Phonology Flashcards
Phonology
how sounds are organized in a language and how they interact with each other
syllable
phonological unit of organisation, contains one or more sound segments
sound structure
1)identify the nucleus
2) identify onset
3) identify coda
nucleus
core part of a syllable, must be present, mostly vowels, liquids and nasal.
C-nuclei
no vowel in the pronunciation of the syllable: [l] and alveolar nasals become syllable nuclei after an alveolar consonant in the last syllable of a word in casual speech.
onset
begining of the syllable, before the nucleus, may be empty, any consonant.
coda
ending of a syllable, after the nucleus, may be empty, any consonant
phonotactic constraint
language-specific limitations on how sounds can be put together
phonemes
44 unique sounds that help distinguish words or meanings
allophones
a variation of a sound that will not change the meaning of the word
free variation
2 or more sounds or forms that appear in the same environment w/o change in meaning without being considered incorrect by native speakers
complimentary distribution
2 sounds never occur in the same environment
contrastive distribution
2 sounds that can both appear in the same phonetic environment, change the meaning of words in minimal pairs
natural classes
set of phonemes that store distinctive features ; will undergo the same attention in the same environment
assimilation
one segment assimilates to another by copying or spreading a feature of sequential phoneme on its neighboring segments: to phones appear more similar
