Ch 3 Phonology Module 4

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

The study of the sound system of a language. How particular sounds contrast in each language to form an integrated system for encoding information.

Question 2

phonotactic constraints

Answer 2

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

Question 3

sound substitution

Answer 3

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

Question 4

allophone

Answer 4

One of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme

Question 5

phoneme

Answer 5

A class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sound.

Question 6

noncontrastive

Answer 6

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

Question 7

contrastive

Answer 7

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

Question 8

distribution

Answer 8

The set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs.

Question 9

contrastive distribution

Answer 9

The occurrence of sounds in a language such that their use distinguishes between the meaning of the words in which they appear, indicating that those sounds are phonemes of the language in questions.

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

alternation

Answer 11

In phonology, a difference between two or more phonetic forms that one might expect to be related.

Question 12

complementary distribution

Answer 12

The occurrence of sounds in a language such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment

Question 13

free variation

Answer 13

Term used to refer to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause not distinction in the meaning of their respective words.

Question 14

overlapping distribution

Answer 14

The occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments

Question 15

phonological rule

Answer 15

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

Question 16

underlying form

Answer 16

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

Question 17

conditioning enviroment

Answer 17

Neighboring sounds of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change.

Question 18

obstruent

Answer 18

A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off.

Question 19

sonorant

Answer 19

Sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of air flow.

Question 20

Assimilation

Answer 20

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

Question 21

palatalization

Answer 21

A process wherein a sound take on a palatal place of articulation, usually in assimilation to high or mid front vowels like j or 3

Question 22

Vowel harmony

Answer 22

Long-distance assimilation between vowels

Question 23

Dissimilation

Answer 23

Process by which two nearby sounds become less alike with respect to some feature.

Question 24

Implicational Law

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Metathesis

Answer 25

Switching of the order of two sounds, each taking the place of the other.