Entry #3: Phonology, or The Sounds of Silence

While Phonetics (and phoneticians) seeks to describe the physical sounds of language, Phonology (and phonologists) seeks to categorize and explain the sound patterns of a language. What sounds is the human vocal tract capable of producing? Why do some languages use certain sounds but not others? How concrete is the sound inventory of a language? How does a language use its inventory to convey differences in meaning? The phonologist, through data collection and analysis, seeks to answer these questions.

Let us take English as an example. While a phonetician would study the way a speaker produces a /ŋ/, like the average length, organs used, airflow, etc, a phonologist would study why and where this sound is produced. Why is it only found at the ends of syllables, such as in "hang" or "string?" Is it only found at the end of syllables? Do some dialects/speakers pronounce it elsewhere? Yes and No, respectively. Mountains of data confirm this. The more interesting (and more studied) question is, why is this so?

How can we reconcile this fact with the fact that Kabiye, a Niger-Congo language spoken in West Africa, easily places this sound at the beginning, middle, and end of syllables? Clearly, the restriction in English does not arise from a physiological standpoint: the human vocal tract is quite capable of pronouncing this sound in many different environments. Kabiye is not alone; many languages have this feature.

The solution lies in parameters, or DNA-encoded instructions for how one is to speak. There is a little switch in our heads (in fact, there are many) that get flipped when we first hear language around us, usually 0-2 years old. A child listening to English would never hear /ŋ/ at the beginning of syllables; a certain switch is flipped to "no," and thereafter it is very hard to change that. Sometimes, even trained phoneticians have trouble pronouncing non-native sounds. A baby growing up where Kabiye is the most frequently spoken language, however, would have their switch flipped to "yes." Countless numbers of these switches can account for the tremendous amount of linguistic diversity found on earth.