Chapter 3 Phonology Key Vocabulary Flashcards
Phonology
The study of the sound systems of 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.
Phonetic Inventories
The set of sounds that are produced as part of the grammar of a language.
Phonotactic Constraints
Restriction on possible combinations of sounds, often in particular environments.
Sound Substitution
A process whereby sounds already exist in a language are used to replace sounds that so not exist in the language when borrowing or when a speaker is trying to pronounce a foreign word.
Implicational Law
Observation about language universals that takes the form of an implication.
Aspiration
A puff of air that follows the release of consonant when there is a delay in the onset of voicing.
Noncontrastive
A term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a language.
Contrastive
A term used to describe two sounds that can be used to differentiate words in a language.
Allophone
One of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme.
Distribution
The set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs.
Phonetic Environment
The sounds that come before and after a particular sound in a word.
Contrastive Distribution
The occurrence of sounds in a language such that their use distinguishes between the meanings of words in which they appear, indicating that those sounds are phonemes of the language in question.
Minimal Pair
Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and that have different meanings.
Complementary Distribution
The occurrence of sounds in a language such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment.
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.
Overlapping Distribution
The occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments.
Phonological Rules
The description of a relationship between a phonemes and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears.
Underlying Form
The phonetic 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.
Natural Class
Groups of sound in a language that satisfy a given description to the exclusion of other sounds in that language.
Sibilant
A member of the natural class of sounds that are characterized by a high-pitched hissing quality.
Labial
A member of a natural class of sounds produced with the lips.
Obstruent
A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off.
Sonorants
Sound produced with a relatively open passage of airflow.
