Ch 3 Phonology Module 4 Flashcards
(25 cards)
Phonology
The study of the sound system of a language. How particular sounds contrast in each language to form an integrated system for encoding information.
phonotactic constraints
Restriction on possible combinations of sounds, often in particular environments.
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 a foreign word.
allophone
One of a set of noncontrastive realizations of the same phoneme
phoneme
A class of speech sounds identified by a native speaker as the same sound.
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.
distribution
The set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs.
contrastive 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 questions.
minimal pair
Two words that differ only by a single sound in the same position and that have different meanings.
alternation
In phonology, 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
free variation
Term used to refer to two sounds that occur in overlapping environments but cause not 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 enviroment
Neighboring sounds of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change.
obstruent
A natural class of sounds produced with an obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity while the nasal cavity is closed off.
sonorant
Sound (usually voiced) produced with a relatively open passage of air flow.
Assimilation
A process by which a sound becomes more like a nearby sound in the terms of some features.
palatalization
A process wherein a sound take on a palatal place of articulation, usually in assimilation to high or mid front vowels like j or 3
Vowel harmony
Long-distance assimilation between vowels
Dissimilation
Process by which two nearby sounds become less alike with respect to some feature.
Implicational Law
Observation about language universals that takes the form of an implication.
