Linguistics: Phonemes, Allophones, and Sound Processes

What is a phoneme?

A phoneme is a distinctive language sound that can change the meaning of a word.

What is a phone?

A phone is a real, uttered sound in speech, regardless of its function in a particular language.

Is a phone necessarily voiced or can it be voiceless?

A phone can be either voiced or voiceless, depending on whether the vocal cords vibrate during its articulation.

What are allophones?

Allophones are variations of a phoneme that do not change the meaning of a word.

Are allophones represented in a phonemic transcription?

No, allophones are not typically represented in phonemic transcription; they are represented in phonetic transcription.

Give examples of allophones for the phoneme /t/:

Examples include the aspirated [tʰ] in 'top' and the unaspirated [t] in 'stop'.

What is assimilation?

Assimilation is a phonological process where a sound changes to become more like a neighboring sound.

What is assimilation by anticipation?

Assimilation by anticipation occurs when a sound changes due to the influence of a following sound.

What is assimilation by preservation?

Assimilation by preservation occurs when a sound changes due to the influence of a preceding sound.

What is an epenthesis?

Epenthesis is the insertion of a sound into a word, often to make pronunciation easier.

Give an example of an epenthesis in the realization of the plural morpheme.

An example is the insertion of [ə] in 'dogs' [dɔɡz] where the plural morpheme is added.

What is a metathesis?

Metathesis is the rearrangement of sounds or syllables in a word.

What is an obstruent?

An obstruent is a consonant sound produced with a significant constriction in the vocal tract, such as stops, fricatives, and affricates.

Are all obstruents voiceless?

No, obstruents can be either voiced or voiceless.

What is a sonorant?

A sonorant is a speech sound produced with a relatively open airflow, including vowels, nasals, and approximants.

What is phonotactics?

Phonotactics is the study of the rules governing the permissible combinations of sounds in a particular language.

What does lexical semantics examine?

Lexical semantics examines the meaning of words and their relationships to each other.

What is a structural ambiguity?

Structural ambiguity occurs when a sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways due to its structure.

What is a lexical ambiguity?

Lexical ambiguity arises when a word has multiple meanings.

What is a complementary antonym?

A complementary antonym is a pair of words where one word negates the other, such as 'alive' and 'dead'.

What is a gradable antonym?

A gradable antonym is a pair of words that represent opposite ends of a spectrum, such as 'hot' and 'cold'.

What is a relational antonym?

A relational antonym is a pair of words that are opposites in a specific context, such as 'parent' and 'child'.

What is pragmatics?

Pragmatics is the study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning in language.

What is a presupposition?

A presupposition is an assumption that is taken for granted in communication.