Phonology Quiz Vocab/Concepts

Allophone

the different phonetic realizations of the same phoneme

ex: the aspirated [p^h] in “pin” vs the unaspirated [p] in “spin”

Phoneme

the abstract units that are part of a similar set of sounds - but that are perceived to be single distinctive sounds.

• abstract because phonemes are the single representation of the sound, while allophones are the actual pronunciations of those sounds.

Environment

 the sounds that immediately precede and follow it within a word.

Contrastive

when alpha and beta are in overlapping distribution & make a difference in meaning.

ex: fan & van, /f/ & /v/ occur in the same environment but each letter changes the meaning of the word. 

Overlapping distribution

when alpha and beta (two sounds) occur in the same environment at least once

ex: dag (dog) & hag (hog)

Complimentary distribution

when alpha and beta never overlap.

Free variation

overlapping distribution but isn’t contrastive (doesn’t change meaning).

ex: saying “kitten” with the emphasized t or “kitten” with a glottal stop still means kitten.

Allophones of the same phoneme

variations of a single sound unit that do not change a word's meaning or overlap.

ex: the aspirated [p^h] in “pin” vs the unaspirated [p] in “spin”

Allophones of different phonemes

refer to single sounds that contrast in meaning, distinguishing one word from another.