Chapter 3 Flashcards
(28 cards)
How are mental sounds written compared to actual pronunciations?
/k/ rather than [k]
What is a set of two separate words which differ in form by one contrasting sound called?
Minimal pairs
What are phonemes?
The mental representation of sounds in the lexicon
What is the part of the mental grammar that handles the external expression of language?
Phonology
What is nasalization?
A process in which vowels in front of a nasal consonant become nasalized.
What are social meanings? What is a social minimal pair?
Connections between language and social groups; a social minimal pair would be as [wif] rather than [wiø] bc the former is seen as lower class
What are rules that transform phenomes into actual pronunciation called?
Phonological rules
What are natural classes?
A way to divide sounds (exs. Place, manner, voicing OR height, advancement, peripherality); the natural class of nasals affects the natural class of vowels in nasalization
What is a syllable?
The template for sounds consisting of a rhyme
What is the quality of having some units nested inside of other units?
Hierarchy (in which nodes dominate other nodes)
What are the nodes found in syllables?
Sigma, composed of an onset and a rhyme which includes a nucleus and possibly coda
What is onset maximization?
A human language preference for making onsets rather than codas (CV.CV rather than CVC.V)
What are regular patterns in a language that set restrictions on sound combinations?
Phonotactic constraints (ex. [ng] and the glottal stop cannot be onsets in English but can in other langs)
What is the quality that refers to the amount of “ringyness” a sound has (amplitude of sound waves)?
Sonority
What is the low-back merger? What about the front-lax merger?
It’s where and now sound the same for many people; [I] and [3] are pronounced the same as in and . This is a conditioned merger and the conditioning environment is before nasals.
What does the schwa rule refer to?
Any vowel can turn into a schwa if it’s an unstressed syllable
What is the phonological process where certain sounds in a word are not produced?
Deletion (ex. West side)
What is insertion?
When sounds are inserted; ex. Pronouncing Clemson as Clempson
What is the process in which speakers make sounds more similar to other sounds?
Assimilation; impractical, immature, independence (in or im takes on the sound of the following consonants)
In what environment does a flap occur?
The syllable following the flap has to be unstressed; butter, rider
What is devoicing?
The process in which certain sounds become transparent; Crypt, clean, trip, tread (r and l are voiceless)
What are some examples of palatalisation?
Did you? [dIdju] to [dId3u]; alveolar sounds become more palatal
What is vocalisation?
Turning a consonant sound into a vowel sound; horse, beer, help, coal, bail
What is intonation?
When the pitch of your voice is adjusted you can change the tone of what you’re saying; disbelief, question, etc.
