Phonology Flashcards
phonology
study of distribution of sounds in a language and interaction between those sounds
phonotactic constraints
restrictions on possible sound combinations
english allows up to 3 consonants for start of word if
first is [s], second is [p, t, k], and third is [l, r, j, w]
phoneme
class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sounds; mental entity related to allophones by phonological rules
allophone
one of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme; a phonetic segment
contrastive distribution
two sounds occur in the same environment, changing the meaning of the word
minimal pair
pair of words that differ in only one sound and have different meanings - prove separate phonemes
complementary distribution
sounds do not occur in same phonetic environment - evidence for allophones
free variation
non-contrastive sounds that can be used in the same environment (have overlapping distribution) - perceived as same sound to native speaker, allophones
natural class
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
sibilant
high-pitched, hissing sounds [s, SH, CH, z, ZH, DZH]
labial natural class
[f, v, p, b, m, w, w]
obstruents
produced with obstruction to airflow: stops fricatives, affricates
sonorants
produced with relatively open airway: nasals, liquids, glides, vowels
assimilation
sound becomes more like a neighboring sound
nasal place assimilation
alveolar nasal assimilates to place of articulation of following consonant
palatalization
consonant becomes like neighboring palatal : common when alveolar, dental, or velar stops/fricatives appear before a front vowel
vowel harmony
Finnish: back vowel becomes front vowel when preceded by a front vowel
dissimilation
two close/adjacent sounds become less similar
manner dissimilation
stop becomes fricative when followed by another stop (Greek)
insertion
segment not present in phonemes is added to the phonetic form of the word
voiceless stop insertion
between nasal consonant and voiceless fricative, voiceless stop with same place of articulation is added (dance)
deletion
eliminates sound present at phonemic level
metathesis
change order of sounds to make words easier to pronounce
strengthening
fortition: make sounds stronger
aspiration
form of strengthening, voiceless stop becomes aspirated at beginning of stressed syllable
weakening
lenition: sounds become weaker [t] to alveolar tap
flapping
form of weakening, alveolar stop realized as alveolar tap when between a stressed and an unstressed vowel
