File 3 - Module Three, Week 5, Phonology

Question 1

/h/-Deletion

Answer 1

/h/ may be deleted in unstressed syllables

Question 2

allophone

Answer 2

any of the speech sounds that represent a single phoneme, such as the aspirated ‘k’ in kit and the unaspirated ‘k’ in skit, which are allophones of the phoneme k // each member of a particular phoneme class which corresponds to an actual phonetic segment produced by a speaker, that is, the various ways a phoneme is pronounced are called allophones // [t], [ʔ] and [ɾ] are all allophones of /t/ Allophones are written between square brackets – ex. [t]

Question 3

alternation

Answer 3

a difference between two (or more) phonetic forms that you might otherwise expect to be related

Question 4

aspiration

Answer 4

voiceless stops become aspirated when they occur at the beginning of a stressed syllable

Question 5

basic allophone

Answer 5

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; also termed the elsewhere allophone.

Question 6

complementary distribution

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

contrastive

Answer 7

a term used to describe two sounds that can be used to differentiate words in a language // replacing one sound with the other in a word can change the word’s meaning (time vs. dime)

Question 8

distribution of a phone

Answer 8

the set of phonetic environments in which it occurs

Question 9

flapping

Answer 9

An alveolar (oral) stop is realized as [ɾ] when it occurs after a stressed vowel and before an unstressed vowel.

Question 10

implicational law

Answer 10

the presence of the less common sound implies that the more common sound will also be used in the language

Question 11

maximally distinct

Answer 11

where the consonants have very few qualities in common with the vowels, and the vowels are likewise very different from the consonants

Question 12

minimal pair

Answer 12

a pair of words whose pronunciations differ by exactly one sound and that have different meaning // ex. [ti:m] team and [ti:n] teen

Question 13

noncontrastive

Answer 13

a term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a language // interchanging the two does not result in a change of meaning

Question 14

obstruents

Answer 14

Produced with an obstruction of the airflow. Sounds in this category are stops, fricatives and affricates. Labial obstruents in English: [p,f,b,v]

Question 15

palatalization

Answer 15

Refers to a special type of assimilation in which a consonant becomes like a neighboring palatal. English speakers say: “Did you?” Very often pronounced as [dɪdʒu].

Question 16

phoneme

Answer 16

any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another, for example: p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad, and bat // the minimal distinctive linguistic sound // a class of speech sounds that seem to be variants of the same sound // phonemes written between slashes – ex. /t/

Question 17

phonology

Answer 17

the study of the distribution of sound in a language and the interactions between those different sounds

Question 18

phonotactic constraints

Answer 18

restrictions on possible combinations of sounds

Question 19

restricted allophone

Answer 19

an allophone of a phoneme that appears in a more limited set of phonetic environments

Question 20

schwa insertion

Answer 20

insert [ə] between two sibilants

Question 21

sibilant

Answer 21

Segments that have high-pitched, hissing sound quality. In English: [s, ʃ, z, ʒ, dʒ]

Question 22

sonorants

Answer 22

Segments produced with a relatively open passage for the airflow. These include: nasals, liquids, glides and vowels. Labial Sonorant consonants in English: [m,w,y]

Question 23

sound substitution

Answer 23

sounds that exist in a language a speaker knows are used to replace sounds that do not exist in that language when pronouncing the words of a foreign language – ex. French speakers [zis] for ‘this’

Question 24

voiceless stop insertion

Answer 24

Between a nasal consonant and a voiceless fricative, a voiceless stop with the same place of articulation as the nasal is inserted.

Question 25

voicing assimilation

Answer 25

/-z/ takes on the voicing specification of the preceding sound