Answers to practice problems for Exam 1

I. Phonology

A. See lecture notes or Study of Language text

B. How to solve this problem (or almost any other similar problem):

1. Identify the words that are used with a particular past-tense form (e.g., for /t/, crushed, heaped, kicked, hissed; for /d/, bagged, killed, nabbed, turned, hanged; for /Id/, pitted, deeded, hated)

2. Deduce what aspect of the root word (e.g., crush, heap, etc) is important in determining which sound is used for the past tense.  In the case of a suffix, as in this example, the final consonant of the root word is often the important thing.

3. List the final consonants of each root word that takes a particular past-tense form, and then, for each root word, look up on the chart the 3 articulatory features associated with that consonant.  This is shown below:

/t/ 

š (as in crushed) voiceless, palatal, fricative

p (as in heaped) voiceless, bilabial, stop

k (as in kicked) voiceless, velar, stop

s (as in hissed) voiceless, alveolar, fricative

/d/

b (as in bagged) voiced, bilabial, stop

l (as in killed) voiced, alveolar, liquid

n (as in nabbed) voiced, alveolar, nasal

ŋ (as in hanged) voiced, velar, nasal

            NOTE:  Liquids and nasals are all voiced sounds, even though it doesn't say so on your chart

/Id/

t (as in pitted) voiceless, alveolar, stop

d (as in deeded) voiced, alveolar, stop

4. Figure out what articulatory features are shared for the words using /t/, which different features are shared by the words taking /d/, and so on.

The Rules for this aspect of English phonology:

Use /t/ if the final consonant in the root word is voiceless

Use /d/ if the final consonant in the root word is voiced

UNLESS the final consonant is [alveolar stop], in which case use /Id/

C. The example doesn't allow a really elegant solution using just 3 articulatory features.  (Guess this counts as a tricky question! Sorry.)  But here's a stab at one solution:

Use eng when the first sound in the root word is [velar]

Use en when the first sound in the root word is [ alveolar, but not a liquid]

Use em in all other cases

 In these rules, # indicates word onset (left side) and word offset (right side); + indicates "must have this feature", - indicates "cannot have this feature"

II.  Morphology

A. ye

B. none

C.

D. ika ye xa ufo ye

E. oge vo abo ye

III. Syntax

1. Sentence 1:

2. Sentence 2

3. Sentence 4