Name:_______________________________________________________
Problem set 4: 24.900
Due Wednesday, 10/10/01 [because of Columbus Day]
Part 1: Igbirra (Nigeria) phonology
Examine the distribution of [e] and [a] in the Igbirra data below, and answer the questions that follow:
[mezi] 'I expect' [matU] 'I send'
[mazE] 'I agree' [meze] 'I am well'
[mat•] 'I pick' [mazI] 'I am in pain'
[meto] 'I arrange' [metu] 'I beat'
a. Are Igbirra [e] and [a] allophones of the same phoneme or distinct phonemes?
b. Justify your answer by either stating a rule1 that governs the distribution of [e] and [a] (if you think
they are allophones of the same phoneme) or giving evidence that they are distinct phonemes2 (if you
think they are distinct phonemes).
Answer for Igbirra [e] and [a] the same pair of questions you answered for German [x] and [C] in part 2.
Part 2: Finnish phonology
Examine the distribution of [d] and [t] in the Finnish data below, and answer the questions that follow:
[madon] 'of a worm' [kade] 'envious'
[kadot] 'failures' [maton] 'of a rug'
[kate] 'cover' [ratas] 'wheel'
[katot] 'roofs' [radan] 'of a track'
Answer for Finnish [d] and [t] the same pair of questions you answered for Igbirra [e] and [a].
Part 3: Various In CL, do problems 1, 2 and 4 (i)-(iv) on p. 121. [Do (v) for extra credit.]
1 "Stating a rule" means using the phonetic classification we have learned to describe which allophone is used in which
environment (e.g. "before X", "after Y", "at the end of a word", etc.).
2 Relevent evidence would be any minimal or near-minimal pairs present in the data. Otherwise, offer the best evidence you
can that neither position in the word nor the segments preceding or following the sound in question are factors that determine
their distribution.
Name:_______________________________________________________
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Part 3: Russian Consider some pairs of forms from Russian. Call the forms in the left column "zero-
ending forms" and the forms in the left column "-a forms", though the meaning and use of the two forms -
a actually varies widely among the examples.
zero-ending form -a form
1. gr•p gr•ba 'coffin'
2. lip lipa 'linden tree'
3. S•p«t S•p«ta 'whisper'
4. g•r«t g•r«da 'city'
5. ruk ruka 'hand'
6. r•k r•ga 'horn'
7. r•k r•ka 'fate'
8. k«r«ndaS k«r«ndaSa 'pencil'
9. ekipaS ekipaZa 'crew'
10. ras rasa 'race'
11. ras raza 'time'
12. d•m d•ma 'house'
13. plan plana 'plan'
14. sk«zal sk«zala 'said'
15. v•r v•ra 'thief'
a. State the phonological rule affecting consonants that is illustrated by these forms. Make sure your
statement of the rule covers all the data.
b. What language examined in class also has this rule? How do we know that English lacks this rule?
c. List the minimal pairs found in the Russian examples above. What does the existence of these minimal
pairs teach us about the phonemic inventory of Russian?
d. Assuming that phonologically predictable aspects of pronunciation do not form part of the lexical
entries of morphemes, what are the forms listed in the lexicon for the root morpheme of the words in
the first 6 rows above?
Name:_______________________________________________________
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