Phonology: Structure Changing Rules 1.2

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This exercise gives you more practice with the analysis of phonological rules that affect the structure of a word or phrase. Answer each question below to the best of your ability.

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Question 1

Examine the Hausa data below. Select the structure change process that best explains the data. Ignore differences in length (marked by “:”). [kó:rè:] ‘green’ vs. [kó:rèkó:rè] ‘greenish’ [fárí:] ‘white’ vs. [fárífárí] ‘whitish’ [bákʼí:] black vs. [bákʼí:bákʼí:] ‘blacklish’ [ʃú:ɗì:] ‘blue’ vs. [ʃú:ɗìʃú:ɗì] ‘bluish’

A	metathesis Hint: Metathesis occurs when phonemes exchange positions within a domain (word, syllable, etc.) In this data, we see that the entire root is being reduplicated.
B	epenthesis Hint: Epenthesis occurs when extra phonetic material is added to a word/syllable. In this data, we see that the entire root is being reduplicated.
C	epenthesis Hint: The data does not show the addition of any sound segments.
D	reduplication

Question 2

Examine the (West Saxon) Old English vs. Modern American English comparisons below, which show what certain English words looked like approximately 1,000 years ago, in the dominant form of the ancient language. Select the structure changing process that can be observed in all the examples. Old English Modern American English wæps /wæps/ wasp bridd /brid:/ bird beorht /beorxt/ bright (ge)worht /(je)worxt/ wrought (/rɔt/) þréotíne /θre:o.ti:ne/ thirteen

A	epenthesis Hint: Epenthesis is the process by which phonetic material is inserted into a word, where there was previously none. In this data set, each word shows certain phonemes exchanging location with another. This process is referred to as metathesis.
B	metathesis
C	deletion Hint: Deletion occurs when sounds are omitted from a word or syllable. While some segments are deleted in the data, this is not the process shown here. In this data set, each word shows certain phonemes exchanging location with another. This process is referred to as metathesis.

Question 3

Examine the Japanese data below, which shows loanwords from English. Select the structure changing process that can be observed in all the examples. ‘cake’ /ke:ki/ ‘Venus’ /bi:nasu/ ‘help’ (found in a computer program) /herupu/ ‘club (an association/group of people)’ /kurabu/

A	epenthesis
B	reduplication Hint: Reduplication involves the reduplicating of an entire word, or part of a word. In this example, the Japanese words show more vowels than their English counterparts, breaking up consonant clusters thus creating new syllables. This process is referred to as epenthesis.
C	metathesis Hint: Metathesis occurs when phonemes exchange positions within a domain (word, syllable, etc.) In this example, the Japanese words show more vowels than their English counterparts, breaking up consonant clusters thus creating new syllables. This process is referred to as epenthesis.

Question 4

Examine the Indonesian (Jensen 1990) data below, which show one possible expression of pluralization. Select the structure changing process that can be observed in all the examples. kursi ‘ chair’ -> kursikursi lalat ‘fly’ -> lalatlalat ‘flies’ ibu ‘ mother’ -> ibuibu ‘ mothers’ gazdah ‘elephant’ -> gazdahgazdah rumah ‘house’ -> rumahrumah ‘houses’ medzah ‘table’ -> medzahmedzah

A	deletion Hint: Deletion occurs when phonetic material is removed from a word/syllable. This data shows that the singular form of each word is inflected for plural by reduplicating the entire root. This is the process of (full) reduplication.
B	epenthesis Hint: Epenthesis occurs when extra phonetic material is added to a word/syllable. This data shows that the singular form of each word is inflected for plural by reduplicating the entire root. This is the process of (full) reduplication.
C	reduplication

Question 5

Examine the Old English data below, which show declension. Select the structure changing process that can be observed in all the examples. For your convenience, morphemes that are added on have been identified. seolh ‘seal’ -> seolas ‘seals (nominative plural) (pluralizer: -as) ymele ‘scroll’ -> ymlan ‘scrolls (nominative plural) (pluralizer: -an) engel ‘angel’ -> englas ‘angels (nominative plural) (pluralizer: -as) scoh ‘shoe’ -> scos ‘shoes (nominative plural) (pluralizer: -s, underlying -as) wæter ‘water’ -> wætres ‘water’s, of water (genitive singular) (genitive marker: -es)

A	reduplication Hint: Reduplication is the process by which some or all of a word/syllable is added to the root. In this example, phonetic material is being removed, or deleted.
B
C	metathesis Hint: Although it appears that certain segments are exchanging location with others, in this example, phonetic material is being removed, or deleted.
D	deletion

Question 6

Examine the alternations, loanwords and pronunciations of names in the Spanish data below. Select the structure changing process that best describes the data. For your convenience, syllable boundaries are marked with a period (.). escribir /es.kɾi.biɾ/ ‘(to) write’ or 'to script' esnob /es.nob/ ‘snob’ Slim /es.lin/ (surname) estatus /es.ta.tus/ ‘status’

A	reduplication Hint: Reduplication is the process by which part or all of a root is
B	metathesis Hint: No sound segments are moved around in the data given.
C	epenthesis

Question 7

Examine the alternations in the Hausa data given below. Select the structure changing process that best describes the data. Ignore the tone marks above the vowels. [káràntá] ‘read’ vs. [kákkáràntá] ‘read repeatedly’ [ʔájkà] ‘send’ vs. [ʔáʔʔajká] ‘send repeatedly’ [ba:] ‘give’ vs. [babba:] ‘give repeatedly’ [rúbù:tá:] ‘write’ vs. [rúrrúbù:ta:] ‘write repeatedly’ [tàmbáyà] ‘ask’ vs. [tàntàmbáya] ‘ask repeatedly’

A	epenthesis Hint: Epenthesis occurs when extra phonetic material is added to a word/syllable. In this data, we see that the initial syllable, or some variation of the initial syllable, is being added to the root, which is the process of partial reduplication.
B	reduplication
C	metathesis Hint: Metathesis occurs when phonemes exchange positions within a domain (word, syllable, etc.) In this data, we see that the initial syllable, or some variation of the initial syllable, is being added to the root, which is the process of partial reduplication.

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