in about 350 pages, in the Cambridge Introductions to Language and Linguistics series. The publisher counts 65 exercises and says this edition has over sixty exercises, including 14 new problem sets from a wide variety of languages. Each chapter opens with a preview and a list of key terms, and the chapters build on one another: the early chapters introduce the basic analytical techniques, the middle ones apply and extend them, and the last three step back to ask what counts as a good analysis and how phonological theory changes.

Chapter 1: What Is Phonology?

The chapter introduces phonology as the study of the sound systems of language and distinguishes physical sound from "a sound" as a discrete element of language. It discusses the tradeoff between accuracy and usefulness in representing sound, introduces the idea of a sound as a cognitive symbol, presents the phonetic underpinnings of phonology and brings in the notion of a phonological rule. Its key terms include transcription, grammar and the continuous nature of speech.

Chapter 2: Allophonic Relations

Here the analysis of phonological processes begins. Starting from predictable variants of basic sounds in English, such as the aspirated and unaspirated [t] in tick and stick, the chapter introduces the concepts phoneme and allophone, shows similar relations in other languages, and teaches the general technique of inducing phonological rules from data in a language the student does not know, along with how to write rules. Its key terms are allophone, phoneme, complementary distribution and contrast.

Chapter 3: Feature Theory

The chapter asks whether segments are atomic or are made of smaller parts. It presents sounds as defined by a fixed set of universal features, with phonetic definitions for each, shows how to assign feature values to segments, and how rules are formalised in terms of features and how features make predictions about possible sounds and rules in human language. Natural classes are among its key terms.

Chapter 4: Underlying Representations

The chapter deepens the treatment of underlying forms. It introduces rules that neutralise contrasts, shows how unpredictable information must be part of the underlying form, and discusses the factors that matter most in setting up an underlying representation and how underlying forms differ from pronounced words. Alternation, neutralisation, predictability and structure preservation are the key terms.

Chapter 5: Interacting Processes

Phonological systems are not collections of isolated rules. The chapter shows that a seemingly complex pattern of alternations can be given a simple explanation by separating the effects of different rules that apply in the same form, and that applying rules in different orders affects how an underlying form is mapped onto a surface form.

Chapter 6: Doing an Analysis

The chapter makes explicit the reasoning that goes into solving a phonology problem, using a subset of the phonologies of a number of languages. The first analyses are deliberately explicit about reasoning, in some cases taking a wrong analytical path first so that students can recognise it and return to the right one. Hypothesis formation, testing and revision, and competing hypotheses, are the focus.

Chapter 7: Phonological Typology and Naturalness

The chapter looks at the common and uncommon patterns found across languages and at how naturalness is used to choose between analyses. It covers segment inventories and the idea of markedness, using the example that [p t k] are common while uvular [q] is less so, and the question of functional explanation. It notes that only a small fraction of the world's roughly 7,000 languages has been studied well enough to inform typology.

Chapter 8: Abstractness and Psychological Reality

The chapter asks how different underlying and surface forms may be, what constraints on abstractness are tenable, and how these questions can be addressed empirically. The central question is what counts as evidence for a phonological analysis. Absolute neutralisation, psychological reality and external evidence are its key terms.

Chapter 9: Nonlinear Representations

The final chapter introduces an alternative model of sound representation, using the problems that tone caused for the linear theory as its motivation. It presents the autosegmental theory of tone, and covers floating tones, tone stability, feature geometry and the syllable. The purpose is also to show how and why theories change.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: What Is Phonology? to Feature Theory

• Phonological rule: a statement of the predictable pronunciation of a sound in a context, as in aspiration of English voiceless stops.
• Phoneme and allophone: a sound as a mental unit and its predictable variants, identified through complementary distribution and contrast.
• Features and natural classes: the universal properties from which segments are built and the groups of sounds that rules treat alike.

Chapters 4–6: Underlying Representations to Doing an Analysis

• Underlying representation: the stored form of a word from which pronunciations are derived; unpredictable information must be included.
• Neutralisation: the loss of a contrast in a context by a rule.
• Rule ordering: the effect on the surface form of applying rules in different orders.
• Hypothesis testing: formulating, testing and revising competing analyses of a data set.

Chapters 7–9: Typology to Nonlinear Representations

• Markedness and naturalness: the idea that some segments and rules are more common and so more expected across languages.
• Abstractness and external evidence: how far underlying forms may differ from surface forms, and what evidence supports an analysis.
• Autosegmental phonology: a nonlinear model that treats tone and other features as independent of segments, with floating tones, feature geometry and the syllable.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Teaches analysis by doing it. The publisher says the book teaches students to analyse data from unfamiliar languages, formulate and test hypotheses, and think critically about data. Chapter 6 models the reasoning, including wrong turns, and the book offers over sixty exercises with problem sets from a wide variety of languages.
• Clear learning scaffolding. Each chapter opens with a preview, a list of objectives and key terms, which makes the sequence easy to follow and review.
• Attention to how theories change. The last chapters ask what counts as evidence and why theories change; Chapter 9 uses the difficulty of tone to motivate a new model, so students see theory as responding to data.
• Reception. Endorsements quoted on the publisher's page include B. Elan Dresher (University of Toronto), who says the book shows how to do phonology and think like a phonologist, and Bert Vaux (University of Cambridge), who highlights the emphasis on detailed argumentation, an intermediate level of difficulty and the number of worked examples from unfamiliar languages.

Limitations

• Scope of frameworks. The chapter titles centre on rule-based analysis, feature theory and nonlinear representations; the contents show no chapter on constraint-based approaches, so students will need other material on those.
• No separate transcription chapter. The first edition had a chapter titled "Phonetic transcriptions"; the second edition's contents do not. Chapter 1 presents the phonetic underpinnings of phonology and the publisher notes an updated transcription system and a reference list of phonetic symbols, but students new to phonetics should use a separate phonetics text.
• Built around problems. The book teaches through data sets and exercises, so readers who want a discursive overview of phonological theory rather than practice in analysis may find it a poor fit.
• Answer keys restricted. The publisher says the pedagogical suggestions and answer keys are for authenticated instructors only, so self-study students cannot check their solutions against official keys.

Where It Fits in the Course

Odden's book is the analysis-and-theory text for phonology in this course. Ladefoged and Johnson's A Course in Phonetics teaches the production and acoustic properties of speech sounds and practical transcription, and is the usual companion before or alongside Odden's early chapters. Clark and colleagues' An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology combines the two fields in one volume, so it suits a course that wants both in one book. Carley, Mees and Collins's Practical English Phonetics and Phonology is a workbook focused on English.

Johnson's Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics and Ladefoged's Elements of Acoustic Phonetics are specialised phonetics texts for readers who want to go deeper into the physical signal, and are not substitutes for Odden's coverage of phonological analysis.

How to Use This Book

The book is meant for undergraduates with only a basic knowledge of linguistics, and for beginning graduate students. Some familiarity with phonetic symbols and with articulatory terms helps; Chapter 1 reviews the phonetic underpinnings.

A practical plan: read Chapters 1 to 5 in order, because each depends on the previous one, and do the exercises for each chapter before moving on, treating them as the core of the book. Chapter 6 is the best place to practise the full analytical workflow; work through its models. Chapters 7 and 8 suit a course that wants the theory and evidence side, and Chapter 9 is the natural endpoint for students going on to autosegmental phonology or tone. Pair the early chapters with a phonetics text if the transcription is unfamiliar, and with a text on constraint-based phonology afterwards if your course covers it.