Phonology Flow Charts and Minimal Pairs

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Questions and Answers

Which one of these is the characteristic of sounds in complementary distribution?

They have contrastive distribution

They are allophones of different phonemes

They appear in highly varied environments (correct)

They have minimal pairs

What should you do if you do not find a minimal pair for the sounds you are looking at?

Look for evidence of a natural class

Carefully list all of the environments for both sounds (correct)

Write a rule

Eyeball it

What should you look for when writing a rule based on the list of environments?

Word initial or word final characteristics

Evidence of a natural class (correct)

Distinctive allophones

Minimal pairs

Which sound corresponds to the base form of the phoneme in a rule with complementary distribution?

The sound that appears in highly varied environments Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of sounds in contrastive distribution?

They are allophones of different phonemes Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of incorporating natural classes into rules?

To affect an entire group of sounds Signup and view all the answers

What is the feature that separates sounds in minimal pairs?

Distinctive allophones of different phonemes Signup and view all the answers

What is the feature that separates sounds in complementary distribution?

Allophones of the same phoneme Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is true about incorporating natural class into rulewriting?

Shared features can be used to determine natural class. Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of looking at a group of sounds in Phonetics?

To determine shared features. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following groups of sounds have shared features?

[k], [g], [ŋ] Signup and view all the answers

What can we conclude about random groups of sounds?

They never pattern together. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is true about rule targets?

Rules can target any group of sounds. Signup and view all the answers

What is the relevance of natural class in rulewriting?

Natural class helps determine shared features. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following groups of sounds do not have shared features?

[p], [z], [h] Signup and view all the answers

What can we say about rules that target [p], [z], [h]?

They never exist. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Complementary Distribution

Sounds in complementary distribution never occur in the same phonetic environment
If you don't find a minimal pair for the sounds, look for complementary distribution
The sound that occurs in the most environments is the base form
Sounds in complementary distribution represent one phoneme

Contrastive Distribution

Sounds in contrastive distribution can occur in the same phonetic environment
Sounds in contrastive distribution represent different phonemes
The feature that separates sounds in contrastive distribution is the feature that changes the meaning of the word

Natural Classes

Natural classes consist of sounds that share at least one feature
You should look for natural classes when writing rules based on environment lists
Natural classes simplify rule writing and make them more general

Phonetics

The goal of looking at a group of sounds in phonetics is to determine their features
Random groups of sounds do not share any features
Rules that target random groups of sounds are not generalizable
Rule targets usually represent natural classes
For example, a rule targeting [p], [z], and [h] is not generalizable because these sounds do not share any features.

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Description

Test your knowledge of phonology flow charts, minimal pairs, and writing phonology rules with this quiz. Learn about distinctive and non-distinctive features, contrastive and complementary distribution, and more. Perfect for linguistics enthusiasts and language learners.