Essay Questions on Phonetics and Phonology

Question 1: Conceptual Map of Consonants

Essay questions. Each question can occupy a maximum of one page

1. The conceptual map of consonants has been drawn in class. Clearly describe the content of this conceptual map. It is not a matter of copying the map made in class, but of exposing its content as if you were presenting it in front of a person who has a vague or no knowledge of the topic. You must explicitly make the link between the various elements present in the map.

2. The [r] and [?] segments are present in the following three languages:

Dutch: [p?oχ?ama:] 'program' [proχrama:] 'program'

Provençal (south of France) [s??o] 'evening' [s?ro] 'saw'

Swedish: [k???ta] 'map' [ru: v] 'prey'

Clearly and in detail describe the function (distinctive or non-distinctive) of these two segments. Identify their function and mention how you have identified it. Illustrate your statements with the examples provided. You do not have to respect the order of presentation of the languages, which is to say, you have the choice to start your description with any of the three languages.

3. Clearly and in detail describe the link between the phonemic level and the phonetic level. You must include all the notions associated with them. Provide two examples (10 points).

4. We saw that in English, Malay and Scottish Gaelic, oral vowels become nasal:

English [bæd] bad [bæ?n] ban

[bit]beet[bi?n] been

[lup]loop[lu?m] loom

[p?t]putt[p??n]pun

[pej]pay[pe?jn] pain

[w?d]wed[w??n]when

[mit] meet

[nit] neat

Malay [mãkan] 'lush' [k?reta] 'car'

[rumãh] 'house'

[m??lara?] 'forbid

Scottish Gaelic [mõ:r] 'tall' [?alak] 'hunting'

[ru?:n] 'secret'

It has been observed that the relevant context for nasalisation is the right context in English, the left context in Malay and the two in Scottish Gaelic. Determine clearly how this observation for each language has been done. You should illustrate your statements with examples provided here taking into account the vowels in which the nasalization is observed and those in which there is no nasalization in order to demonstrate that the observation is adequate.

B. Analysis

Observe the following data. These are nouns preceded by the definite article:

[il bar] ‘the bar’ [il ktieb] (*) ‘the book [il d?obon] (*) ‘the cheese’

[it? t?irasa] ‘the cherry’ [li ksie?] ‘the cold’ [il mara] ‘the woman’

[il ?mar] ‘the donkey’ [l art] ‘the earth’ [il lvant] ‘the east’

[l emm] ‘the grief’ [is s?ana] ‘the heat’ [id dar] ‘the house’

[iz zir] ‘the jug’ [ir rad?el] ‘the man’ [it? t?par] ‘the mist’

[l on?] ‘the neck’ [l uffit?t?ju] ‘the office’ [il land?as] ‘the pear’,

[li bdiewa] ‘the peasants’ [li m?adda] ‘the pillow’ [il ward] ‘the roses’

[is sild?] ‘the snow’ [i? ?em?] ‘the sun’ [il vjola] ‘the violet’

(w is a consonant in this language)

1. Identify all forms of the definite article.

2. Determine the type of distribution they are in and their phonological context. You must make generalizations. It is not enough to identify each particular context. At the same time, your generalizations must cover all the data.

3. The underlying form (UF) of this article undergoes two phonological processes. In some words, both processes apply, and in others only one of them applies. In addition, one of them applies in two different ways. Identify the UF and these processes. Use examples that show the non-application of the process, the application of one of them in both ways, and the application of both processes.

4. The two words marked with an asterisk do not follow the general pattern.

a. What form of the article would we expect in these cases?

b. Why would we expect these forms?

5. Give the proper form of the article for each of the following names:

[__ lura] 'back' [__ ors] 'bear' [__ demm] 'blood'

[__ nifs] 'breath' [__ geddum] 'chin' [__ bliet] 'cities'

[__ kafe] 'coffee' [__ dlam] 'darkness' [__ gajn] 'eye'

[__ wit?t?] 'face' [__ missier] 'father' [__ nar] 'fire'

[__ tsagar] 'hair' [__ hena] 'happiness' [__ ras] 'head'

[__ tama] 'hope' [__ ?adid] 'iron' [__ gzira] 'island'

[__ ilsna] 'language' [__ ?amar] 'moon' [__ ?ahar] 'mouth'

[__ mni?er] 'nose' [__ forn] 'oven' [__ patata] 'potato'