Phonetics
This branch of linguistics studies the physical properties and articulation of speech sounds.
What is phonetics?
This term refers to the smallest sound unit that can change word meaning, like /p/ vs. /b/ in pat and bat.
What is a phoneme?
A variety of language characteristic of a particular individual speaker is called this.
What is an idiolect?
This field studies how languages change and how they are related through time.
What is historical linguistics?
This stage of early vocal development involves repetitive syllables like “ba ba ba.”
What is babbling?
The sound [p] and [b] differ in this feature, which determines whether the vocal folds vibrate.
What is voicing?
When one sound becomes more like a neighboring sound, it’s an example of this process.
What is assimilation?
Switching between two languages or varieties in a single conversation is known as this.
What is code-switching?
Father in English, Vater in German, and pater in Latin are words that look and sound similar because they all come from the same ancestral language. These kinds of related words are called what?
What are cognates?
The phrase “goed” instead of “went” shows this common developmental phenomenon.
What is overgeneralization?
This IPA symbol [ŋ] represents the sound found at the end of the word sing.
What is the velar nasal?
In English, [p] and [pʰ] are not separate phonemes but context-dependent variants. These are called what?
What are allophones?
The social value assigned to certain dialects or accents is known as this.
What is linguistic prestige?
This method compares systematic sound correspondences to reconstruct ancestral languages.
What is the comparative method?
This experimental method measures babies’ interest in sounds through changes in sucking rate.
What is the high amplitude sucking rate method?
The difference between [t] and [tʰ] in English is one of this phonetic feature.
What is aspiration?
The rule /n/ → [ŋ] / __ [velar consonant] describes what type of phonological process?
What is velar assimilation?
When two speakers from different regions understand each other but pronounce the same words differently, these differences are examples of this type of language variation.
What is dialectal variation?
This major sound change between Middle and Modern English raised and fronted the long vowels, drastically altering English pronunciation.
What is the Great Vowel Shift?
According to Chomsky, humans acquire language because they are born with this innate system.
What is universal grammar?
When producing nasal consonants like [m] or [n], this articulator is lowered to allow air to flow through the nose.
What is the velum (or soft palate)?
In the English word input, the /n/ is pronounced [m] because it comes before the bilabial /p/. This change, where a sound is influenced by the following sound, is an example of what type of assimilation?
What is regressive assimilation?
The use of certain linguistic features to signal membership in a social group—such as dropping r in New York English—is an example of this sociolinguistic concept.
What is indexicality?
The change from help, holp, holpen to help, helped, helped in English verbs exemplifies this process that reduces irregularity.
What is change by analogy?
The idea that there is a biologically optimal window for acquiring native-like language proficiency, after which it becomes much more difficult, is called what?
What is the critical period hypothesis?