Chapter 3 Phonology Flashcards
Phonology
The study of the sound system of a language, how the particular sounds contrast in each language to form an integrated system for encoding information, and how such systems differ from one language to another.
Phoneme
A class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sound; a mental entity (or category) related to various allophones by phonological rules. Phonemes are written between slashes, for example, /t/.
Allophone
One of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme; an actual phonetic segment.
Types of distribution (to determine whether particular sounds are allophones of a single or separate phoneme)
- Contrastive distribution
- Complementary distribution
- Free variation
Phonological rule
The description of a relationship between a phoneme and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears.
Underlying form
The phonemic form of a word or morpheme before phonological rules are applied.
Conditioning environment
Neighboring sounds of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change.
Types of phonological rules
- Assimilation
- Dissimilation
- Insertion
- Deletion
- Metathesis
- Strengthening
- Weakening
Implicational law
Observation about language universals that takes the form of an implication (e.g., if A then B, meaning that if a language has feature A, then we can expect it to have feature B).
4 aspects of more common and less common sounds
- Sound inventories
- Frequency and distribution
- Acquisition of sounds
- Sound change
Basic allophone/the elsewhere allophone
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.
Restricted allophone
An allophone of a phoneme that appears in a more limited set of phonetic environments.
Near-minimal pair
Similar to a 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.
Palatalization
A process wherein a sound takes on a palatal place of articulation, usually in assimilation to high or mid front vowels like [i] or [e].
Vowel harmony
Long-distance assimilation between vowels.
Aspiration
A puff of air that follows the release of a consonant when there is a delay in the onset of voicing. Symbolized by a superscript .
Obstruent
A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off.
Sonorant
Sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of airflow. Nasals, liquids, glides, and vowels are all sonorants.
Sibilant
A member of the natural class of sounds that are characterized by a high-pitched hissing quality.
Natural class
Group of sounds in a language that satisfy a given description to the exclusion of other sounds in that language.
Overlapping distribution
The occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments.
Free variation
Term used to refer to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause no distinction in the meaning of their respective words.
Complementary distribution
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.
Contrastive distribution
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.
Phonetic environment
The sounds that come before and after a particular sound in a word.
