Questions tagged [phonology]
The study of the abstract aspect of the sounds or *phonemes* in a given language.
1,039
questions
2
votes
1
answer
90
views
What are the phonological rules or constraints for these pairs of words?
Mongol-Mongolia
Arab-Arabia
Babylon-Babylonian
Boston-Bostonian
comedy-comedian
colony-colonial
I know that the vowel in the second syllable is lengthened, but what are the rules or constraints for ...
5
votes
1
answer
149
views
Is there evidence for accentuation in Classical Arabic?
Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language lays out claims for where the stress should be in §§28-31. Most of the claims are connectable (in my experience) to contemporary renditions of Classical ...
1
vote
1
answer
145
views
Does anyone actually use /æ/ as an emphatic article?
In the movie "Wayne's World" (1992), Mike Myers's character (the titular Wayne) says "I don't even own æ gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack." To my ears ...
3
votes
2
answers
257
views
A question about Optimality Theory
Here is a line, "The optimal output in OT need not be the ideal candidate in the sense of complying with all the constraints." (quoted from Roca and Johnson (1999:656). I really feel ...
0
votes
1
answer
134
views
What are the similarities between rule-based phonological theory and Optimality Theory?
The only similarity is that they both involve the underlying form and surface form right?
5
votes
3
answers
741
views
Is a final -u in Semitic languages known outside of Akkadian?
Consider Akkadian bētu vs. Hebrew bayit (בַּיִת) (meaning "house") and Akkadian daltu vs. Hebrew delet (דֶּלֶת) (meaning "door"). Are these endings known outside of Akkadian? If so, when did they ...
2
votes
3
answers
158
views
Speakers of a foreign language in a nation sounding similar in 'mispronunciations'
For pronunciation of a foreign language, do foreign speakers from a certain country speak with the same accent because they learn in their country from someone with that accent, or their native ...
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Aspiration of p, t, k in English
I'm trying to figure out when exactly p, t, k should be aspirated in (American) English.
Here's what I found here:
Voiceless stops are aspirated at the beginning of a word, and at the beginning ...
0
votes
0
answers
29
views
Resource for finding languages that contain certain phonemes [duplicate]
In particular /w~b/ or other sounds that could be transcribed as <w> or <b>.
Background: A person gave his name variously as 'John Barosa' or 'John Warosa' in writing from which I figured ...
1
vote
0
answers
118
views
According to the Elsewhere Principle, can a syntactic rule block a morphological one, or a morphological rule a phonological one?
I read up on the Elsewhere Principle. In the linked article two examples are given:
The syntactic comparative "more + adjective" can be overruled by the morphological comparative "adjective+er" for (...
5
votes
0
answers
136
views
The letter <u> in Provençal: when is it [y] and when is it [œ]?
In most dialects of Occitan, the letter <u> is pronounced [y] generally. However, in Provençal it appears to be pronounced [œ] by some speakers some of the time.
This wikipedia article states (...
1
vote
2
answers
83
views
Looking for references about the orthographic transparency
I need to have two tables as showing both grapheme-phoneme and phoneme-grapheme relationships in a couple of languages to be compared mathematically. In fact, I want to know how many phonemes stand ...
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is there a name for when a 'c' becomes an [s] sound in words like rusticity, when originally it was a 'c' in rustiC?
I know it's a sound change, but is there a specific name for it? It's for an assignment I'm writing on the phonological transparency of the suffix -ity.
3
votes
1
answer
547
views
What are cyclic and non-cyclic application in Phonology?
I'm still confused about the two abstract definitions. Can you give some examples to explain?
2
votes
2
answers
440
views
Guttural pronunciation of {h} in American English
I'm not a native speaker. I've noticed that some Americans pronounce {h} as a guttural sound sometimes. Is this a documented feature of American English?
Examples:
https://youtu.be/j2I9LpDF708?t=7 (...
0
votes
1
answer
33
views
What is "metrically free elements"?
According to the Free Element Condition, only metrically free elements may undergo metrical construction. But what is "metrically free elements"?
-2
votes
1
answer
230
views
Pronouncing h as /x/? [closed]
I am curious about phonics and wonder if pronouncing the /h/ sound as /x/ would be distinguishable. This is basically turning a k into a fricative, and this is basically h fronting.
0
votes
1
answer
101
views
What is the relation between sonority and stress?
Are there any relations between stress and sonority? Does stress denote high sonority?
2
votes
1
answer
750
views
What is the difference between Minimal Onset Satisfaction and Onset Maximization Principle?
Since they both describe that onsets take priority over of codas, what is the difference between them?
2
votes
0
answers
54
views
Is there a principled reason behind differing compound verb stress in English?
Is there a principled difference between compound verbs in English with stress on the first root and those with stress on the second root?
First root stress compound verbs:
Dropkick
Spoonfeed
...
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
what is the difference between [g] and [ɣ]?
Does [ɣ] appear in english anywhere? I've seen [ɣ] listed as occuring in the spanish word "amigo" but I don't notice any difference between it & [g]. The Arabic equivalent is [غ].
1
vote
1
answer
894
views
Why do we pronounce the letter "A" as the "eɪ" in Stake, and as "æ" in Cabbage?
I wondered about the difference between those vowels. Is there a rule that decides what articulation fits the syllabe in each word and what is that rule. I tried phonogical analysis on those vowels in ...
1
vote
1
answer
321
views
What is the dividing line between phonetics and phonology? [duplicate]
From my understanding, Phonetics is the study of physical aspect of sounds, including how sounds are produced (articulatory phonetics), how they are perceived (auditory phonetics) and the physics ...
1
vote
2
answers
367
views
What is the difference between “ɪ”, "i", “i:”? [duplicate]
What is the difference between “ɪ”, "i", “i:”? Is “ɪ” lax and short, "i" tense and short, "i:" tense and long?
-2
votes
1
answer
105
views
What is the difference between tense vowel and vowel with diacritic ":"?
I'm learning the vowel part of phonology. It says the cardinal vowel "i" is tense. But what is the difference between this cardinal "i" and "i:"? They are both tense, right?
6
votes
2
answers
378
views
What is Proto-Semitic *x̣?
In his Akkadian grammar (specifically the appendix on phonology), Huehnergard lists the following Proto-Semitic consonants:
Most of this looks familiar to me. However, *x̣ caught me by surprise; I'm ...
0
votes
2
answers
97
views
How many morae would an affricate in the position of a coda have?
Would it have two, because it's technically two phonemes, or one?
4
votes
1
answer
279
views
Phonemes with complementing allophones
Assume the following example:
In its phoneme set, language X has the vowel /e/ which corresponds to the phone [e], except when followed by /r/, in which case it is realized as the phone [æ].
At the ...
-2
votes
1
answer
368
views
Strange Vocal Trills (L, Th, and Q)
I’m currently spending my quarantine working on the language for my novel. The language is alien-like, so I wanted to make it extremely difficult in it’s phonology. There are several trills. The ...
0
votes
1
answer
106
views
What might explain this change in place of articulation? [closed]
I'd like to know if there's anything about /patitʰin/ that suggests itself as a reason why it might sometimes be pronounced [patikʰin]. I don't know what other words to look at to see if there's a ...
0
votes
2
answers
360
views
Distinguishing between [s] and [ʪ] in spectrogram
Is there is a way to differentiate between [s] and [ʪ] using spectral analysis (Pratt or spectrum view or any other software)? Is there is any particular pattern that only appears with the [ʪ]?
[ʪ] ...
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Critics and arguments against the generative syntax theories?
The Generative approach on syntax is very elegant, useful and very complete as far as I can see.
I think that, as all theories have, there must have some critics on it.
But I don't know where to find ...
0
votes
1
answer
69
views
What is phonological mechanism?
Does it mean phonological rule? Or can we say phonological mechanism refers to the phonological rules in our mind?
0
votes
0
answers
104
views
When do we use strong /biː/ instead of weak /bi/ in english?
I am wondering in which context people stress the be in English grammar.
Both Wiktionary and Wordrefence have a weak and a strong form in their dictionary :
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/be#English
...
0
votes
1
answer
217
views
Labialised /r/ in RP
Is /r/ in RP labialised in all positions?
For example: In words like real, free, proud, tree, brother, borrow, dream, throw etc.
Is it labialised in all positions (like intervocalic, post-...
0
votes
3
answers
341
views
What is the difference between /iə/ and /ɪə/ in /məˈtɪəriəl/ "material" (RP)?
I don't understand what's the difference between /iə/ and /ɪə/.
https://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=material
Can somebody explain ?
Best Regards.
4
votes
2
answers
265
views
How were glottal stops indicated in Akkadian cuneiform?
According to Huehnergard, Akkadian had a phonemic glottal stop. This makes sense, given the language's heritage.
However, he doesn't seem to mention it anywhere in the chapters on orthography, and I ...
0
votes
1
answer
281
views
What should the phonological rules be for this alternation?
I'm a graduate student from Korea. :) May I ask you guys a question about phonology?
In the data, divinity and divine, what are the phonological rule and phonological mechanisms for the alternation ...
3
votes
2
answers
420
views
How to analyze these data with Optimality Theory?
I'm a graduate student from Korea. As a novice in the field of phonology, I've been confused about analysis using Optimality Theory for a long time. Could you guys help me with this question?
In fast ...
0
votes
1
answer
114
views
Do stressed (in e.g. English) or pitched (in e.g. Japanese) phones contribute to different phonemes?
In proper tonal languages such as cantonese or mandarin, the phones a phoneme comprises of share the same tone. In other words, mā (in pinyin) and má are clearly different phonemes.
If I were to look ...
3
votes
0
answers
72
views
Are there any recent studies on vowels of PRS?
Consonants and their phenomena are well studied for PRS (Puerto Rican Spanish). However, vowels and their phenomena are less well known. Known vowel phenomena in the dialect are unstressed/final vowel ...
6
votes
1
answer
836
views
What are the main weaknesses of autosegmental phonology?
There are several different overarching models of phonology, with different strengths and weaknesses. For example, optimality theory is good at explaining the "conspiracies of rules" that show up in ...
2
votes
1
answer
469
views
Writing a phonological rule
Could you please help me revise the phonological rule in Turkish below?
It means that "/e/ becomes [ɛ] when followed by a non-dorsal sonorant in the same syllable and if /e/ occurs at the beginning ...
4
votes
1
answer
717
views
How did this alternation happen?
Wiktionary's entry for "seldom" contains the following etymology:
From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier
selden, from Old English seldan (“seldom”), from Proto-
Germanic *...
2
votes
1
answer
446
views
How to write phonology rules using features?
Is there a way to write the following phonology rule using features?
The /u/ becomes [ɯ] word-finally when preceded with an unrounded vowel with 1 or more intervening consonants. .
15
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Can loudness of speech sounds influence meaning?
In Chinese, words can have different meanings if their tones are changed, e.g. 是 (shì) and 十 (shí). In Italian, words can have different meanings if a consonant is geminated, e.g. sete and sette.
My ...
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
What is a natural class in phonology? How to use phonological features to identify classes?
What are natural classes in phonology? Can phonological features make a set of segments a natural class?
For example, is there any way to make a natural class out of the set:
[k, x, q,χ]?
What ...
3
votes
2
answers
476
views
Has the Russian way of pronunciation been affected by frost?
I am a student learning both English and Russian, and I find the Russian pronunciation to be very different from the English one. A few months ago I made a detailed post on the Linguistics SE to ...
2
votes
1
answer
120
views
Is there a term for the position of a phoneme in a word?
I am studying emerging Brazilian Portuguese consonant clusters and I'm unaware of how to properly call a group of positions such as "word-initial" or "word-final position". The aim is to use this term ...
-2
votes
2
answers
918
views
Phonemes or allophones?
In our coursebook, introducing phonology by David Odden, one of the exercise questions asks us to decide if the obstruents of Thai are phonemes or allophones.
My teacher says they are allophones but ...