What is Phonology? Flashcards
Phonology
The study of the distribution of sounds in a language and the interactions between those different sounds
Phonetic constraints
Restrictions on possible combinations of sounds
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
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; written between slashes, for example /t/
Noncontrastive
A term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a lnaguage
Distribution
The set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs
Constrastive distribution
The occurrence of sounds in a language such that their use distinguishes between the meaning of the words in which they appear, indicating that those sounds are phonemes of the language in question; allophones of different phonemes
Minimal pair
Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and that have different meanings
Alternation
A difference between two or more phonetic forms that one might expect to be related
Complementary distribution
The occurrence of sounds in a language such that they are never found in the same phonetic environment. Sounds that are in complementary distribution are allophones of the same phoneme
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 rule
The description of a relationship between a phoneme and its allophones and the conditioning environment in which the allophone appears
Underlying form
The phonemic form of a word or morpheme before phonological rules are applied
Conditioning environment
Neighboring sound of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change
Natural class
Group of sounds in a language that satisfy a given description to the exclusion of other sounds in that language
Obstruent
A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off. Ex: orals stops, fricatives, and affricates
Sonorant
Sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of air flow. Ex: nasals, liquids, glides, and vowels
Assimilation
A process by which a sound becomes more like a nearby sound in terms of some feature(s)
Dissimilation
Process by which two nearby sounds become less alike with respect to some feature
Insertion
Phonological process by which a segment not present in the phonemic form is added in the phonetic form
Deletion
A process by which a sound present in the phonemic form is removed from the phonetic form in certain environments
Metathesis
Switching of the order of two sounds, each taking the place of the other
Strengthening
A process through which sounds are made “stronger” according to some criterion
Weakening
A process through which sounds are made “weaker” according to some criterion
