Phonology and Sound Distributions

Vocabulary flashcards covering core phonology concepts, representations, phonemes, allophones, and sound distributions.

Underlying Representation (UR)

The abstract, stored version of a sound or word in your mental dictionary before any phonological pronunciation rules get applied to it (for example, /kæt+z/).

Surface Representation (SR)

The real, physical pronunciation that comes out of your mouth after all phonological rules have applied (for example, [kæts]).

Contrastive (Phonemic)

Sounds where swapping one for the other changes the meaning of a word, demonstrating that they are separate phonemes.

Minimal Pair

Two words that differ by only one sound and mean different things, used to show that two sounds are contrastive phonemes (for example, "pat" vs "bat").

Allophones

Two or more non-contrastive sounds that are different phonetic pronunciations of the same underlying phoneme and do not change word meaning when swapped.

Complementary Distribution

A distribution pattern where two sounds never appear in the same environment, each occurring only in its own specific context.

Overlapping Distribution

A distribution pattern where two sounds can appear in the exact same environment, sharing the same position and surrounding sounds.

Free Variation

A scenario where two sounds occur in an overlapping distribution (the same environment) without yielding any contrast or difference in meaning.

Contrastive Distribution

A scenario where two sounds occur in an overlapping distribution and produce a contrast in meaning, signaling separate phonemes.