Phonology Flashcards
(25 cards)
phonetic inventories
the set of sounds that are produced as part of the grammar of a language
sound substitution
a process whereby sounds that already exist in a language are used to replace sounds that do not exist in the language when borrowing or when a speaker is trying to pronounce a foreign word
aspiration
a puff of air that follows the release of a consonant when there is a delay in the onset of voicing. symbolized by a superscript (e.g., P^h)
noncontrastive
a term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a language
contrastive
a term used to describe two sounds that can be used to differentiate words in a language
allophone
one of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme; an actual phonetic segment
phoneme
a class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sound; a mental entity (or category) related to various allophones by phonological rules. phonemes are written between slashes, for example, /t/.
free variation
term used to refer to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause no distinction in the meaning of their respective words
overlapping distribution
the occurrence of sounds in the same phonetic environments
phonological rules
the description of a relationship between a phoneme and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears
underlying form
the phonetic form of a word or morpheme begore phonological rules are applied
conditioning environment
neighboring sounds of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change
sibilant
a member of the natural class of sounds that are characterized by a high-pitched hissing quality
labial
a member of a natural class of sounds produced with the lips; includes both bilabial and labiodental sounds
obstruents
a natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off. Includes oral stops, fricatives, and affricates
sonorants
sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of airflow. Nasals, liquids, glides, and vowels are all sonorants
phonology
the study of how sounds are organized within a language and how they interact with each other
contrastive distribution
simply a case in which the two sounds occur in the same phonetic environment, and using one rather than the other changes the meaning of the word (thus the sounds can also be referred to as contrastive)
assimilation
rules of assimilation cause a sound (or gesture) to become more like a neighboring sound (or gesture) with respect to some phonetic property
nasal place assimilation (English)
an alveolar nasal assimilates to the place of articulation of a following consonant
vowel harmony
a back vowel becomes front when preceded by a front vowel in the same word
dissimilation
rules of dissimilation cause two close or adjacent sounds to become less similar with respect to some property, by means of a change in one or both sounds
manner dissimilation (Greek)
a stop becomes a fricative when followed by another stop
voiceless stop insertion (English)
between a nasal consonant and a voiceless fricative, a voiceless stop with the same place of articulation as the nasal is inserted
