Anthropology/Ling Class
· 4-1.
Consider the following words with respect to how the sound represented by <t> is pronounced. For each column, specify the phonetic character of the allophone (how it is pronounced). Is it aspirated? Tapped? Then, as was done in this chapter for the allophones of English /p/, describe the allophones of /t/ and specify their distribution.
| A | B | C | D |
| tougher | standing | later | petunia |
| talker | still | data | potato |
| teller | story | petal | return |
Examine the careful and casual pronunciations of the English expressions below; then for each one, (a) provide a transcription of the careful pronunciation; (b) identify the name of the phonological process that links them; (c) describe what actually occurs in the process in each particular case. Use one of these as identifiers for the process: Assimilation (ASS); Deletion (DEL); Insertion (INS); Metathesis (MET). An example is given for the first expression. (For this exercise, you may ignore vowel changes.) (Note: /ɱ/ is the IPA symbol for a labiodental nasal.)
| Expression | Careful | Casual | Process | Details |
| athlete | æθlit | æθəlit | INS | schwa inserted at syllable boundary between /θ/ and /l/, perhaps for ease of articulation |
| emphasis | εmfəsɪs | εɱfəsəs | ||
| nuclear | nukliər | nukjələr | ||
| espresso | εsprεso | εksprεso | ||
| memory | mεməri | məmri | ||
| prostate | prɑstet | prɑstret | ||
| pass him | pæs hɪm | pæsəm | ||
| won’t you | wont ju | wontʃ;ə |
Based on Languages Other Than English
4-9.
Fijian has prenasalized stops among its inventory of phonemes. The prenasalized stop [nd] consists of a nasal pronounced immediately before the stop, with which it forms a single sound unit. Consider the following Fijian words as pronounced in fast speech:
| vindi | ‘to spring up’ | dina | ‘true’ |
| kenda | ‘we’ | dalo | ‘taro plant’ |
| tiko | ‘to stay’ | vundi | ‘plantain banana’ |
| tutu | ‘grandfather’ | manda | ‘first’ |
| viti | ‘Fiji’ | tina | ‘mother’ |
| dovu | ‘sugarcane’ | mata | ‘eye’ |
| dondo | ‘to stretch out one’s hand’ | mokiti | ‘round’ |
| vevendu | (a type of plant) |
On the basis of these data, determine whether [d], [nd], and [t] are allophones of a single phoneme or constitute two or three separate phonemes. If you find that two of them (or all of them) are allophones of a single phoneme, give the rule that describes the distribution of each allophone. If you analyze all three as separate phonemes, justify your answer. (Note: In Fijian all syllables end in a vowel.)
4-11.
The distribution of the sounds [s] and [z] in colloquial Spanish is represented by the following examples in phonetic transcription:
Are [s] and [z] distinct phonemes of Spanish or allophones of a single phoneme? If they are distinct phonemes, support your answer. If they are allophones of the same phoneme, specify their distribution.