Linguistics 001Homework 2: Phonology

All the data for this problem come from a conservative dialect of Vèneto, a Romance languagespoken in northern Italy near the city of Padua. Since the language is related to Spanish, Frenchand Italian, if you have studied or speak one of these languages the data will not be completelyunfamiliar looking. But naturally this language has a different grammar, so your answers must bebased only on the data provided.

The symbols used in the data should be familiar to you from the transcription of English, withthe following exceptions:

1. Stress — if a vowel is stressed it is shown in the data with an acute accent mark, e.g. [á]is a stressed [a], [ɛ́] is a stressed [ɛ], etc.

2. In addition to the post-alveolar affricates [t͡ʃ d͡ʒ] which are like those of English, thislanguage also has apical alveolar affricates [t͡s d͡z]. These are pronounced like [ts] and [dz]but, being affricates, they behave like single segments.

3. For convenience and ease of reading, in the data below the flap symbol [ɾ] has beenreplaced by an ordinary letter [r] (which normally represents a trilled [r]). Since thelanguage does not have trilled [r] this substitution does not lead to any ambiguity.

Part I: Distribution Problem

1. On the basis of the words in Data Set A, defend one of the two hypotheses below:

a. [n] and [ŋ] are both underlying segments in Vèneto (i.e. they are ‘separate phonemes’)

b. [n] and [ŋ] are not both underlying segments; instead [n] and [ŋ] are ‘allophones’ of asingle phoneme.

☞ If you choose (a), show why a speaker of Vèneto would need to store the differencebetween [n] and [ŋ] in memory; in other words, show that [n] is not a surface variant of[ŋ], nor is [ŋ] a surface variant of [n]. Put differently, show that [n] and [ŋ] are not incomplementary distribution but in contrastive distribution.

☞ If you choose (b), explain how it could be possible that speaker of Vèneto could storeonly one of [n ŋ] and their grammar could automatically derive the other. In otherwords, show that [n] and [ŋ] are in complementary distribution and that one of themcould simply be a variant of the other in surface forms.

2. Answer the same questions as in question 1, but looking at the pairs [e ɛ] and [o ɔ].

☞ Are [e] and [ɛ] in complementary or contrastive distibution? What about [o ɔ]? Provide specific examples from the data to support your conclusions.

Data Set A

lána ‘wool’ núvola ‘cloud’domáŋ ‘tomorrow’ nozɛ́la ‘hazelnut’benóŋ ‘really well’ nɔ́no ‘grandfather’ankóra ‘already, still’ néto ‘clean’ m.sg.dɔ́na ‘woman’ féŋ ‘hay’bɔ́ta ‘hit, punch’ (noun) ámeŋ ‘amen’ázeno ‘donkey’ názo ‘nose’

fíŋ ‘fine’ msg. ind͡ʒustít͡sja ‘injustice’

kanbjár ‘to change’ lúnd͡zi ‘Monday’bánka ‘bank’ veléŋ ‘poison’néve ‘snow’ vjɛŋ ‘comes’sémo ‘we are’ niníŋ ‘little bit’

t͡ʃáro ‘clear’ d͡zɛ́nte ‘people’

kant͡sóŋ ‘song’ limóŋ ‘lemon’uŋ ‘one’ invelená ‘poisoned’benedéto ‘blessed’ móndo ‘world’bruskíŋ ‘brush’ mázena ‘grinder’béŋ ‘well’ nisúŋ ‘not a single, no’léngwa ‘language’ lúna ‘moon’kamíŋ ‘road, way’ bóta ‘barrel’kanál ‘canal, channel’ bɔ́to ‘explosion’

informat͡sjóŋ ‘information’ sɛ́mo ‘stupid’ m.sg.kanpaníl ‘church tower’ lontáŋ ‘far away’

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Part II: Alternation ProblemLike most Romance languages, Veneto has both masculine and feminine gender and singular andplural number categories. Verbs also change according to the person and number of the verb’ssubject.

Conventional abbreviations for these grammatical properties are:

m. masculinef. femininesg. singularpl. pluralmsg. masculine singularfsg. feminine singularmpl. masculine pluralfpl. feminine plural

1 first person (‘I’ or ‘we’)2 second person (‘you’)3 third person (‘he, she, it, they’)1 sg first person singular (‘I’)2 sg second person singular (‘you’, one addressee)3 sg third person singular (‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’)2 pl second person plural (‘you’ more than 1 addressee)1 pl first person plural (‘we’)3 pl third person plural (‘they’)

In data set B below, a suffix is separated from the rest of the word (the base or stem of theword) by a hyphen. The suffix that is used depends on what person, number and/or gender isbeing expressed.

For example, [mɔr-o] ‘dark, black’ has the suffix [-o] because it is msg., and [mɔr-i] ‘dark, black’has the suffix [-i] because it is mpl.

Note that [mɔr-o] and [mɔr-i] both share the same stem morpheme [mɔr-], but the suffixes [-o]and [-i] are different morphemes, with different underlying forms.

The choice of suffix is not phonologically determined; you do not have to explain which suffix astem has (a part of the grammar which is not phonology is responsible for this).

Specifically, the suffix a stem has reflects the grammatical properties of the word as a whole.Nouns and adjectives which have sg. forms with the suffix [-o] have pl. forms with [-i], and thosewith sg. forms with [-a] have pl. forms with [‑e]. Nouns and adjectives that have [-e] in the sg.have [-i] in the plural, regardless of gender. Nouns with no suffixes in the singular (relevant onlyfor Part C, extra credit) have plurals with [-e] when feminine and [-i] when masculine.

Nouns: 5 typessg. -o -e -a -Ø (m.) -Ø (f.)pl. -i -i -e -i -e

Adjectives: 2 types

msg. -o -empl. -i -efsg. -a -ifpl. -e -i

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In some examples in data set B, however, the same stem morpheme has variant surface forms.

For example ‘I touch’ is [tok-o] and [tok-a] is ‘he or she touches’, but ‘you touch’ is [tuk-i]. Inthese examples the verb stem alternates [tok ~ tuk].

If you examine the data it is easy to see that [-o] is the suffix used for 1 sg, [-i] for 2 sg, and[‑a] for 3 sg or 3 pl.

Questions

1. ☞ What phonological properties characterize the stems that alternate vs. those that do not?(You can make a list of the alternating stems for your own use, but your answer shouldbe stated as a generalization referring to a phonological feature or a set of featuresthat all the alternating stems have, but the non-alternating stems do not have).

2. ☞ Where a stem alternates, what phonological features distinguish one stem alternant fromanother?

3. ☞ What properties of the context determine which alternant is used?

State your conclusion in the most general terms possible, referrring to phonologicalfeatures, and not to categories like ‘1st person, 2nd person, singular, plural’ etc.

4. Assume that speakers of Vèneto do not store in memory both alternants of an alternatingstem. This implies that one alternant has to be created (‘derived’) by some phonologicalrule — call it Rule M — in the grammar.

☞ What change does Rule M make?

5. ☞ Which of the two types of alternants should be the underlying one? Why?State briefly what considerations lead you to prefer one type of UR over another in thiscase.

Bear in mind that whatever you choose to hypothesize for the UR will have conse-quences for what you hypothesize that Rule M does.

• For example, thinking about the problem abstractly, suppose we call the twoalternants X and Y. If X is underlying and Y is derived, then Rule M must changeX to Y in some context.But if we think instead that Y is underlying, then Rule M must do basically theopposite, namely change Y to X, in a different context.

The correct answer to this question can only be deduced by trying both possible answersand seeing which one will work better as a possible model for all the data. Don’t forgetto think about how the non-alternating stems will be affected (or unaffected) by thegrammar you propose!

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Data Set B

The phenomenon in question is a general one and can be observed in nouns, adjectives and verbs.Examples are provided in each category.

1. Nounssg. pl. gloss (= approximate meaning, briefly stated)

bót-a bót-e ‘barrel’fóng-o fúng-i ‘mushroom’bɔ́t-o bɔ́t-i ‘explosion’bɛ́k-o bɛ́k-i ‘beak’mósk-a mósk-e ‘fly’ténp-o tínp-i ‘time’gát-o gát-i ‘cat’bék-o bík-i ‘billy goat’stɛ́l-a stɛ́l-e ‘piece of firewood’stél-a stél-e ‘star’ríz-o ríz-i ‘rice’spɛ́t͡ʃ-o spɛ́t͡ʃ-i ‘mirror’tɔ́l-a tɔ́l-e ‘table’brát͡s-o brát͡s-i ‘arm’póm-o púm-i ‘apple’st͡ʃɔ́k-o st͡ʃɔ́k-i ‘cracking sound’fóg-o fúg-i ‘fire’mónt-e múnt-i ‘mountain’d͡zúg-o d͡zúg-i ‘game’dént-e dínt-i ‘tooth’t͡sést-o t͡síst-i ‘big basket’d͡ʒót͡s-a d͡ʒút͡s-i ‘drop’

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2. Adjectives

gloss msg. fsg. mpl. fpl.

‘ugly, awful’ brút-o brút-a brút-i brút-e‘hard’ dúr-o dúr-a dúr-i dúr-e‘lame’ t͡sɔ́t-o t͡sɔ́t-a t͡sɔ́t-i t͡sɔ́t-e‘dead’ mórt-o mórt-a múrt-i mórt-e‘yellow’ d͡zál-o d͡zál-a d͡zál-i d͡zál-e‘large’ grɔ́s-o grɔ́s-a grɔ́s-i grɔ́s-e‘deep’ fónd-o fónd-a fúnd-i fónd-e‘fresh’ frésk-o frésk-a frísk-i frésk-e‘smart’ zvéj-o zvéj-a zvíj-i zvéj-e‘true’ vɛ́r-o vɛ́r-a vɛ́r-i vɛ́r-e

3. Verbs

gloss 1 sg 2 sg 3 sg or pl

‘taste’ tást-o tást-i tást-a‘touch’ tók-o túk-i tók-a‘wait’ spɛ́t-o spɛ́t-i spɛ́t-a‘dip’ tɔ́t͡ʃ-o tɔ́t͡ʃ-i tɔ́t͡ʃ-a‘cook’ kóg-o kúg-i kóg-a‘destroy’ désf-o dísf-i désf-a‘poke’ stít͡s-o stít͡s-i stít͡s-a‘try’ próv-o prúv-i próv-a‘crush’ skít͡s-o skít͡s-i skít͡s-a‘kill’ kóp-o kúp-i kóp-a‘think’ pɛ́ns-o pɛ́ns-i pɛ́ns-a‘listen’ skólt-o skúlt-i skólt-a

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Part III Extra Credit Section Questions in this section are optional — answers to part III do not have to be submitted.Take a look at this more complicated data. Extra points will be awarded for excellent responses in this section.

Note first that all the examples in Data Set B above consist of two syllable words. The data below includes some words with more than two syllables.Data Set C has words which have stress on the last or second-to-last syllable.In Data Set D there are words which have stress on the third-to-last syllable.

Data Set C

Nouns and Adjectivessg. pl. gloss

motór mutúr-i ‘motor’kuzíŋ kuzín-i ‘cousin’favór favúr-i ‘favor’bastóŋ bastún-i ‘stick, club’dotór dutúr-i ‘doctor’bogóŋ bugún-i ‘snail’t͡sivíl-e t͡sivíl-i ‘civil’fat͡síl-e fat͡síl-i ‘easy’d͡ʒornál-e d͡ʒornál-i ‘newspaper’botóŋ butún-i ‘button’melóŋ melún-i ‘melon’t͡sukól-o t͡sukúl-i ‘zucchini plant’argomént-o argumínt-i ‘topic, theme, plot’t͡servɛ́l-o t͡servɛ́l-i ‘brain’famóz-o famúz-i ‘famous’ m.famóz-a famóz-e ‘famous’ f.terát͡s-a terát͡s-e ‘terrace’batéd͡z-o batíd͡z-i ‘baptism’

Verbsgloss 1 sg 2 sg 3 sg or pl

‘advise’ konséj-o kunsíj-i konséj-a‘move’ (imperfect) movév-o muvív-i movév-a‘baptize’ batéd͡z-o batíd͡z-i batéd͡z-a

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Data Set D

Nouns and Adjectivessg. pl. gloss

d͡zóven-o d͡zóven-i ‘young man’tɔ́seg-o tɔ́seg-i ‘poison’tɔ́rkol-o tɔ́rkol-i ‘press’ (machine)strɔ́pol-o strɔ́pol-i ‘bottle stopper’ázen-o ázen-i ‘donkey’

Verbgloss 1 sg 2 sg 3 sg or pl

‘baptize’ batéd͡zem-o batéd͡zem-i batéd͡zem-a

The verb ‘to baptize’ in Data Set D is an alternative form of the verb with the same meaning inData Set C. It will be helpful to compare the behavior of the segments in the two forms.

Questions

1. What new sorts of alternations are observed in Data Set C? In what way will your rule derivethe alternations in Data Set B be insufficient to derive these new alternations?

2. Give the simplest statement you can of the new rule or rules required to derive the alterna-tions in Data Set C.

Your rule does not have to be stated in formal notation (which you have not practiced usingvery much anyway). But keep in mind that whenever a rule is hypothesized it needs to giveprecise characterizations of four things:

(a) the target segment(s) — the type of segments which the rules changes; (b) the change itself: what features are changed by the rule; (c) the trigger segments: which sorts of segments cause a change,

and (d) the locations where the trigger must be relative to the target, if the rule is to apply

3. Data Set D adds a new twist to the phenomenon. Would you expect your rule from theimmediately preceding question (question 2) to apply in these words? Does your rule workproperly? Why or why not? If not, how could it be changed so that it does work properly?

☞ To work properly the rule must make all and only the changes that in fact occur. If itchanges forms that it should not, it is said to overapply. If it neglects to change formsthat should change it is said to underapply.

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