Chapter 4: the Sound Patterns of Language Flashcards
phonology
description of systems/patterns of speech sounds in a language
based on a theory of what every adult speaker of a language unconciously knows about said language; abstract/mental, blueprint of sound type
phoneme
any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language (that distinguish one word from another)
pad, pat, bad, bat -> /p/, /b/, /d/, /t/
distinct phoneme
if changing one sound in a word changes the meaning as well
fat and vat, fine and vine -> /f/ and /v/
natural class
set of phonemes in a language that share distinctive features
/p/, /k/, /t/ -> unvoiced bilabial stops
phone
any distinct sound/gesture (regardless of if that sound is critical to word meaning)
/t/ in tar vs star vs writer vs butter vs eighth
allophones
set of phones, all of which being versions of one phoneme
/t/ in tar vs star vs writer vs butter vs eighth
substituting allophones only results in a different (potentially unusual) pronunciation of the SAME word
complementary distribution
two different allophones of a phoneme, each used in different places
/t/ with aspiration may be used at the beginning of a word (star), but never after a consonant in initial position (star)
minimal pair
two words that are identical save one phoneme
fan - van, bat - boat, sit - sing
minimal set
group of words differentiated by one phoneme
big/rig/pig/dig/wig, can/cat/cap/cab/cash
phonotactics
permitted arrangements of sounds; rules governing possible phoneme sequences in a language
syllable
must contain a vowel/vowel-like sound (dipthong)
onset (1+ consonants) rhyme (vowel, nucleus) coda (following consonants)
closed syllables
onset not necessary, but rhyme and coda
up, cup, at, hat
open syllable
syllable with no coda
me, to, too
consonant cluster
onset/coda has more than one consonant
stop, black, twin, throw
coarticulation
making one sound almost at the same time as the next sound
