File 3.3

Question 1

phonemes

Answer 1

abstract mental entities

Question 2

phones

Answer 2

physical events

Question 3

phonological rules allows

Answer 3

one to “translate” phonemes into actual speech sounds; knowledge of these rules forms part of the speaker’s linguistic competence

Question 4

underlying form

Answer 4

phonemic form –> rules —> phonetic form

Question 5

phonological rule has three parts:

Answer 5

• the sound(s) affected by the rule
• the environment where the rule applies
• the result of the rule

Question 6

conditioning environment

Answer 6

x –> y / c__d

CE: c__d (the environment in which the rule applies)

C comes before the sound affected by the rule and D comes after it; the blank represents where the sound that is affected by the rule appears

Question 7

x –> y / c__d

Answer 7

x becomes y when it comes after c and before d

Question 8

natural class

Answer 8

a group of sounds in a language that share one or more articulatory or auditory property, to the exclusion of all other sounds in that language
e.g., /t, d/alveolar (oral) stop

Natural classes can be used to describe both the sounds affected by a rule and the environments where a rule applies

Question 9

sibilant

Answer 9

segments that have a high-pitched, hissing sound quality
[s, ʃ, ʧ, z, ʒ, ʤ]

Question 10

properties of natural classes

Answer 10

sibilant
labial
obstruents
sonorants

Question 11

obstruents

Answer 11

produced with an obstruction of the airflow. The sounds in this category are stops, fricatives, and affricates

Question 12

sonorants

Answer 12

segments produced with a relatively open passage for the airflow. Sonorant segments include nasals, liquids, glides, and vowels

Question 13

7 types of phonological rules

Answer 13

assimilation
dissimilation
insertion
deletion
metathesis
strengthening
weakening

Question 14

assimilation

Answer 14

cause a sound to become more like a neighboring sound
with respect to some phonetic property

Question 15

Nasal Place Assimilation

Answer 15

an alveolar nasal assimilates to the place of articulation of a following consonant /n/

Question 16

Palatalization (assimilation)

Answer 16

a special type of assimilation in which a consonant becomes like a neighboring palatal

Question 17

vowel harmony (long-distance assimilation)

Answer 17

This typically causes all the vowels in a word to “harmonize” or agree in some property such as rounding or backness

Question 18

dissimilation

Answer 18

two close or adjacent sounds to become less similar with respect to some property, by means of a change in one or both sounds

Question 19

insertion

Answer 19

cause a segment not present at the phonemic level to be added to the phonetic form of a word

inserting a sound that is not supposed to be there

Question 20

deletion

Answer 20

eliminate a sound that was present at the phonemic level. Such rules apply more frequently to unstressed syllables and in casual speech
e.g., /h/ in english

Question 21

metathesis

Answer 21

Rules of metathesis change the order of sounds. In many instances, sounds metathesize in order to make words easier to pronounce or easier to understand

Question 22

strengthening

Answer 22

Rules of strengthening (also called fortition) make sounds stronger.
The rule of English aspiration, as stated below, provides an example

Question 23

weakening

Answer 23

Rules of weakening (also called lenition) cause sounds to become weaker.
The “flapping” rule of English, discussed in 3.3.1, is an example of weakening

Question 24

obligatory rules

Answer 24

aspiration, vowel nasalization, vowel lengthening, and liquid and glide devoicing

Question 25

labial

Answer 25

A member of a natural class of sounds produced with the lips; includes both bilabial and labiodental sounds