Chapter 3: Phonology

Question 1

phonology

Answer 1

speech sounds in a system of contrasts and patterns

Question 2

phonemes

Answer 2

contrasting segments

Question 3

allophones

Answer 3

variants of the same phoneme

Question 4

minimal pair

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

complementary distribution

Answer 5

When two sounds occur in non-overlapping environments
The sound has one pronunciation in one position or environment and another pronunciation in other environments

Question 6

near-minimal pairs

Answer 6

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

Question 7

phonological representation

Answer 7

consists only of its component phonemes

Question 8

phonemic representation

Answer 8

corresponds to what is in your head

Question 9

phonetic representation

Answer 9

corresponds to what comes out of your mouth (ends up being more detailed as we add phonetic details as we speak)

Question 10

neutralization

Answer 10

involves the loss of a contrast between two phonemes in certain circumstances because of a shared allophone

Question 11

free variation

Answer 11

occurs when a single word has more than one pronunciation

Question 12

phonotactics

Answer 12

branch of phonology that is concerned with permissible combinations of phonemes

Question 13

syllable structure

Answer 13

Syllable
-> onset
-> rhyme
-> nucleus
-> coda

Question 14

onset

Answer 14

consists of at least one consonant to the left of the nucleus

Question 15

coda

Answer 15

consisting of one or more consonants to the right of the nucleus

Question 16

closed syllable

Answer 16

A syllable with a coda

Question 17

open syllable

Answer 17

a syllable without a coda

Question 18

sonority requirement

Answer 18

sonority rises before the nucleus and declines after the nucleus, sonority is graded by levels (0-4)

Question 19

binarity requirement

Answer 19

each constituent can be at most binary, meaning that an onset or a coda cannot contain more than 2 consonants

Question 20

heavy syllable

Answer 20

the rhyme consists of a vowel plus either a glide or a consonant

Question 21

light syllable

Answer 21

the rhyme consists of just a vowel or of a syllabic consonant

Question 22

distinctive feature

Answer 22

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

Question 23

major class features

Answer 23

features that represent the classes consonant, obstruent and sonorant (nasal, liquid, glide, vowel)

Question 24

[+consonantal]

Answer 24

these sounds are produced with a major obstruction in the vocal tract

Question 25

[+syllabic]

Answer 25

sounds that can act like syllabic nuclei

Question 26

[+sonorant]

Answer 26

sounds that are singable (vowels, glides, liquids, nasals)

Question 27

manner features

Answer 27

features that represent manner of articulation:
continuant, delayed release, nasal, lateral

Question 28

[+continuant]

Answer 28

sounds produced with free or nearly free airflow through the oral cavity- (vowels, glides, liquids, affricatives)

Question 29

[+delayed release]

Answer 29

only affricatives, as they are produced with a ‘delayed release’ of air

Question 30

[+nasal]

Answer 30

sounds produced with a lowered velum (nasal stops and all nasalized sounds)

Question 31

[+lateral]

Answer 31

only varieties of l are lateral

Question 32

laryngeal features

Answer 32

features that represent laryngeal activity

Question 33

[+ or - voice]

Answer 33

voiced or voiceless sounds

Question 34

[+ or - spread glottis]

Answer 34

all aspirated consonants and [h] are [+SG], everything else is -

Question 35

[+ or - constricted glottis]

Answer 35

all sounds made with a closed glottis are [+CG]

Question 36

articulator features

Answer 36

identifies the articulators that are active in the production of particular sounds

Question 37

[LABIAL]

Answer 37

for articulations involving the lips
Can be [+round] for rounded protruded lips, [-round] for ones that are not

Question 38

[CORONAL]

Answer 38

for articulations involving the tongue tip or tongue blade

Question 39

[+anterior]

Answer 39

all coronal sounds articulated in front of the alveopalatal region

Question 40

[-anterior]

Answer 40

coronal sounds articulated at or behind the alveopalatal region

Question 41

[+strident], [-strident]

Answer 41

• all ‘noisy’ coronal fricatives and affricatives,
• all other coronal fricatives or affricatives

Question 42

[DORSAL]

Answer 42

for articulations involving the tongue body

Question 43

[+high], [-high]

Answer 43

• 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

Question 44

[+low], [-low]

Answer 44

• vowels produced with the tongue body lowered from a central position in the oral cavity
• all other vowels

Question 45

[+back], [-back]

Answer 45

• 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

Question 46

[+tense], [-tense]

Answer 46

-vowels that are tense
-vowels that are lax

Question 47

[+reduced], [-reduced]

Answer 47

• the vowel schwa is a lax and exceptionally brief vowel
• all other vowels