A2-F2022-Solution

LING 331: Phonology 1 Assignment 2 (Due Friday 14 October 2022 at 11:59pm) Name: _________________________________________ Student number: _____________________ I worked with _________________________________ and ________________________________ on this assignment (max 3 students per group). You can discuss the assignment only with students in your group; do not discuss the assignment with students outside your group. If your assignment is identical to that of all members of your group, please mark this box: My assignment is identical to that of all members of my group. Your assignment must be submitted in a PDF file on Crowdmark. If you cheked the box above, you only need to submit one copy of the assignment per group by forming a group in Crowdmark. If you worked in a group but your assignments are not identical, please submit your assignments individually. Please check to make sure you submitted the correct file (e.g., not your rough work) and that it is legible (i.e., not corrupted). 1. TONE IN A NIGERIAN LANGUAGE 1 The data in (1) below illustrate how underlying sequences of the same tones are realized in bisyllabic and trisyllabic words in this Nigerian language: (1) a. ád ǒ ‘convenience’ b. ésìmá ‘older brother’ ètô ‘love’ òpútù ‘pottery’ 1. Given the location of the contour tones in the data in (1a), do tones associate left-to-right or right-to- left in this Nigerian language? Briefly explain. L-to-R. There are more tones than TBUs in these words, which means that the leftover tone will associate to the last available vowel. In this language, the last available vowel is the final vowel in the word, since association is L-to-R. 2. Starting from the underlying representations, illustrate how the surface tones of [ád ǒ ] and [òpútù] are derived, step-by-step. (You don’t need to include every step in your derivation, but if you skip some, make sure you annotate your structures with words so that the steps can be recovered by the reader.) In contrast to the words in (1a), words shaped like those in (2) are unattested in this Nigerian language: (2) *âdó * ět ò 3. How do you account for the non-occurrence of the word shapes in (2)? 1 You will be told the names of the languages in Questions 1 and 3 after the assignment is turned in.

2 If underlying tones are floating in this language, the patterns in (2) will not arise because they are incompatible with L-to-R association. There is no way to get a contour tone on the initial vowel ( they don’t need to explicitly say this). 2. NATURAL CLASSES IN FEATURES Below is the complete inventory of phonemes for some hypothetical language. With this inventory in mind, answer the questions that follow. Use only the features and feature definitions provided on the slides. Assume that all approximants are [+cont] in this language. Vocoids: Contoids: j w p h t h k h i u p t k q ε ɔ s x χ æ ɒ m n ŋ l ʟ r You are given six groups of segments that could each define a natural class in this language. For each group, answer the questions provided. • For the question ‘If yes, which of the following captures the class using the fewest number of features possible?’, if you think there is more than one correct answer, indicate all correct answers. • F or the question ‘If yes, which segment?’, it is possible that there is more than one correct answer. You only need to provide one . 1. [k h, k, q] 2. [n, l] Could [k h, k, q] define a natural class in Could [n, l] define a natural class in this language? YES NO this language? YES NO If yes, which of the following captures If yes, which of the following captures the class using the fewest number of the class using the fewest number of features possible? features possible? (a) [ DOR , -voice] (a) [-cont, +son] (b) [ DOR , -cont] (b) [ COR , +cont, +vce] (c) [ DOR , -voice, -CG] (c) [ COR , +cont, +son] (d) [ DOR , -voice, -cont] (d) [ COR , +son, -rhotic] If no, could one segment be removed to If no, could one segment be removed to arrive at a natural class? YES NO arrive at a natural class? YES NO If yes, which segment? [ ] If yes, which segment? [ ] [n] or [l] If yes, describe the new natural class in If yes, describe the new natural class in features, using the fewest number of features, using the fewest number of features possible: features possible: [n]: [ COR , +nas] [l]: [ COR , +lat]

4 3. VOWELS IN A ZIMBABWEAN LANGUAGE The data below from a Zimbabwean language show that there are seven vowels in the language. Three of these vowels are in complementary distribution with three other vowels. In order to formulate a hypothesis about which vowels may be patterning as a class, you should begin by placing the vowels in a vowel chart. [ ʃ i ʃ æl ɡɑ ] ‘train’ [buxum] ‘waist’ [lik ɑʤ y] ‘strange’ [kurjy] ‘triangle’ [cær ɔ ] ‘eyebrow’ [mu ɮ u] ‘bowl’ [zu ŋ ] ‘smooth’ [ ʧ ædi ʧ æ] ‘confused’ [çæd ɑ ç œ ] ‘pipe’ [d ɔʃœ ] ‘water’ [bi ʒ æ] ‘garment’ [m ɑʤ ær] ‘graze’ [uçi] ‘ maroon ’ (colour) [mijæ] ‘weather’ [iku] ‘argument’ [n ɑɬɑ ] ‘carry’ [ ʤ i ʧ y] ‘branch’ [b ɑ l ɉ æm] ‘table’ [ni ɲ æ] ‘stride’ [k ɔ s ɔ ] ‘roof’ 1. Provide the rule or rules – in segments – which account(s) for the distribution of the six vowels under consideration. Rule 1: /u, ɔ , ɑ/ → [y, œ, æ] / [ʃ , ʒ , ʧ , ʤ ] __ Rule 2: /u, ɔ , ɑ/ → [y, œ, æ] / [ɲ, c, ɉ, ç, j] __ 2. Rewrite the rule(s) from question 1 in words, taking account of all natural classes. Vowels become front after palato-alveolars Vowels become front after palatals 3. The rule(s) illustrated in the data involve assimilation. Do/(does) the rule(s) involve: (a) assimilation in place of articulation (b) assimilation in manner of articulation (c) both (a) and (b) 4. Rewrite the rule(s) from question 2 in features, using the minimum number of features required. Rule 1: (C) ([cor]) V → [-back] / [-ant]* __ ([dor]) Rule 2: C V → [-back] / [-back] __ ([dor]) 5. Is the assimilation formally captured in an intuitive way in the rule(s) involving features? Clearly explain why or why not. Rule 2 captures the assimilation well: [-back] appears in both the output of the rule and the environment/the features in the output and environment match. Rule 1 does not capture the assimilation well: the vowels become [-back] but the trigger is [- ant]/not [-back]/the features in the output and environment do not match.