Chapter 3 Flashcards
(21 cards)
Phonology
the study of the sound system of a language, how the particular sounds contrast in each language to form an integrated system for encoding information, and how such systems differ from one language to another
Sound substitution
a process whereby sounds that 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
each member of a particular phoneme class which corresponds to an actual phonetic segment produced by a speaker. Various ways a phoneme is pronounced
Noncontrastive
term used to describe two sounds that are not used to differentiate words in a language
Distribution
the set of phonetic environments in which a sound occurs
Minimal pair
pair of words whose pronunciations differ by exactly one sound and that have different meanings
Alternation
a difference between two or more phonetic forms that you might otherwise 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 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
Conditioning environment
neighboring sounds of a given sound that cause it to undergo a change
Assimilation
a process by which a sound becomes more like a nearby sound in terms of some features(s)
Nasal place assimilation
an alveolar nasal assimilates to the place of articulation of a following consonant
Palatalization
a process wherein a sound takes on a palatal place of articulation, usually in assimilation to high or mid front vowels like [i] or [e]
Vowel harmony
a back vowel becomes front when preceded by a front vowel in the same word
Voiceless stop insertion
between a nasal consonant and a voiceless fricative, a voiceless stop with the same place of articulation as the nasal is inserted
Metathesis
switching of the order of two sounds, each taking place of the other
Aspiration
Voiceless stops become aspirated when they occur at the beginning of a stressed syllable
Implication law
observations about language universals that takes the form of an implication (if A, then B)
Maximally distinct
the consonants have very few qualities in common with the vowels, and the vowels are likewise very different from consonants
