Phonology

Question 1

phonology

Answer 1

study of distribution of sounds in a language and interaction between those sounds

Question 2

phonotactic constraints

Answer 2

restrictions on possible sound combinations

Question 3

english allows up to 3 consonants for start of word if

Answer 3

first is [s], second is [p, t, k], and third is [l, r, j, w]

Question 4

phoneme

Answer 4

class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sounds; mental entity related to allophones by phonological rules

Question 5

allophone

Answer 5

one of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme; a phonetic segment

Question 6

contrastive distribution

Answer 6

two sounds occur in the same environment, changing the meaning of the word

Question 7

minimal pair

Answer 7

pair of words that differ in only one sound and have different meanings - prove separate phonemes

Question 8

complementary distribution

Answer 8

sounds do not occur in same phonetic environment - evidence for allophones

Question 9

free variation

Answer 9

non-contrastive sounds that can be used in the same environment (have overlapping distribution) - perceived as same sound to native speaker, allophones

Question 10

natural class

Answer 10

group of sounds in a language that share one or more articulatory or auditory property to the exclusion of all other sounds in that language

Question 11

sibilant

Answer 11

high-pitched, hissing sounds [s, SH, CH, z, ZH, DZH]

Question 12

labial natural class

Answer 12

[f, v, p, b, m, w, w]

Question 13

obstruents

Answer 13

produced with obstruction to airflow: stops fricatives, affricates

Question 14

sonorants

Answer 14

produced with relatively open airway: nasals, liquids, glides, vowels

Question 15

assimilation

Answer 15

sound becomes more like a neighboring sound

Question 16

nasal place assimilation

Answer 16

alveolar nasal assimilates to place of articulation of following consonant

Question 17

palatalization

Answer 17

consonant becomes like neighboring palatal : common when alveolar, dental, or velar stops/fricatives appear before a front vowel

Question 18

vowel harmony

Answer 18

Finnish: back vowel becomes front vowel when preceded by a front vowel

Question 19

dissimilation

Answer 19

two close/adjacent sounds become less similar

Question 20

manner dissimilation

Answer 20

stop becomes fricative when followed by another stop (Greek)

Question 21

insertion

Answer 21

segment not present in phonemes is added to the phonetic form of the word

Question 22

voiceless stop insertion

Answer 22

between nasal consonant and voiceless fricative, voiceless stop with same place of articulation is added (dance)

Question 23

deletion

Answer 23

eliminates sound present at phonemic level

Question 24

metathesis

Answer 24

change order of sounds to make words easier to pronounce

Question 25

strengthening

Answer 25

fortition: make sounds stronger

Question 26

aspiration

Answer 26

form of strengthening, voiceless stop becomes aspirated at beginning of stressed syllable

Question 27

weakening

Answer 27

lenition: sounds become weaker [t] to alveolar tap

Question 28

flapping

Answer 28

form of weakening, alveolar stop realized as alveolar tap when between a stressed and an unstressed vowel