1. True or False
___ All speech sounds are either vowels or consonants.
True
False
b. _____ In English, when either a voiceless alveolar stop or a voiced alveolar stop occurs between a stressed and an unstressed vowel, both phonemes become voiced alveolar flaps.
True
False
c. _____ Essentially a hold-over from Medieval Norman French, in English, the form of the plural morpheme (either /s/, /z/ or /əz/) essentially “elides”: that is, it depends on the vocal attributes of the word-initial phoneme in the very next word.
True
False
d. _____ With the exception of vowels adjacent to “r”, the schwa is the symbol for all vowels in an unstressed position.
True
False
2. Explain the phonological distribution of the allophones of /s/ in English plurals. Use examples. (2.5 pts.)
In English language, pronunciation of phonemes depends on the context. The language contains phonological rules governing how different plural forms of English words are pronounced. Allophones form predictable and non-contrastive elements. Allophones of /s/ occur in complementary distribution. The final segment of singular for of phonemes conditions distribution of plural allophones of /s/. For example, English words in their singular forms ending with voiceless constants /t/, /f/, /p/, /k/, and /th/ become plural when allophone /s/ is added. In the word {lip}, the plural form is {lips}. In the above example, the basic rule describing the distribution of the allophones of /s/ argues that the nasal morpheme ending must agree with the constant /p/ (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyms 2014).
3. Explain the phonological distribution of the past tense in English. Use examples.
(2.5 pts.)
In English language, past tenses are morphologically marked on the verb. On the other hand, the formation of specific regular past tense of English verbs leads to formation of regular plurals. Irregular past tenses follow a specific rule and must be studied independently. For example, sing/sang, hit/hit, or go/went. Additionally, three phonetic past-tense morphemes are found in regular verbs. If a verb ends in a [t] or [d], a suffix [ǝd] is added to make it a past tense. The suffix –ed is used to indicate past tense, and is also used when verbs are used with have. For example, the past tense of the verb walk is walked. The second rule states that verbs ending with other voiced segments other than [d] are added a voiced [d]. For example, grab/grabbed; hug/hugged. Finally, for verbs ending with voiceless segments other than [t], add a voiceless [t] (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyms 2014; pp. 228-229).
4. In Alice in Wonderland, when the hookah-smoking caterpillar sings: “a, e, i, o, u,” four of the vowel sounds are “tense” while the remaining one is a ____ Lax______
5. Transcribe each of these sentences into English. State whether or not the sentence is ambiguous lexically and/or syntactically (2.5 pts. each)
a. /ajdlajktusiðΛbΛfəlohajd/
eyed like the above fill ahead (The sentence is ambiguous lexically)
b. /ðΛbojsͻðΛmænwIθΛtεləskop/
c. /ðIswIlmekjusmort/
This will make yours move (syntactically)
6. For each of the eight phonemes below, give a word that contains its particular sound:
a. /I/ pie
b. /ɛ/ pet
c. /æ/ bat
d. /ʌ/ cut
e. /ə/ about
f. /U/ lug
g. /ͻ/ taught
h. /a/ laugh
7. Which of the following is NOT a minimal pair? Explain your answer. (2.5 pts.)
a. fate/fought
These are not minimal pairs because no single sound segment occurs in the same place in each word. The first segment of the first word fate [fa] does not appear on the first segment of the word fought [fo], neither the last segments of each word are similar.
b. chimp/limp
c. cough/tough
d. canned/can’t
8. At its most complex, phonological level, the phoneme /t/ in American English actually has six allophones, whose conditioning environments are summarized in the following table.
Using the chart above, first identify the allophone of /t/ in each of the following words, then give the conditioning environment: (2 pts. each)
Word Allophone of /t/ Environment
a. after unaspirated not an initial syllable, does not occur before a
syllabic /n/, and occurs between a vowel and a
consonant.
b. beautiful Flap Occurs between vowels
c. embitter Flap between vowels when
the first vowel is stressed
d. that Unreleased word-final, after a vowel
e. cotton Glottal stop before a syllabic /n/
f. cent Released occurs at the end
g. substance Glottal stop appears before a syllabic /n/
9. For each of the following questions, provide the required phoneme and an illustrative word. (2 pts. each)
a. One Romance language lacks a phoneme that is –continuant, +voiced, +sonorant, and +velar. What is an English word that would therefore be hard for a native speaker of that Romance language to master?
phoneme ___e____ word ____hello______
b. Spanish speakers lack a phoneme that is –voiced, +fricative, +interdental, and +continuant. Give an English word that begins with this sound.
phoneme ___n____ word ______auntie____
c. Vietnamese has no –anterior, +voiced, +sonorant, +bilabial glide. What is an English word that begins with this sound which is very difficult for a native Vietnamese?
phoneme __r_____ word _____ca_____
d. Koreans have only one affricate, the –voiced one. Write an English word that begins with a sound troublesome for Koreans.
phoneme ___t____ word __this________
e. Mandarin Chinese has a phonological rule that prevents words from ending in a phoneme that can be characterized as +sonorant, -continuant, -coronal, +anterior, and +voiced. Write an English word that ends in this phoneme.
phoneme ____o___ word ___cow_______
10. Following are listed the phonetic transcriptions of twelve English “words.” Some are actual words, some are possible or nonsense words, and others are not possible because they violate English phonological sequential constraints. Mark each accordingly.
(2 pts. each)
Actual Word Possible Not Possible
a. /pril/ April pill gprit
b. /skriŝ/ Skirl skill scris
c. /know/ know now knwt
d. /maj/ major majority majr
e. /gnostic/ diagnostic gynostic gnostci
f. /junəkorn/ funny corn corn junekorn
g. /blaft/ blast lifter blattf
h. /ŋar/ jar nor nir
/æpəplɛktʌk/ abstract obstructed apprelektek
j. /ðræft/ draft drift deaft
k. /bawlən/ bow leg bored bawlen
l. /frumiəs/ front from fromias
11. Using IPA do a phonetic transcription of the following passage. Note: a) you must be consistent in your version of the IPA for the fricatives and affricates; b) as this is a phonetic and NOT a phonological transcription, you do NOT need to use the American English allophones of /p/, /t/, and /k/. (24 points).
Noam Chomsky wrote that by studying language, we may discover “abstract principles that govern its structure and use, principles that are universal by biological necessity and not mere historical accident. . . A normal child acquires this knowledge on relatively slight exposure and without specific training. He can then quite effortlessly make use of an intricate structure of specific rules and guiding principles to convey his thoughts and feelings to others, arousing in them novel ideas and subtle perceptions and judgments. For the conscious mind, it remains a distant goal to reconstruct and comprehend what the child has done intuitively and with minimal effort Language . . . is a product of human intelligence, created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness.”
Answer
/noʊm/ Chomsky /roʊt/ /ðæt/ /baɪ/ /ˈstʌdiɪŋ/ /ˈlæŋgwəʤ/, /wi/ /meɪ/ /dɪˈskʌvər/ “/ˈæbstrækt/ /ˈprɪnsəpəlz/ /ðæt/ /ˈgʌvɜrn/ /ɪts/ /ˈstrʌkʧər/ /ænd/ /juz/, /ˈprɪnsəpəlz/ /ðæt/ /ɑr/ /ˌjunəˈvɜrsəl/ /baɪ/ /ˌbaɪəˈlɑʤɪkəl/ /nəˈsɛsəti/ /ænd/ /nɑt/ /mɪr/ /hɪˈstɔrɪkəl/ /ˈæksədənt/. . . /ə/ /ˈnɔrməl/ /ʧaɪld/ /əˈkwaɪɜrz/ /ðɪs/ /ˈnɑləʤ/ /ɑn/ /ˈrɛlətɪvli/ /slaɪt/ /ɪkˈspoʊʒər/ /ænd/ /wɪˈθaʊt/ /spəˈsɪfɪk/ /ˈtreɪnɪŋ/. /hi/ /kæn/ /ðɛn/ /kwaɪt/ /ˈɛfɜrtləsli/ /meɪk/ /juz/ /ɑv/ /ən/ /ˈɪntrəkət/ /ˈstrʌkʧər/ /ɑv/ /spəˈsɪfɪk/ /rulz/ /ænd/ /ˈgaɪdɪŋ/ /ˈprɪnsəpəlz/ /tu/ /kənˈveɪ/ /hɪz/ /θɔts/ /ænd/ /ˈfilɪŋz/ /tu/ /ˈʌðɜrz/, /əˈraʊzɪŋ/ /ɪn/ /ðɛm/ /ˈnɑvəl/ /aɪˈdiəz/ /ænd/ /ˈsʌtəl/ /pərˈsɛpʃənz/ /ænd/ /ˈʤʌʤmənts/. /fɔr/ /ðə/ /ˈkɑnʃəs/ /maɪnd/, /ɪt/ /rɪˈmeɪnz/ /ə/ /ˈdɪstənt/ /goʊl/ /tu/ /ˌrikənˈstrʌkt/ /ænd/ /ˌkɑmpriˈhɛnd/ /wʌt/ /ðə/ /ʧaɪld/ /hæz/ /dʌn/ /ɪnˈtuɪtɪvli/ /ænd/ /wɪð/ /ˈmɪnəməl/ /ˈɛfɜrt/ /ˈlæŋgwəʤ/ . . . /ɪz/ /ə/ /ˈprɑdəkt/ /ɑv/ /ˈhjumən/ /ɪnˈtɛləʤəns/, /kriˈeɪtəd/ /əˈnu/ /ɪn/ /iʧ/ /ˌɪndəˈvɪʤəwəl/ /baɪ/ /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃənz/ /ðæt/ /laɪ/ /fɑr/ /bɪˈɑnd/ /ðə/ /riʧ/ /ɑv/ /wɪl/ /ɔr/ /ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/.”
Reference
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., and Hyms, N. (2014). An introduction to language (10th ed.). Boston:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
