COMPLETE SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
phoneme - the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish between morphemes
morpheme - minimal unit of meaning
vowel reduction - occurs in unstressed syllables; vowel reduces along the dotted line, usually moving
one step in progression centrally
ex: /i/ to "i" in bit
diphthongs reduce to monophthongs
diphthong - employs a gradual transition from one vowel-like sound to another
allophone - variation of a phoneme which does not change meaning
complementary distribution - rules based on the phonetic environment. 2 allophones will not occur in
the same phonetic environment; the allophones occur in mutually exclusive environments. Can be
predicted
free variation - random; allophones can occur in the same environment
coarticulation - when a sound is produced differently because of the influence of sounds in its phonetic
context (neighborhood)
ex: key /ki/, k /k/, cow (rounded back vowel)
Assimilation - the change of a sound segment whereby it takes on characteristics of neighboring sounds,
becoming similar
, spreading/shingling - as if the characteristics permeate nearby sounds, 'coloring' them ex: input > imput
blending - as if the proximity of 2 sounds to each other creates a fusion, in which a hybrid sound is
created (also called co-production) ex: ASU
Anticipatory assimilation - most common in English; occurs when a sound is altered in anticipation of the
sound to follow ex: gang (velar n)
retentive (regressive assimilation) - a sound retains characteristics of a sound that has preceded it ex:
me (nasalized vowel)
broad transcription - general detail; usually one symbol
narrow transcription - fine detail, more than one symbol; representation of target and variations in
production (diacritics)
phonetic transcription - the identification of allophones
phonemic transcription - the identification of phonemes
IPA - Internation Phonetic Alphabet; provides cross-linguistic consistency
minimal contrast/minimal pairs - two morphemes differing in only one sound segment (phoneme) ex:
pin vs bin
3 systems of speech production - -respiratory=air source
-lungs, trachea, ribcage, abdomen, air passages, thoracic musculature, inhalation/expiration
-laryngeal=sound source
-larynx=voice box
-actual sound is produced by vibration of the vocal folds as air sets them in motion