Phonology

Question 1

phone

Answer 1

a unit of a sound

Question 2

phoneme

Answer 2

a unit of sound expressed as meaning

Question 3

allomorph

Answer 3

a set of morphs that correspond to a single morpheme e.g. plural markers -aux -s

Question 4

allophone

Answer 4

alternative ‘faces’ of phonemes, which change pronunciation slightly but not meaning. Exist either in complementary distribution or free variation.

Question 5

IPA

Answer 5

International Phonetic Alphabet. Accounts for most sounds in most languages. But is an approximation.

Question 6

phonology vs. phonetics

Answer 6

study of sound in language related to meaning; study of sound creation/reception by people (more biological).

Question 7

grapheme

Answer 7

a fundamental unit in a given writing system (e.g. letters in French, logographs in Chinese)

Question 8

logographic language

Answer 8

graphemes represent morphemes.

Question 9

phonemic language

Answer 9

graphemes represent sounds.

Question 10

syllabic writing system

Answer 10

graphemes represent syllables.

Question 11

consonant articulation: manner

Answer 11

plosive, roll/trill, fricative, nasal, approximant, lateral

Question 12

consonant articulation: place

Answer 12

bilabial, labio-dental, dental, paleto-alveolar, palatal, uvular

Question 13

consonant articulation: voicing

Answer 13

voiced/ unvoiced

Question 14

vowel articulation: position

Answer 14

front, central, back

Question 15

vowel articulation: height

Answer 15

high, mid-high, mid-low, low

Question 16

vowel articulation: lip shape

Answer 16

rounded, unrounded

Question 17

vowel articulation: nasality

Answer 17

nasal or not

Question 18

positional variation

Answer 18

realisation determined by surrounding phonetic context

Question 19

positional variation: liaison

Answer 19

realization of word-final consonant before a vowel onset, to avoid consecutive vowel sounds. E.g. est-elle là ? Aux enfants. Common: [z] [t] [n] ; less common [p] [ʁ] [k]

Question 20

positional variation: elision

Answer 20

deletion of vowel before vowel onset. E.g. l’étude

Question 21

positional variation: h-aspiré

Answer 21

certain Hs are exceptions to liaison norm, and require zero alternation of liaison consonant E.g. la haine, les haricots.

Question 22

positional variation: gemination

Answer 22

realisation of pairs of consecutive phonemes e.g. immmmmortel
- courrait (conditional) vs. courait (imperfect).
Also phrase-internal e.g. bonne nuit.

Question 23

positional variation: aspirated schwa

Answer 23

liaison schwa inserted between phrase-internal geminate consonants e.g. bonne nuit /bɔnənɥi/, ours blanc.

Question 24

apocope

Answer 24

the removal of word-final phonemes
e.g. c’est dég! , je vais au ciné

Question 25

apheresis

Answer 25

the removal of word-initial phonemes
e.g. ‘scusez-moi?’

Question 26

complementary distribution

Answer 26

allophones better suited to specific environments, and whose positional variation is mutually exclusive
e.g. dix /dis/ /diz/
les hotels vs. les haricots (/lez/ vs. /le/)

Question 27

contrastive distribution

Answer 27

change of sound initiates change of meaning e.g. minimal pairs main vs. bain

Question 28

open vs. closed syllables

Answer 28

end on vowel vs. end on consonant.
E.g. all.er (open) ma.gni.tude (closed)

Question 29

assimilation

Answer 29

a phoneme takes on (assimilates) sounds from adjacent phonemes. Handbag, nitrate
eg. voiced -> unvoiced, unvoiced -> voiced, vowel assimilation

Question 30

loi de position

Answer 30

Preference for mid-high vowels /e/ /ø/ /o/ in open syllables, and mid-low vowels /ɛ/ /œ/ /ɔ/ in closed syllables.
E.g. fait /fe/ vs. faite /fɛt/

Question 31

free variation

Answer 31

variation not based on phonological environment, but other factors. Generally not predictable. E.g. jadis, pays, scone, neither

Question 32

stress times languages vs. syllable-timed languages

Answer 32

• english is stress timed, where stress is related to context:
  eg. I didn’t feed your dog!
  I didn’t feed your dog, I just petted it!
• french is stress timed, stress often on phrase-final syllables

Question 33

Suprasegmental vs. segmental phonological features

Answer 33

syllable breaks, stresses, liaisons vs phonemes (segments = words).