Chapter 3 Phonology ENG 211 Flashcards
Allophone
One of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme; an actual phonetic segment.
Alteration
In phonology, a difference between two or more phonetic forms that one might expect to be related. In morphology, the morphological process that uses morpheme-internal modifications to make new words or morphological distinctions.
Assimilation
A process by which a sound becomes more like a nearby sound in terms of some feature(s).
Complementary Distribution
The occurrence of sounds in the language such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment. Sounds that are in complementary distribution are allophones of the same.
Conditioning Environment
Neighboring sounds of a given sound that causes it to undergo a change.
Contrastive
A term used to describe two sounds that can be used to differentiate words in a language.
Contrastive Distribution
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 question. Sounds that are in contrastive distribution are allophones of different phonemes.
Distribution
The set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs.
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.
Labial
A member of a natural class of sounds produced with the lips; included both bilabial and labiodental sounds.
Metathesis
Switching of the order of two sounds, each taking the place of the other.
Minimal Pair
Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and that have different meaning.
Natural Class
Group of sounds in a language that satisfy a given description to the exclusion of other sounds in that language.
Noncontrastive
A term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a language.
Obligatory Rule
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.
Obstruent
A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off. Includes oral stops, fricatives, and affricates.
Ovelapping
The occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments
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].
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/.
Phonological Rule
The description of a relationship between a phoneme and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears.
Sibilant
A member of the natural class of sounds that are characterized by a high-pitched hissing quality.
Sonorant
Sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of air flow. Nasals, liquids, glides, and vowels are all sonorants.
Sound Substitution
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.
Strengthening
A process through which sounds are made “stronger” according to some criterion.
