Problem Set 1

Problem Set 1 __________________________________________________________________ LING 2800 – Language and Mind Due February 13 Part 1 (6 points) Provide one minimal pair (two words that differ only by the specified speech sounds; how they are spelled doesn’t matter) for each of the following sound pairs. Give both orthographic and phonetic representations. (1 point each = 6 points) Example: /i, ɪ/: ‘sheep’ [ ʃip], ‘ship’ [ ʃɪp] (a) / θ, f/: ‘death’ [dɛθ], ‘deaf’[dɛf] (b) /s, z/: ‘ice’ [aIs], ‘eyes’ [aIz] (c) /m, n/: ‘moon’ [mun], ‘noon’ [nun] (d) /ʊ, æ/: ‘fur’ [fʊɹ], ‘far’ [fæɹ] (f) /h, tʃ/: ‘high’ [hɑɪ], ‘chai’ [tʃɑɪ] (g) /ɛ, u/: ‘let’ [lɛt], ‘loot’ [lut]

2. (22 points) - Ganda Consider the following set of data and pay attention to the distribution of [r] and [l]. Note that [a] is a low front unrounded vowel and [e] is a mid front unrounded vowel. [kola] ‘do’ [lwana] ‘fight’ [buulira] ‘tell’ [lya] ‘eat’ [lula] ‘sit ’ [omugole] ‘bride’ [lumonde] ‘sweet potato’ [edwaliro] ‘hospital’ [oluganda] ‘Ganda language’ [olulimi] ‘tongue’ [wulira] ‘hear’ [bera] ‘help’ [jukira] ‘remember’ [eryato] ‘canoe’ [omuliro] ‘fire’ [efirimbi] ‘whistle’ [emeri] ‘ship’ [eradu] ‘lightning’ [wawabira] ‘accuse’ [lagira] ‘command’ a. Do you see any minimal pairs in this data? (1 point) Yes / No (chose one) The table below is provided as a workspace to help you think through the answers to the next questions. The goal is to create a list of the environments where [r] and [l] surface to determine their distribution. I have grouped common phonetic contexts together and highlighted the partic- ular segment ([l] or [ r ]) you should pay attention to. For each word/word list write down the sound that occurs on the left of [l] or [ r ] and the sound that occurs on its right. You can use # to indicate the beginning of a word (e.g. for [lwana] the left environment is #). Some words are listed twice because they have two instances of [l] or [ r ], so pay attention to the highlighted sound. Example words for [l] Left context [l] Right context [ko la] o __ a [buu lira, wu lira, omu liro, olu limi] u,u,u,u __ i,i,i,i [lu la] u __ a [ lula, lumonde] # __ u [o luganda, o lulimi] o,o __ u,u [ lwana] # __ w [ lya] # __ y [omugo le] o __ e [edwa liro] a __ i [ lagira] # __ a

f. Now go back to the data and consider the syllable structure of Ganda. Provide a syllabifi- cation for the Ganda words ’do’, ’fight’, and ’whistle’ (like in the slides in class draw the structure of each syllable with Nucleus, Rhyme and any Onsets or Codas). Keep the Maximize Onset rule and remember to also take any language specific phonotactic constraints into consideration (based on the data you are given in the beginning of this problem set). Note: do not provide a syllable structure for the English words, we are in- terested in Ganda! (6 points) Rhyme: onset nucleus onset nucleus ko.la (2 syllables) kəʊ.lə k əʊ l ə l.wa.na (3 syllables) l.wa.nə Rhyme: Rhyme: onset onset nucleus onset nucl. l w a n ə e.fir.im.bi (4 syllables) ɛf.ɜr.ɪm.bi Rhyme: Rhyme: Rhyme: nucleus coda nucleus coda nucleus coda onset nucleus ɛ f ɜ r ɪ m b i Based on your analysis of the words in the previous question, what are the types of sylla- bles that are observed in Ganda? e.g. V, CV, CVC, CVCC etc. Provide examples to sup- port your claim. (4 points) the types of syllables observed in Ganda usually follow a CV patter, however we can see that it is not always the case, as with the word “efirimbi” which follows a VCVCVCCV patter/

Part 3. (13.5 points) – Morphophonemics of English The following problem set is a problem from the morphophonology of English, and it concerns the English plural suffix. The precise set up of the problem was designed by Maya Honda (Wheelock College, Boston) and Wayne O’Neil (MIT, Cambridge). It was designed specifically as lesson plan for a pilot project in an elementary grade (that’s why it is couched in a story in- volving a Martian scientist, and why no phonetic terminology is presupposed). However, if we make use of more specific phonetic terminology, it still makes for a good problem at our stage, as well. Have fun!   A scientist from Mars has just arrived in the Boston area. The Martian scientist is learning to speak English, and she wants very much to sound like an ordinary speaker of English. Right now, the Martian scientist is having problems making plurals. Plurals are used when we talk about more than one of something. For example, the plural of cat is cats , and the plural of day is days . The Martian scientist does not know how to pronounce plurals correctly. a. The Martian scientist listened carefully to English speakers’ pronunciation of some plurals. She noticed that the plural endings sounded like the last sound in the word buzz . For example, say the following sentences aloud. Concentrate on the sound of the plural endings of the under- lined words. There are bugs on this plant. The pears are rotten. There are two birds in the sky. On the basis of such data, the Martian scientist made up a simple hypothesis: Add a [z] sound to a word to make it plural . If the Martian scientist follows this hypothesis to make plurals for the words below (and similar words), will she sound like us? Why or why not? pig rat judge rock lunch cloud shape star She won’t sound like us due to the difference in pronunciation and enunciation of sounds due to cultural upbringing. b. The Martian scientist heard someone say the sentences shown below and noticed differences in the way the plural endings of the underlined words sound. Say the sentences aloud. Concen- trate on how the plural endings of the underlined words sound.  All of the spoons and cups and dishes are on the table. There are goats and horses and cows on the farm.  Some of these plural endings sound the same. Of these six underlined words, which ones have plural endings that sound the same?"

e. "If the Martian scientist follows your hypothesis, will she be able to make plurals that 'sound right' when she learns new words she hasn't heard before?" In other words, do the rules you cre- ated in (d) correctly capture the rules for plural formation in English? Why or why not?  The rules I created in (d) do apply to rules for plural formation in English, however there are some exceptions since not all plurals in English follow these rules, and unless the language is learned innately, some plurals will be mispronounced or misinterpreted.