Do Problems A-D Below. A, C and D Are Based on Exercises in Language Files 11, File 3.6

Linguistics 101 HW #3 (Phonology) Due: March 7, 2012

Name: ______

Do problems A-D below. A, C and D are based on exercises in Language Files 11, File 3.6.

A1. List the members of the following natural classes of English sounds.

i. velar obstruents

ii. velar sonorants

iii. alveolar sonorants

iv. voiceless sibilants

v. alveolar fricatives

vi. high lax vowels

A2. Describe the following natural classes of English sounds. (For the purpose of this exercise, assume that [e] and [o] are in English.)

i. [ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ]

ii. [v ð z ʒ]

iii. [p t k ʔ b d g f θ s ʃ h v ð z ʒ tʃ dʒ]

iv. [m n ŋ l ɹ ww w j]

v. [u ʊ o ɔ ɑ]

vi. [ɪ ʊ]

1 B. Based on 3.07 in Frommer, Paul & Edward Finegan (2008) Looking at Languages: a Workbook in Elementary Linguistics, 4th edition.

Examine the distribution of [s] and [z] in Spanish and answer the questions below. Note that [ɲ] is a voiced, palatal nasal. Also note that Spanish contains both a voiced alveolar trill [r] and a voiced alveolar flap [ɾ].

[mizmo] ‘same’ [loseɾmanos] ‘the brothers’ [este] ‘this’ [lazletɾas] ‘the letters’ [izla] ‘island’ [ezmoɾeno] ‘it’s brown’ [aspiɾas] ‘you seek’ [esamaɾijo] ‘it’s yellow’ [fosko] ‘irritable’ [ezneɣɾo] ‘it’s black’ [lasuɲas] ‘the fingernails’ [espuɾo] ‘it’s clean’ [lozlaβios] ‘the lips’ [dosperos] ‘two dogs’ [lazmanos] ‘the hands’ [dosoɾuɣas] ‘two caterpillars’ [laspelotas] ‘the balls’ [dostapetas] ‘two rugs’ [losaɾkos] ‘the arches’ [dozlutʃas] ‘two fights’ [loskaros] ‘the cars’ [dosizlas] ‘two islands’ [lostamales] ‘the tamales’ [doskesos] ‘two cheeses’ a) Are there any minimal pairs for the sounds [s] and [z]? If yes, list them.

b) What is the distribution type for the sounds [s] and [z] in Spanish?

c) In Spanish, are [s] and [z] allophones of the same phoneme, or are they allophones of a different phoneme?

d) If [s] and [z] are allophones of the same phoneme, what is the phoneme and why?

e) If [s] and [z] are allophones of the same phoneme, write the rules showing their distribution using the format used in class.

2 C. Based on File 3.6, #35 (p. 143).

In the data below from Spanish, you will first examine the distribution of the voiced bilabial fricative [β] compared to [b], and then the distribution of the voiced velar fricative [ɣ] compared to [g]. Answer the questions below.

[bino] ‘he came’ [uβa] ‘grape’ [siɣlo] ‘century’ [diβino] ‘divine’ [golpe ‘a hit’ [pweβlo ‘village’ ] ] [kaβo] ‘end’ [gato] ‘cat’ [laðɾon] ‘thief’ [suβteraneo] ‘subterranean’ [aɣo] ‘I do’ [kaβɾa] ‘goat’ [bɾotaɾ] ‘to sprout’ [iɣaðo ‘liver’ [loɣɾaɾ] ‘to achieve’ ] [imbjeɾno] ‘winter’ [teŋgo] ‘I have’ [amiɣo] ‘friend’ [leɣal] ‘legal’ a) Are there any minimal pairs for the sounds [β] and [b]? If yes, list them.

b) What is the distribution type for the sounds [β] and [b] in Spanish?

c) In Spanish, are [β] and [b] allophones of the same phoneme, or are they allophones of a different phoneme?

d) If [β] and [b] are allophones of the same phoneme, what is the phoneme and why?

e) If [β] and [b] are allophones of the same phoneme, write the rules showing their distribution using the format used in class.

3 f) Are there any minimal pairs for the sounds [ɣ] and [g]? If yes, list them.

g) What is the distribution type for the sounds [ɣ] and [g] in Spanish?

h) In Spanish, are [ɣ] and [g] allophones of the same phoneme, or are they allophones of a different phoneme?

i) If [ɣ] and [g] are allophones of the same phoneme, what is the phoneme and why?

j) If [ɣ] and [g] are allophones of the same phoneme, write the rules showing their distribution using the format used in class.

D. Consider the rules you wrote in Ce, Cj, and in class for File 3.6, #28. Combine these rules into two rules by using features rather than specific sounds. Hint 1: your second rule should be the elsewhere rule. Hint 2: If your rules have different conditioning environment, you may need to rethink some of them. Can you simplify any of them and still capture the data?