Universidad de Carabobo

Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación

Departamento de Idiomas Modernos
Cátedra de Lingüística y Gramática Inglesa
Lingüística Aplicada

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

I. Examine the following data words of Tonga, a Polynesian language. On the basis of these data:
1. How many Tongan consonant phonemes can you account for? (0.5pts)
2. How many vowel phonemes can you account for? (0.5pts)

[vuku] To take care [feso] Body

[sisi] Garland [totonu] Correct
[motu] Island [pasi] To clap
[masi] To drizzle [fata] Lump
[moto] Un ripe [movete] To come apart
[fesi] To break [misi] To dream
[sili] Fishing net [tuku] Place
[fara] Lump [lamasi] To ambush

II. Examine the following data words of Sindhi, an IndoEuropean language spoken in India and
Pakistan. On the basis of these data:
1. Look for minimal pairs. (0.5pts)
2. Examine the phones [p], [ph], and [b]. Determine if they are allophones of a separate
phoneme or allophones of the same phoneme. What is your evidence? (0.5pts)

[pәnu] Leaf [tәru] Bottom

[vәžu] Opportunity [khәto] Sour
[∫eki] Suspicious [bәžu] Run
[gәdo] Dull [bәnu] Forest
[dәru] Door [bәču] De safe
[phәnu] Snake hood [žәžu] Judge

III. Consider the following data from a language spoken in southern Kongo.
1. [s] and [∫] are variations of the same phoneme. (0.5pts)
2. Where does each variation occur? (0.5pts)
3. Are they in complementary distribution or in free variation? Why? (1pt)
4. Which sound should be taken as the basic sound? Why? (0.5pts)

[tobola] Hole [nselele] Termite

[∫ina] Cut [evo] Then
[kasu] Five [∫iba] Banana
[kunesulu] Heaven [keso∫ima] Calm
IV. Examine the sounds [d] and [∂] in Spanish.
1. Determine whether they are allophones of one phoneme or of separate phonemes. (0.5pts)
2. If they are allophones of the same phoneme, identify their distribution. If they are in
complementary distribution, state the rule that describes the distribution. (1pt)

[drama] Drama [komi∂a] Food

[dolor] Pain [anda] Scram
[dime] Tell me [sueldo] Compensation
[ka∂a] Each [durar] To last
[la∂o] Side [toldo] Curtain
[o∂io] Hate [falda] Skirt

V. Consider the following data from Italian.

1. Are there any minimal pairs? (0.5pts)
2. Are they separate phonemes? (0.5pts)
3. State the phonetic environments in which the sounds [n] and [ŋ] appear. (1pts)
4. Given what you know about distribution of sounds and the environments you listed in
(3), are [n] and [ŋ] in complementary distribution or in free variation? Explain your
answer. (1pt)

[tinta] Dye [tiŋgo] I dye

[tenda] Tent [teŋgo] I keep
[dansa] Dance [fuŋgo] Mushroom
[nero] Black [byaŋka] White
[jente] People [aŋke] Also
[sapone] Soap [faŋgo] Mud

VI. In some dialects of English, the following words have different vowels as shown by the phonetic
transcription of the following data.
1. How may classes of sounds that end the words in column A and B can be characterized?
That is, what features specifies all the final segments in A and all the final segments in B?
(1pt)
2. How do the words in column C differ from those in column A and B? (1pt)
3. Are [aj] and [Λj] allophones of the same phoneme? (0.5pts)
4. Are they in complementary distribution or in free variation? (0.5pts)
5. Which one makes the best underlying sound? Why? (1pt)
6. Give the phonetic representation of the following: life, lives, lie, file, bike. (1pt)

A B C
Bite [bΛjt] Bide [bajd] Die [daj]
Rice [rΛjs] Rise [rajz] By [baj]
Ripe [rΛjp] Bride [brajd] Sigh [saj]
Wife [wΛjf] Wives [wajvz] Rye [raj]
Dike [daΛjk] Dime [dajm] Guy [gaj]
 VII. Consider the following data from a synthetic language.
1. Do [f]and [x]represent different phonemes? Why? (0.5pts)
2. Do [t]and [d]represent different phonemes? Why? (0.5pts)
3. In any of the pairs are allophones of the same phoneme, which one makes the basic
sound? (0.5pts)
4. Are voiceless vowels phonemic in this language? (0.5pts)
5. Are they predictable? (0.5pts)
6. What is the phonemic representation of the word “bird”? (0.5pts)
7. What is the phonetic representation of the word “boy”? (0.5pts)
8. State any phonological rules in this language. (0.5pts)

[teŋki] Hot [nolịf] Bird [pịfịn] Yellow [raman] Track

[fosi] Cat [salkiwe] Girl [kalabe] Full [deŋki] Dog
[stami] Big [pịxịn] Yellow [kạfụk] Boy [kạxụk] Boy
[sdami] Bone

VIII.Restate the following rule in formal notation:

1. A voiced consonant becomes nasal after a nasal vowels. (0.5pts)
2. Plosives are devoiced when they precede voiceless plosives. (0.5pts)
3. A alveolar consonant becomes nasal when it occurs between nasal consonants. (0.5pts)
4. Voiced stops become their corresponding fricative when they occur between vowels.
(0.5pts)