Phonology

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

the study of the abstract categories
that organise the sound system of a language

Question 2

Spectrogram

Answer 2

a graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds

Question 3

Phoneme

Answer 3

an abstract, mental category, rather than a phonetic fact.

Question 4

Phone

Answer 4

A physical realisation of a speech sound like the voiceless or the voiced alveolar approximant

Question 5

Allophones of the phoneme

Answer 5

Phones which function as alternant re-
alisations of the same phoneme

Question 6

Distribution

Answer 6

refers to the different positions in which a speech sound can occur or cannot
occur in the words of a language

Question 7

Complementary Distribution

Answer 7

Two sounds which are distributed in such a way that one can only occur
where the other cannot occur

Question 8

Minimal Pairs

Answer 8

a pair of words which
differ in only one sound, but differ in meaning

Question 9

Free Variation

Answer 9

speakers can choose which allophone they use

Question 10

Neutralisation

Answer 10

in a particular context, a
contrast between phonemes becomes invisible

Question 11

Final Devoicing

Answer 11

The fact that a voiced phoneme has a voiceless allophone in word-final position

Question 12

Clear 1 and Dark 1

Answer 12

refer to the auditory impression of [l] and [ɫ], in that the latter somehow
sounds darker

Question 13

Aspiration

Answer 13

the process of aspirating stops

Question 14

T/d flapping

Answer 14

process in which the contrast between
two phonemes is neutralised in a particular phonetic context

Question 15

Non-rhotic

Answer 15

r-sounds do not
seem to occur in word-final position

Question 16

Rhotic

Answer 16

r-sounds can occur in word-final position

Question 17

Constituents

Answer 17

the elements that make up a syllable

Question 18

Syllabic Consonants

Answer 18

Consonants which occupy the central part of the syllable

Question 19

Nucleus

Answer 19

Slot for a vowel in a syllable, can contain a vowel, dipthong or syllabic consonant

Question 20

Onset

Answer 20

Prevocalic slot for a consonant in a syllable

Question 21

Coda

Answer 21

Postvocalic slot for a consonant in a syllable

Question 22

Syllabification

Answer 22

Assigning syllable structure to words

Question 23

Maximal Onset Principle

Answer 23

Given a sequence of consonants and vowels, syllabification pro-
ceeds in such a way that as many consonants as possible end up in an onset, even if the language allows codas

Question 24

Sonority

Answer 24

the category that captures our acoustic impression
of ‘clear audibility’

Question 25

Sonority Sequencing Principle

Answer 25

sounds preceding the nucleus (i.e. onsets) must rise in sonority, and sounds following the nucleus (i.e. codas) must fall in sonority