Phonological Analysis

1
Phonological Analysis

• Thinking Linguistically

2
Goals of the Analysis

• 1. To determine the relationship between two or
  more sounds in a language
• and
• 2. If the sounds are non-contrastive (allophones
  of the same phoneme), to describe a rule that
  governs the allophonic variation (when each
  allophone is used).

3
Steps of the Analysis

• Do you see any minimal pairs with respect to the
  sounds you are asked to compare? If so, stop
  right here. They are separate phonemes, and
  youre done.
• If you do not find a minimal pair, this is
  because they cant be used in the same
  environment.
• In this case, you will look for complementary
  distribution. The sounds are allophones of the
  same phoneme.

4
Describing the Rule

• What aspect of environment determines which
  allophone appears? Is it
• the position of the sound within the word?
• the immediately surrounding sounds?
• the stress of the syllables?

5
Tomorrow

• We will have study session for Fridays test.
• Please
• Look over your notes and the power points and
  handouts for the first three weeks to see if you
  have any outstanding questions.
• Look at the exercises at the end of Chapter 1 (p.
  31), Chapter 6 (p. 250) and Chapter 7 (p. 299) in
  your textbook.