Week 1

Question 1

Phonetics and phonology

Answer 1

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds themselves.

Phonology is about the mental structures and unconscious knowledge that speakers have regarding those sounds (including mental categories, stored representations, and rules).

Question 2

What does ‘knowledge of language’ include?

Answer 2

Knowledge of language is more than just conscious understanding—it includes intuitive knowledge of sound patterns, word structures, and meanings.

Question 3

What does a native speaker possess of their language?

Answer 3

They possess unconscious knowledge about that language, which includes:

1. Semantic knowledge (meanings of words and sentences)
2. Syntactic knowledge (structure and relations between words)
3. Phonological knowledge (sound patterns and distinctions)

Question 4

How do voiceless stops (ptk) change in pronunciation depending on their position?

Answer 4

Voiceless stops in English are aspirated (e.g., [ph] in “pool”) at the beginning of a stressed syllable but unaspirated after a voiceless fricative (e.g., [p] in “spurt”).

Question 5

What does the phonemic principle determine?

Answer 5

The phonemic principle determines when two sounds are different phonemes versus when they are simply allophones.

Question 6

When are two sounds simply the same phonemes? And when are two sounds allophones?

Answer 6

Two sounds are phonemes when they are in complementary distribution and are phonetically similar (non-overlapping contexts).

Two sounds are allophones when they are in parallel distribution and create meaning contrasts (overlapping contexts).

Question 7

Complementary distribution

Answer 7

Same meaning, but different distribution. For some sounds, there are no minimal pairs because they never occur in the same environment.

The first sounds in paint, saint, taint.

Wandelaar, tekenaar.

Another example is allophones of English /l/; clear, devoiced and dark.

Question 8

Contrastive distribution

Answer 8

There is a meaning difference, can occur in the same environment.

The ‘t’ sounds in cat, team, stone, city.

Question 9

How do phonological differences explain why learning a new language can be difficult beyond just learning to make new sounds?

Answer 9

For instance, Korean speakers learning Scottish English may struggle with the distinction between [ɾ] and [l] despite using both sounds in Korean. This is because Korean speakers do not contrast these sounds in meaningful ways, while Scottish English does, making the distinction phonological and not merely articulatory.

Question 10

What is a phoneme?

Answer 10

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning. For example, /p/ and /b/ in English make “pat” and “bat” different words.

Question 11

What is an allophone?

Answer 11

An allophone is a variant of a phoneme that occurs in specific contexts without changing the meaning of a word, like aspirated [pʰ] and unaspirated [p] in English.

Question 12

An example of complementary distribution

Answer 12

In Korean, [ɾ] occurs between vowels, and [l] occurs elsewhere, showing complementary distribution. They are allophones of the same phoneme /l/ and do not create different meanings.

Question 13

An example of contrastive distribution

Answer 13

In Scottish English, /ɾ/ and /l/ are phonemically distinct, meaning they are in contrastive distribution and can create minimal pairs (e.g., “writer” vs. “lighter”).

Question 14

What’s the environment of “clear l” [l]? What’s the environment of “dark l” [ɫ]?

Answer 14

In English, /l/ has allophones: “clear l” before vowels and “dark l” ([ɫ]) appears after vowels, demonstrating complementary distribution within the /l/ phoneme.

Question 15

How do English approximants [ɹ] and [ɹ̥] demonstrate complementary distribution?

Answer 15

Voiceless [ɹ̥] occurs only after voiceless consonants, while voiced [ɹ] appears elsewhere, illustrating complementary distribution of allophones.

Question 16

How does phonemic contrast impact perception in native language speakers?

Answer 16

Native speakers perceive phonemes within their language’s phonemic system, often ignoring phonetic differences that don’t distinguish meaning, like aspirated vs. unaspirated stops in English.

Question 17

What is assimilation in phonological contexts?

Answer 17

Assimilation is when a sound becomes more similar to a neighbouring sound, such as voiceless [ɹ̥] after voiceless stops in English.

Question 18

How does the acquisition of native phonology affect infants?

Answer 18

Infants initially distinguish sounds like aspirated vs. unaspirated stops, but they lose sensitivity to distinctions that are not phonemic in their native language.

Question 19

Tap or flap

Answer 19

A quick, voiced alveolar stop [ɾ] produced when the tongue briefly touches the alveolar ridge.

Question 20

Thrill

Answer 20

A sequence of rapid taps, produced by holding the tongue near the alveolar ridge with minimal muscular tension, resulting in vibrations.

Though trills (e.g., [r]) are rare in English, they appear in some Scottish accents.

Question 21

Secondary articulation

Answer 21

Does not relate to location, but is an extra, thus secondary, constriction added in the vocal tract; secondary articulation of place.

Includes palatalisation, velarisation, labialisation, glottalisation.

Question 22

Velarisation

Answer 22

Applies primarily to /l/ in English, but only occurs in certain environments. Another name for a velarised /l/ is a dark /l/, and we can use [ł].

Question 23

Palatalisation

Answer 23

Involves adding an [i]-like articulation. Adds a secondary articulation at the lips, but at the palatal region. We use the little j. Any non-velar sound is palatalised before /j/.
* Palatalisation of velars results in fronting of the primary articulation.

Question 24

Primary articulation

Answer 24

Refers to where or how the vocal tract is narrowed or blocked to produce a consonant, or to the tongue contour, lip shape, and larynx height that determine the sound of a vowel.

Lips, teeth, mouth, tongue, larynx.

Question 25

Form

Answer 25

Words have form:
1. In sign language form is a sequence of gestures.
2. In written language form is a sequence of letters.
3. In spoken language form is a string of connected speech sounds.

Question 26

Phonological theory

Answer 26

An account of
• function of speech sounds (contrast meaning)
• behaviour of speech sounds (allophonic distribution)
• distribution of speech sounds (where speech sounds can occur in words and phrases)

Question 27

English consonants can be distinguished by three properties:

Answer 27

1. Laryngeal properties (voicing)
2. Place of articulation
3. Manner of articulation

Question 28

English vowels can be distinguished by three properties:

Answer 28

1. Tongue height (high, mid, low)
2. Tongue position (front, central, back)
3. Length (short, long)

Question 29

Obstruents [-sonorant]

Answer 29

Stops, fricatives, affricates

Question 30

Place of articulation: coronal and dorsal

Answer 30

Coronal: articulation with tip or blade of the tongue.

Dorsal [dorsal]: articulation with the front or back of the tongue (‘tongue dorsum’).

Question 31

Velic closure

Answer 31

When the velum is raised to prevent the passage of air through the nose (which produces an oral sound).