Ch. 3 Phonology Key Vocabulary

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

The study of how sounds are organized within a language and how the interact with each other.

Question 2

Phonetic Inventory

Answer 2

The set of sounds that are produces as part of the grammar of a language.

Question 3

Phonotactic Constraint

Answer 3

Restriction on possible combinations of sounds, often in particular environments.

Question 4

Sound Substitution

Answer 4

A process whereby sounds that already exist in a language are used to replace sounds that do not exist in the language when borrowing or when a speaker is trying to pronounce a foreign word.

Question 5

Contrastive

Answer 5

A term used to describe two sounds that can be used to differentiate words in a language.

Question 6

Non-contrastive

Answer 6

A term used to describe two sounds that are not used to to differentiate words in a language.

Question 7

Distribution

Answer 7

A set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs.

Question 8

Phonetic Environment

Answer 8

The sounds that come before and after a particular sound in a word.

Question 9

Contrastive Distribution

Answer 9

The occurrence of sounds in a language such that their use distinguishes between the meanings of the words in which they appear, indicating that those sounds are phonemes of the language in question. Sounds that are in contrastive distribution are allophones of different phonemes.

Question 10

Minimal Pair

Answer 10

Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and that have different meanings.

Question 11

Complementary Distribution

Answer 11

The occurrence of sounds in a language such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment. Sounds that are in complementary distribution are allophones of the same phoneme.

Question 12

Free Variation

Answer 12

Term used to refer to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause no distinction in the meaning of their respective words.

Question 13

Overlapping Distribution

Answer 13

The occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments.

Question 14

Phonological Rule

Answer 14

The description of a relationship between a phoneme and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears.

Question 15

Underlying Form

Answer 15

The phonetic form of a word or morpheme before phonological rules are applied.

Question 16

Types of Phonological Rules

Answer 16

Assimilation
Dissimilation
Insertion
Deletion
Metathesis
Strengthening
Weakening

Question 17

Implicational Law

Answer 17

Observation about language universals that take the form of an implication.

Question 18

Basic Allophone

Answer 18

The allophone of a phoneme that is used when none of the change-inducing conditions are fulfilled. Of a set of allophones, it is generally least limited in where it can occur; also termed the elsewhere allophone.

Question 19

Restricted Allophone

Answer 19

An allophone of a phoneme that appears in a more limited set of phonetic environments.

Question 20

Near-minimal pairs

Answer 20

Similar to minimal pair, but whereas the words in a minimal pair are identical apart from the contrastive sounds, the words in a near-minimal pair are only almost identical, apart from the contrastive sounds.

Question 21

Obligatory Rule

Answer 21

Phonological, morphological, or syntactic rule that applies in the speech of all speakers of a language or dialect, regardless of style or rate of speech..

Question 22

Optional Rule

Answer 22

Phonological, morphological, or syntactic rule that may or may not apply in an individual’s speech.

Question 23

Allophone

Answer 23

One of a set of non-contrastive realizations of the same phoneme; an actual phonetic segment.

Question 24

Assimilation

Answer 24

A process by which a sound becomes more like a nearby sound in terms of some features.

Question 25

Labial

Answer 25

A member of a natural class of sounds produces with the lips; includes both bilabial and labiodental sounds.