Linguistics 3201 (MUN) - Final Exam Review (Definitions + Questions from ALL Chapters)

Phonetics

The study of the production, perception, and acoustic properties of speech sounds.

Phonology

The study of sound patterns in human language, as well as the study of the speakers' knowledge of linguistic sound patterns.

Phonological generalizations can be described in terms of..?

Units (syllables, segments, and features) and rules and constraints.

What are the four main theories for phonological generalizations?

- The Null Hypothesis

- Classical Generative Phonology Theory

- Non-Linear Phonology

- Optimality Theory

The Null Hypothesis

A theory of phonological generalizations which states that the pronunciation of any word is memorized and stored in our mental lexicon in its phonetic representation. In other words, this theory suggest that we simply don't need phonology at all.

What is some evidence that disproves The Null Hypothesis?

- Nonce forms: how people can make up new words on the spot, which have not been heard before, and still understand the structure and how to use that word in a sentence

- Productive constructions: open-ended constructions which all for new combinations

- Lists vs. Rules

Classical Generative Phonology Theory

This theory of phonological generalizations was created in terms of ordered rules, which enter into derivations, that mediate between underlying representations and surface representations.

Non-Linear Phonology

This theory of phonological generalizations was created to place more emphasis on well-formedness of phonological representations. This theory also tries to reduce the power and complexity of phonological rules.

Phone

A sound.

Phoneme

An abstract, mental entity that gives minimal information about pronunciation.

Allophone

A more concrete entity that is more susceptible to a pronunciation variant.

Contrastive Distribution

Occurs when speech sounds are found within the same environment(s).

Phones that are found within contrastive distribution are..?

Phonemes.

Minimal Pairs

Words that have different meanings, but only differ in one, single sound.

Complementary Distribution

Occurs when speech sounds are never found within similar environments.

Phones that are found within complementary distribution are..?

Allophones of a single phoneme.

What are the four criteria that we use to find the underlying representation for a phonological rule?

- Has the simpler rule with the fewest features

- Has the more natural rule

- Has the more common rule

- Has the more common underlying segment

Non-Contrastive Features

Features that have a predictable occurence in any context/situation.

Contrastive Features

Features that are not always predictable in every context/situation.

Non-contrastive features are involved within ______ distribution.

Complementary

Contrastive features are involved within ______ distribution.

Contrastive

Morpheme

The smallest unit of language that carries information about meaning or function.

Allomorph

A type of morpheme that is derived from the application of a phonological rule.

Allomorphy

A process that refers to variation in the surface representation of a given morpheme.

What are the four types of rule alternations?

- Alternations involving non-contrastive features

- Alternations involving contrastive features

- Phonologically conditioned alternations

- Lexically conditioned alternations

If the choice of alternate is determined entirely by the phonetic context, then the alternation is?

Phonetically conditioned.

If the rule that creates the alternation is not phonological, then the alternation is?

Morphologically or Lexically conditioned.

What are the four types of rule orders?

- Feeding order

- Counterfeeding order

- Bleeding order

- Counterbleeding order

Feeding Order

A type of ordering relationship where rule A can potentially create new representations for rule B to apply to.

Counterfeeding Order

A type of ordering relationship where the reversal order of rules A and B is a feeding order.

Bleeding Order

A type of ordering relationship where rule A can potentially destroy any representation that rule B already applies to.

Counterbleeding Order

A type of ordering relationship where the reversal order of rules A and B is a bleeding order.

Marked Rules

Rules that are difficult to learn and are less common.

Unmarked Rules

Rules that are easier to learn and are more common.

A rule (A -> B / C__D) is opaque if:

1.) Surface form A exists within the environment C__D

2.) Surface form B exists in other environments besides C__D

Apparent Underapplication

Occurs when a rule should have applied in a certain context, but it did not. Case 1.) of opacity is an example of this occurence.

Apparent Overapplication

Occurs when a rule should not have applied in a certain context, but it does anyway. Case 2.) of opacity is an example of this occurence.

What are the type of level tones in a language?

- High tones

- Mid tones

- Low tones

What are the types of contour tones in a language?

- Rising tones

- Falling tones

Autosegmental Theory of Tone

A theory which proposes that tone features should be represented in their own tier, and not in the same features matrix that contains other features.

Association Conventions

Principles that determine how tones are connected to segments or tone-bearing units (TBUs).

Initial Tone Association Rule

An association convention which always states how the first tone association is made (essentially, how a single tone is attached onto a single TBU).

Iterative 1-to-1 Association

An association convention that associates free tones and TBUs either 1-to-1 rightwards or leftwards from the initial tone association.

What are some examples of rules for associating free or floating tones?

- Tone is associated onto an untoned TBU

- Tone floats freely and has phonetic effects on other tones

- The free tone gets deleted

- Tone is associated onto an already tone TBU

What are some examples of rules for associating free or untoned TBUS?

- TBU is associated to a free tone

- TBU receives tone through spreading

- TBU receives an unmarked or default tone

Spreading

A process where an association line is added between a tone and a TBU.

Delinking

A process where an association line between a tone and TBU is removed.

Deletion

A tone rule where a tone gets deleted from a TBU.

Insertion

A tone rule where a tone gets inserted onto a TBU.

No Line-Crossing Constraint

An autosegmental constraint which states that you cannot link up tone and segments in a way where association lines cross over one another.

Obligatory Contour Principle

An autosegmental constraint which states that indentical, adjacent tones cannot appear in the underlying representation of a morpheme.

Twin Sister Convention

An autosegmental constraint which states that you cannot link two identical tones onto the same TBU.

No Crowding Constraint

An autosegmental constraint which states that you cannot link two or three tones onto a single TBU.

Which autosegmental constraints are universal across every language?

- No Line-Crossing Constraint

- Obligatory Contour Principle

Which autosegmental constraints are only language-specific?

- Twin Sister Convention

- Avoid Untoned TBUs in Surface Representations

- Avoid Floating Tones

- No Crowding Constraint

What are some arguments that linear phonology cannot correctly analyze syllables?

- Linear phonology cannot represent the internal structure of a syllable

- Linear phonology cannot capture ambisyllabicity

- Syllable boundaries shift in ways that other boundaries, like morpheme boundaries, cannot

What are the components of a syllable structure?

- Syllable

- Onset

- Rime

- Nucleus

- Coda

Syllable

Consists of the onset and the rime.

Onset

Consists of all of the material up to the peak of the syllable.

Rime

Consists of the nucleus and the coda

Nucleus

The peak of a syllable, which can either be a vowel or a diphthong.

Coda

Consists of all the material that follows after the nucleus.

What does the sonority hierarchy look like?

Vowel > Glides > Liquids > Nasals > Voiced Obstruents > Voiceless Obstruents

Open Syllable

A syllable that ends in a vowel.

Closed Syllable

A syllable that ends in a consonant.

Branching Nodes

A node which dominates more than one element.

Optimality Theory

A constraint based theory which states that an interaction of constraints, which refer only to output forms, can account for rule conspiracies

What are the few operations in optimality theory?

- Gen

- Con

- H

- Eval

- Input

- Output

Gen (Generator)

The universal candidate generator, which constructs candidate output forms.

Con

The universal constraint set.

H

A constraint hierarchy that is language-specific.

Eval (Evaluator)

Evaluates output candidates, and then selects the most optimal one. Con and H are both a part of this process.

Input

Optimality theory version of an underlying representation.

Output

Optimality theory version of a surface representation.

What are the different properties of optimality theory?

- Universality

- Violability

- Ranking

- Inclusiveness

- Parallelism

- Richness of the Base

Markedness

A type of constraints that are formulated as very general statements barring marked or complex structures.

Faithfulness

A type of constraint that requires the output to resemble the input.

Conflict

A property where the constraints being ranked must conflict in their analysis of some output candidate.

Winner

A property where one of the competing candidates is the actual output for a given input.

Conspiracy

Occurs when a number of different rules result in a common output configuration.

What are some arguments for optimality theory?

- The Duplication Problem: in rule-based theories, grammars need both rules and constraints, often to account for the same generalizations

- Conspiracies: in rule-based analyses, a number of distinct rules that do not share formal similarities may all result in the same surface representations