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LING 201: Introduction to Linguistics (W2018) Midterm-style Practice Problems – Solution ________________________________________________________________________ Note: This is not a practice exam. The real midterm will not contain this many questions. I. TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS 1. Some languages are less complex than others; this is exemplified by the fact that less complex languages frequently borrow words from other languages. TRUE FALSE 2. Children learn the rules of their language principally by memorizing the constructions produced by their parents/caregivers. TRUE

FALSE

II. NATURAL CLASSES Below is the complete inventory of phonemes for some language: m n p t b d f T s l w

i I e E

k g S

u o O a

j

Indicate whether or not each of the following groups of segments uniquely forms a natural class in this language. • If the group of segments does form a natural class, state the class as generally as possible (i.e., do not include redundant information in your descriptions). •

If the group of segments does not form a natural class, determine whether one segment could be added to the group to yield a natural class. If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class as generally as possible.

1. Segments [p, f]: Natural class: YES

or

NO

2. Segments [f, T]: Natural class:

YES

or

NO

If yes, describe the class: voiceless labials

If yes, describe the class:

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class:

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class: no

2 NATURAL CLASSES (CONT’D) 3. Segments [m, n, w, j]: Natural class: YES or NO If yes, describe the class:

4. Segments [i, I, u]: Natural class: YES or If yes, describe the class: high vowels

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class: [l]; sonorant consonants 5. Segments [k, S]: Natural class: YES

or

NO

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class:

6. Segments [E, O]: Natural class: YES

NO

or

NO

If yes, describe the class:

If yes, describe the class: mid lax vowels

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class:

If no, can one segment be added? If the answer is yes, list the segment and define the resulting class:

no III. KONESE CONSONANTS Consider the following data from Konese and answer the questions that follow. [tanzɑ] [solsɑn] [ʃesoʃil] [losʌni]

‘table’ ‘quickly’ ‘kitten’ ‘to run’

[hɑpsam] [soɡǝŋ] [ʃimbur] [sɑdon]

‘woman’ ‘to state’ ‘tall’ ‘child’

[ʃiptɑŋ] [sɑmzʌk] [poŋzuk] [sorʃep]

‘magazine’ ‘sour’ ‘kumquat’ ‘restaurant’

In these data, [s] and [S] are in complementary distribution, as are [s] and [z]. 1. For [s] and [S], provide the rule that derives the allophone from the phoneme – in words. For this question and question (2), you do not need to describe the phoneme in words, just the allophone and environment. State your rules in as general terms as possible. /s/ → alveopalatal (or palatoalveolar) before front vowels 2. For [s] and [z], provide the rule which derives the allophone from the phoneme – in words. /s/ → voiced after nasals 3. Imagine that [mon_i] is a word in Konese, where one of the following sounds replaces the line. On the basis of your answer to questions (1) and (2), which sound would be correct? a. [s]

b. [z]

c. [ʃ]

d. [Z]

Briefly explain your answer: The fricative is both before a front vowel and after a nasal C, so both rules should apply. The output would then be [Z].

3 IV. TRANSCRIPTION ERRORS The following are broadly transcribed words from Canadian English. Each word contains one transcription error (there are NO errors in stress). Clearly indicate the error, and provide the correction in the space provided. Correction 1. ‘table-top’

[te!jbEltA~p]

[´]

2. ‘washcloth’

[wA!shklA~T]

[S ]

3. ‘diskette’

[dIske!t]

[E]

4. ‘explanation’ [E~kspl´ne!jSi´n] 5. ‘mountain’

[mø!wnt´n]

6. ‘therapeutic’ [TE~r´pu!tIk]

delete [i] [a] insert [j]

V. GERMAN VELARS Consider the following data and rule from ONE dialect of German, then answer the questions that follow. ([V] is a voiced velar fricative, [y] is a high front rounded vowel, and V… indicates that a vowel is long.) Note that ‘car’ and ‘eyes’ have two different pronunciations: speakers can pronounce these words either way, with no change in meaning. This question is a bit tricky! Data: /va…g´n/ /awg´n/ /kEl´/ /gEl´n/

[va…g´n] or [va…V´n] [awg´n] or [awV´n] [kEl´] [gEl´n]

‘car’ ‘eyes’ ‘ladle’ ‘shrill’

/Styk/ /Styk´/ /bErg/ /bErg´/

[Styk], *[Styg] ‘piece’ [Styk´] ‘pieces’ [bErk], *[bErg] ‘mountain’ [bErg´] ‘mountains’

Rule: The surface forms *[bErg] and *[Styg] in the data above are ungrammatical because German has the following rule: stops → voiceless / __ # Using only the data and rule given above, answer each of the following questions, yes or no. 1. Do [g] and [V] belong to separate phonemes?

No

2. Do [k] and [g] belong to separate phonemes?

Yes

3. Are [va…g´n] and [va…V´n] a minimal pair?

No

4. Are [g] and [V] in complementary distribution?

No

VI. BASQUE SYLLABLE STRUCTURE Consider the facts below from Basque and answer the questions on the following page. • Branching onsets are allowed only if they are of the shape: obstruent followed by liquid • Codas are allowed but they are restricted to sonorants or voiceless obstruents only • Branching nuclei are allowed only if the second segment is a high vowel • Each half of a long consonant (‘geminate’) must belong to a separate syllable

4 BASQUE (CONT’D) 1. Keeping the above facts in mind, syllabify the following Basque words using standard syllable structure notation. Do not forget to label all of the constituents. [zuhaitza] σ

‘mean’ σ

3h 3 R 3 h O N h h z u

σ

3h 3 R 3 h9 O N C h h8 h h ai t

3h 3 R 3 h O N h h z a

⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐ ⏐

[anderea] nun’ σ

h R h9 N C h h a n

σ

3h 3 R 3 h O N h h d e

σ

3h 3 R 3 h O N h h r e

σ

h R h N h a

2. Now consider the three forms listed below. Using the information provided above, could they be possible words in Basque? Circle YES or NO accordingly. If you circle NO, explain what the problem(s) is/are in the space provided. a. [praldia]

YES

or NO

If NO, problem(s):

b. [edze]

YES

or NO

If NO, problem(s):

problems: [dz] can’t be a branching onset since [z] is not a liquid; [d] (as well as [dz]) can’t be a coda because it isn’t voiceless. c. [garakk] YES

or NO

If NO, problem(s):

problem is final [kk]: each half of a geminate must belong to a separate syllable, so the second half of the geminate cannot be syllabified. VII. IKANDO MORPHOLOGY Consider the following data from Ikando. To aid you in your analysis, the data are organized into three groups. A ponasoben ponosatben ponipelaben ponresosben

‘unbelievable’ ‘invisible’ ‘unacceptable’ ‘unfavourable’

B puntukoben ‘not able to be talked about’ h *pontukoben h punulaben ‘undrinkable’ h *ponulaben

h

C

h ponanotben ‘not catchable’

h *ponanot h pununit ‘not sad’ h *pununitben

1. Provide all of the allomorphs of the Ikando morphemes that have the following meaning or function: ‘believe’ ‘sad’ V → Adj

aso unit ben

‘not’ ‘talk about’ ‘see’

pun-, pontuko osat

5 IKANDO (CONT’D) 2. If ponalaben means ‘unforgettable’ in Ikando, how would you say ‘forgettable’? alaben 3. For those morphemes which have more than one allomorph, can you predict which one will occur when? Is so, describe the context where you get each allomorph. pun- when the following vowel is [u] pon- elsewhere 4. Draw a morphological tree for ponanotben. Don’t forget to label all of the constituents. A 30 3 A 3 29 Af V Af g g g pon anot ben 5. In ponipelaben, what is the base to which the V → Adj affix attaches? 6. What is the head of the word punulaben? 7. Is there a stem in puntukoben?

ipela

ben

no

8. What is the root of the word pununit?

unit

VIII. MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ‘MISINFORMATION’ Draw a tree for the morphologically-complex word ‘misinformation’. Be sure to label all of the constituents. Here are some words that will help you determine the attachment options for various affixes: mis-read, *mis-N alter-ation

hyphen-ate hesitat-ion

N 18 V 8 19 8 Af V Af h h h mis inform ation

6 IX. ENGLISH COMPOUNDS Consider the following English compound whose interpretation is ambiguous: ‘temporary fee elimination program’ It either means “a program to eliminate temporary fees” or “a program to eliminate fees which is temporary (i.e. the program is temporary)”. Provide two labelled morphological trees in the spaces below, one corresponding to each of these interpretations. Provide a complete morphological analysis; that is, your tree must reflect the fact that one of the constituents which forms the compound is itself morphologically-complex. 1. Interpretation 1: Draw the tree for ‘temporary fee elimination program’ which means “a program to eliminate temporary fees”: N 29 N 9 10 9 N N 9 18 30 9 A N V Af N h h h h h temporary fee eliminat ion program 2. One of the constituents which forms the compound ‘temporary fee elimination program’ is itself morphologically-complex. What is the head of this constituent? -ion 3. What is the head of the entire compound under Interpretation 1? program 4. Interpretation 2: Draw the tree for ‘temporary fee elimination program’ which means “a program to eliminate fees which is temporary (i.e. the program is temporary)”: N 30 3 N 3 18 3 N 8 3 39 8 3 3 N 8 3 3 30 8 A N V Af N h h h h h temporary fee eliminat ion program

7 X. TURKISH PHONOLOGY-MORPHOLOGY INTERFACE Consider the following data from Turkish. Nominative: at sap kat grup

Dative: ata sapa kata gruba

Gloss: ‘horse’ ‘stem’ ‘layer’ ‘group’

Nominative: kap tat amatS satS

Dative: kaba tada amadZa satSa

Gloss: ‘container’ ‘taste’ ‘purpose’ ‘hair’

1. Provide the underlying forms for the following roots. Keep in mind that a form without an affix isn’t necessarily the same in shape as the underlying form! ‘horse’ /at/ ‘container’ /kab/ ‘layer’ /kat/ ‘purpose’ /amadZ/ 2. What is the underlying form of the dative marker? /-a/ 3. One phonological rule is required to derive the surface forms. Describe the rule in words: obstruents → devoiced word-finally (or syllable-finally) 4. Given the nominative form [tatS] ‘crown’, can you predict the dative form? Why or why not? No, it could be [tatSa] or [tadZa]. Without a form where the final consonant in ‘crown’ occurs in an inflected context (in reality, before a vowel-initial suffix), we cannot tell. 5. Given the dative form [kurda] ‘wolf’, can you predict the nominative form? Why or why not? Yes, [kurt]. All stems are realized with a final voiceless obstruent when uninflected. XI. CREE STOPS AND AFFRICATES Consider the eight voiced and voiceless stops and affricates in the following data from Cree. Do these sounds represent eight different phonemes, or are there only four phonemes, each with two allophones? Note that a vowel followed by a colon (e.g. [i…]) is a long vowel. [pahki] ‘partly’ [namwa…tS] ‘no way’ [tSi…ma…n] ‘canoe’ [tahki] ‘all the time’ [ni…sosa…p] ‘twelve’ [ki…ba] ‘soon’ [mihtSe…t] ‘many’ [midZihtSi…] ‘hand’ [nisto] ‘three’ [ma…ga] ‘but’ [ta…nispi…] ‘when’ [ke…ga…tS] ‘almost’ [tagosin] ‘he arrives’ [tSi…gahigan] ‘axe’ [mi…bit] ‘tooth’ [kodZi…w] ‘he tries’ [asaba…p] ‘thread’ [ma…dZi…w] ‘he hunts’ [kodak] ‘another’ [maskwak] ‘bears’ [me…gwa…tS] ‘meanwhile’ [ospwa…gan] ‘pipe’ [adihk] ‘caribou’ [na…be…w] ‘man’ [nibimohta…n] ‘I walk’ [a…bihta…w] ‘half’ [si…si…bak] ‘ducks’ [iskode…w] ‘fire’

8 CREE (CONT’D) 1. If the eight sounds under discussion belong to eight different phonemes, provide evidence for this. If they map to four different phonemes, each with two allomorphs, provide evidence for this. There are four different phonemes, each with two allophones: /p/ → [b], [p]; /t/ → [d], [t]; /k/ → [g], [k]; /tS/ → [dZ], [tS]. The voiced member of each phoneme occurs between vowels, and the voiceless member of each phoneme occurs elsewhere. 2. Can your answer to question (1) also account for the distribution of the fricatives in the dataset? Explain your answer. No. The two fricatives in the dataset are both voiceless, [s] and [h]. Crucially, both can occur intervocalically, which is where we would expect to find their voiced counterparts, at least in the case of [s] ([h] doesn’t have a voiced counterpart, so we would either expect it to occur intervocalically even if in this same context, /s/ became [z], or we would expect it to be banned from this position altogether). XII. RULE WRITING Below is the complete inventory of phonemes for some language: i u m n e o p t tS k E O b d dZ g a f s S r l w j A. Rewrite the following rules in words. Make your statements as general as possible, in order to capture all natural classes. (All and only the segments that undergo the rules are indicated in the formulations below.) B. Determine whether each rule is an assimilation rule. If it is assimilation, state what type of assimilation it is (place of articulation, manner of articulation, voicing), and whether the assimilation is progressive/regressive. 1. /i, u/ → [j, w] / # __ [e, E, O, o] Rule (1) in words:

high vowels become glides word-initially before mid vowels

If Rule (1) is an assimilation rule, is it assimilation in: (circle as many as appropriate) Place of articulation

Manner of articulation

Voicing

If Rule (1) is an assimilation rule, is it: (circle as many as appropriate) Regressive assimilation

Progressive assimilation

9 RULE WRITING (CONT’D) 2. /i, e, E, a, O, o, u/ → [ ¸), e), E), a), O), o), u)] / __ [m, n] Rule (2) in words:

vowels become nasalized before nasals

If Rule (2) is an assimilation rule, is it assimilation in: (circle as many as appropriate) Place of articulation

Manner of articulation

Voicing

If Rule (2) is an assimilation rule, is it: (circle as many as appropriate) Regressive assimilation

Progressive assimilation

3. /l, r/ → [ l 9, r9] / [p, t, k] __ Rule (3) in words:

liquids become voiceless after voiceless stops

If Rule (3) is an assimilation rule, is it assimilation in: (circle as many as appropriate) Place of articulation Manner of articulation Voicing If Rule (3) is an assimilation rule, is it: (circle as many as appropriate) Regressive assimilation Progressive assimilation 4. /p, t, k/ → [b, d, g] / [i, e, E, a, O, o, u] __ [i, e, E, a, O, o u] Rule (4) in words:

stops become voiced intervocalically / between vowels

If Rule (4) is an assimilation rule, is it assimilation in: (circle as many as appropriate) Place of articulation

Manner of articulation

Voicing

If Rule (4) is an assimilation rule, is it: (circle as many as appropriate) Regressive assimilation

Progressive assimilation

XIII. JAPANESE VERB CONJUGATION: PHONOLOGY-MORPHOLOGY INTERFACE

Consider the following verb forms in Japanese and answer the questions that follow. (Volitional is an inflectional ending that means the subject of the verb intended the action to happen.) (Ignore the distinction between [s] and [S] that is observed in the data; you may remember that /s/ → [S] / __ [i] in Japanese.) [Note: Real Japanese is more complex that this dataset implies; if you know Japanese, work only with the data provided!] Underlying rep of root /job/ /kak/ /kas/ /de/ /mi/ /tabe/ /sime/

Present formal jobimasu kakimasu kaSimasu demasu mimasu tabemasu Simemasu

Volitional jobitai kakitai kaSitai detai mitai tabetai Simetai

Gloss ‘call’ ‘write’ ‘lend’ ‘leave’ ‘see’ ‘eat’ ‘close’

10 JAPANESE VERB CONJUGATION (CONT’D) 1. List each distinct allomorph of the present formal tense morpheme and describe in clear and precise language the environment where each one appears: -imasu and -masu

-imasu occurs after consonants; -masu occurs after vowels

2. List each distinct allomorph of the volitional morpheme and describe in clear and precise language the environment where each one appears: -itai and -tai

-itai occurs after consonants; -tai occurs after vowels

3. Japanese employs the following syllable structure constraints: Onsets: Onsets cannot branch. Syllables are not required to have onsets; that is, vowels in hiatus (vowels that are adjacent across a syllable boundary) are permitted (similar to what is found in the English word ‘reinvent’ or in the French word ‘Noël’). Nuclei: Long vowels and diphthongs are permitted. Codas: Codas cannot branch. Singleton (non-branching) codas are permitted as long as the following conditions are met: (i) the coda is a nasal that has the same place of articulation as the following onset consonant; or (ii) the coda is the first half of a geminate (long consonant). With these constraints in mind, determine the underlying representation of the present formal tense and volitional morphemes. present formal tense: /-masu/

volitional: /-tai/

4. What type of phonological rule is responsible for the variation in the shape of the present formal tense and volitional morphemes observed in the dataset. You do not need to provide the rule; you need only provide the name for the process. epenthesis 5. With your answers to questions (3) and (4) in mind, draw syllable structure trees for *[jobtai] and [jobitai]. Annotate your trees to identify the problem with *[jobtai] and the solution to this problem that emerges in [jobitai]. *

σ σ 2h 2h O R O R h h9 h h h N C h N h h h h h9 j o b t a i ↑ coda does not meet any of the conditions identified in question (3)

σ 2h O R h h h N h h j o

σ σ 2h 2h O R O R h h h h h N h N h h h h9 b i t a i ↑ epenthesizing [i] after [b] enables this C to be syllabified as an onset

11 XIV. MORPHONLOGY MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS In the following multiple choice questions, there is one correct answer only. Indicate the correct answer. 1. The underlined part of ‘ice cream sandwich’ is: (a) a compound (b) a noun phrase (c) a free morpheme (d) all of the above (e) (a) and (c) only 2. Consider the following data from English: A B king kingdom bore boredom earl earldom Which of the following describes the change from the forms in column A to the forms in column B: (a) the addition of an inflectional suffix since the category of the forms in B is the same as the category of roots in A (b) the addition of a derivational suffix (c) the addition of a free morpheme (d) both (a) and (c) (e) both (b) and (c) 3. The underlined part of ‘reverend’ is: (a) an infl...