Week 6.2

Question 1

What are considered ‘standard’ accents in English according to the chapter?

Answer 1

GA (General American), RP (Received Pronunciation), and SSE (Standard Scottish English).

Question 2

What determines whether an accent is perceived as ‘standard’?

Answer 2

Social attitudes and non-linguistic factors—not linguistic or phonetic superiority.

Question 3

Is the judgement of some accents as superior or inferior based on phonetics?

Answer 3

No, such judgements are arbitrary and based on social perceptions, not linguistic evidence.

Question 4

What is a systemic difference between accents?

Answer 4

A difference in the phonological system, such as the presence or absence of certain phonemes (e.g., /ʌ/ vs /ʊ/ in RP vs Northern English).

Question 5

What is a realizational difference?

Answer 5

A difference in how the same phoneme is phonetically realized, without a change in the phonemic system (e.g., dark vs clear /l/).

Question 6

Give an example of a systemic vowel difference between Northern and Southern English accents.

Answer 6

The /ʌ/ vs /ʊ/ contrast (as in put vs putt) is present in Southern accents but absent in many Northern ones, where both are pronounced /ʊ/.

Question 7

Provide a systemic consonant example from Scottish English.

Answer 7

Scottish accents often contrast /ʍ/ (voiceless w) and /w/, distinguishing words like whales vs Wales, unlike most other English accents.

Question 8

Give an example of a realizational difference involving the phoneme /l/.

Answer 8

In RP, /l/ is clear in onset and dark in coda; in GA and Australian English, it is always dark; in Tyneside English, it is always clear.

Question 9

What is a phonemic split?

Answer 9

When a former allophonic variation becomes a phonemic contrast, such as the FOOT/STRUT split in RP.

Question 10

What is the FOOT/STRUT split?

Answer 10

A historical split in which the rounded [ʊ] and unrounded [ʌ] vowels became phonemically distinct in accents like RP.

Question 11

What is a phonemic merger?

Answer 11

When two previously distinct phonemes become phonetically indistinguishable, collapsing a contrast (e.g., cot/caught merger in some American accents).

Question 12

Is the [æ]/[a:] contrast present in Scottish English?

Answer 12

No, many Scottish accents use a single vowel phoneme for pairs like ant/aunt, making them homophones.

Question 13

Does the [eɪ] ~ [aɪ] contrast exist in London English?

Answer 13

Yes, though the realizations may shift (e.g., [æɪ] or [ɑɪ]), the phonemic contrast is preserved in minimal pairs like bay vs buy.

Question 14

Why are rural non-standard accents often judged as ‘quaint’?

Answer 14

Due to associations with imagined traditional lifestyles, unlike urban working-class accents which are often stigmatized.

Question 15

Can realizational differences lead to systemic changes?

Answer 15

Yes, over time, consistent phonetic differences can become phonemic, as seen in historical phonemic splits.

Question 16

What is the difference between minimal pairs and homophones?

Answer 16

Minimal pairs differ by one phoneme and have distinct meanings (e.g., put vs putt in RP); homophones sound the same but may differ in spelling or meaning.

Question 17

What is the simplest vowel system found in the world’s languages?

Answer 17

A three-vowel system: /i/, /u/, /a/.

Question 18

What defines the identity of vowel phonemes in a simple vowel system?

Answer 18

Relative position in the vowel space: frontness/backness, height, and rounding.

Question 19

What happens to perceptual and articulatory space as vowel systems become larger?

Answer 19

The space becomes more crowded, and small changes in realization may affect phonemic identity.

Question 20

Why can vowel realizations vary without altering phoneme identity in small systems?

Answer 20

Because each vowel phoneme has a large perceptual/articulatory space to “roam.”

Question 21

What distinguishes a mid-sized vowel system from a basic one?

Answer 21

The addition of mid vowels like /e/ and /o/, creating a five-vowel system.

Question 22

In systems with both high-mid and low-mid vowels, what becomes more constrained?

Answer 22

Perceptual and articulatory space for each vowel phoneme.

Question 23

What challenge arises in large vowel systems like that of RP (Received Pronunciation)?

Answer 23

Realizational shifts can lead to phonemes encroaching on each other’s space, risking mergers.

Question 24

How is adjacency between vowel phonemes defined?

Answer 24

By proximity in articulatory and perceptual terms (e.g., tongue height, backness).

Question 25

Why are vowel articulations more variable than consonantal ones?

Answer 25

Because of open approximation and limited tactile feedback from the tongue’s position.

Question 26

What causes vowel mergers across dialects?

Answer 26

Overlapping articulatory and perceptual spaces due to shifts in pronunciation.

Question 27

How are vowel perceptions similar to colour perceptions?

Answer 27

Both involve continua without strict boundaries—categorization is context-sensitive and sometimes subjective.

Question 28

What must be true for a phonemic distinction to exist?

Answer 28

It must correspond to a perceptible phonetic difference.

Question 29

What distinguishes systemic differences from lexical distribution differences?

Answer 29

Systemic differences affect the entire vowel system; lexical distribution differences affect which words contain which phonemes.

Question 30

How does Northern English treat the BATH lexical set differently from RP?

Answer 30

Uses a short /a/ instead of RP’s long /a:/, though both maintain a long/short a distinction in other word sets.

Question 31

What causes issues in mutual intelligibility between dialects?

Answer 31

Lexical distribution differences, where different dialects use different phonemes in the same word.

Question 32

What are the two stages in the development of the child's mental lexicon according to Vihman?

Answer 32

(1) Extraction of statistical regularities from sensory input, (2) Emergence of a mental lexicon with ~50 words, triggering comparison across stored representations.

Question 33

What triggers the vocabulary explosion in early phonological development?

Answer 33

Reaching a mental lexicon size of around 50 words.

Question 34

How do phonological generalizations emerge in children?

Answer 34

Through comparing stored word forms, allowing regular patterns (e.g., stress) to be abstracted.

Question 35

What is the default stress pattern for bisyllabic words in English acquired by children?

Answer 35

Trochaic (strong-weak) pattern.

Question 36

How does a child extend stress generalizations to longer words?

Answer 36

By applying the learned trochaic pattern to trisyllabic or polysyllabic words like yesterday or motorbike.

Question 37

What allows children to handle exceptions to stress patterns?

Answer 37

Each word is stored individually in the mental lexicon, allowing for both regular and irregular patterns.

Question 38

What is BFLA (Bilingual First Language Acquisition)?

Answer 38

When a child is exposed to two languages from birth.

Question 39

What is the OPOL (One Parent, One Language) context?

Answer 39

Each parent speaks their native language to the child, with one being the community language.

Question 40

Did early research support or reject the idea of a single phonological system in bilingual infants?

Answer 40

Early research supported it; later work (e.g., Vihman) rejected it, showing separate systems emerging.

Question 41

What evidence suggests that bilingual children may have separate phonological systems?

Answer 41

Tom's CH pattern appeared only in English words, and his filler syllables followed English stress patterns.

Question 42

What are filler syllables in early bilingual speech?

Answer 42

Schwa-like sounds after stressed monosyllables, possibly placeholders for unstressed grammatical morphemes.

Question 43

Why are grammatical morphemes difficult for young children to perceive?

Answer 43

They are typically unstressed and low in perceptual salience.