Chapter 3: Phonology Flashcards
phonology
speech sounds in a system of contrasts and patterns
phonemes
contrasting segments
allophones
variants of the same phoneme
minimal pair
- consists of two words that differ by only one segment in the same position (win & wing, beat & bit)
- when two sounds can create a minimal pair, you know that they belong to separate phonemes
complementary distribution
When two sounds occur in non-overlapping environments
The sound has one pronunciation in one position or environment and another pronunciation in other environments
near-minimal pairs
when you cannot find minimal pairs for a word, you may use near-minimal pairs which are close enough to make it possible to contrast a sound in the words
phonological representation
consists only of its component phonemes
phonemic representation
corresponds to what is in your head
phonetic representation
corresponds to what comes out of your mouth (ends up being more detailed as we add phonetic details as we speak)
neutralization
involves the loss of a contrast between two phonemes in certain circumstances because of a shared allophone
free variation
occurs when a single word has more than one pronunciation
phonotactics
branch of phonology that is concerned with permissible combinations of phonemes
syllable structure
Syllable
-> onset
-> rhyme
-> nucleus
-> coda
onset
consists of at least one consonant to the left of the nucleus
coda
consisting of one or more consonants to the right of the nucleus
closed syllable
A syllable with a coda
open syllable
a syllable without a coda
sonority requirement
sonority rises before the nucleus and declines after the nucleus, sonority is graded by levels (0-4)
binarity requirement
each constituent can be at most binary, meaning that an onset or a coda cannot contain more than 2 consonants
heavy syllable
the rhyme consists of a vowel plus either a glide or a consonant
light syllable
the rhyme consists of just a vowel or of a syllabic consonant
distinctive feature
By systematically examining the phonemic contrasts of a language, we can extract the distinctive features and use them to describe the phonemic inventory
for example- [voice] is a DF in english, which is why voiced phonemes contrast with their voiceless counterparts. But [aspirated] is not a DF
major class features
features that represent the classes consonant, obstruent and sonorant (nasal, liquid, glide, vowel)
[+consonantal]
these sounds are produced with a major obstruction in the vocal tract
[+syllabic]
sounds that can act like syllabic nuclei
[+sonorant]
sounds that are singable (vowels, glides, liquids, nasals)
manner features
features that represent manner of articulation:
continuant, delayed release, nasal, lateral
[+continuant]
sounds produced with free or nearly free airflow through the oral cavity- (vowels, glides, liquids, affricatives)
[+delayed release]
only affricatives, as they are produced with a ‘delayed release’ of air
[+nasal]
sounds produced with a lowered velum (nasal stops and all nasalized sounds)
[+lateral]
only varieties of l are lateral
laryngeal features
features that represent laryngeal activity
[+ or - voice]
voiced or voiceless sounds
[+ or - spread glottis]
all aspirated consonants and [h] are [+SG], everything else is -
[+ or - constricted glottis]
all sounds made with a closed glottis are [+CG]
articulator features
identifies the articulators that are active in the production of particular sounds
[LABIAL]
for articulations involving the lips
Can be [+round] for rounded protruded lips, [-round] for ones that are not
[CORONAL]
for articulations involving the tongue tip or tongue blade
[+anterior]
all coronal sounds articulated in front of the alveopalatal region
[-anterior]
coronal sounds articulated at or behind the alveopalatal region
[+strident], [-strident]
- all ‘noisy’ coronal fricatives and affricatives,
- all other coronal fricatives or affricatives
[DORSAL]
for articulations involving the tongue body
[+high], [-high]
- dorsal consonants and vowels produced with the tongue body raised from a central position in the oral cavity
- sounds produced with a lowered or neutral tongue body
[+low], [-low]
- vowels produced with the tongue body lowered from a central position in the oral cavity
- all other vowels
[+back], [-back]
- dorsal consonants and vowels produced with the tongue body behind the palatal region in the oral cavity
- sounds produced with the tongue body at or in front of the palatal region
[+tense], [-tense]
-vowels that are tense
-vowels that are lax
[+reduced], [-reduced]
- the vowel schwa is a lax and exceptionally brief vowel
- all other vowels
