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2/26/00 |
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About homework assignment 9: I'm having trouble with problem 7 (page 206 in ADFH). What exactly is the 'tag' we're supposed to construct in part A? |
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Look up "tag questions" in the index of the book, and you'll find the information you need... |
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2/17/00 |
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About the midterm exam: Has the exam been moved to March 14 (the Tuesday after spring break)? |
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Yes, because we are still one day behind on the syllabus. The project proposal, however, is still due on March 16 (as indicated on the syllabus). |
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2/13/00 |
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About homework assignment 8: I just have a quick question about the next homework. i know that we were a day behind on the syllabus and the quiz is this thursday (2/17), but for some reason i wrote down that assignment 8 was due on tuesday (2/15). is that correct or did i get my days mixed up? |
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Sorry for any confusion! There is no homework at all due this coming week. Assignment 8 will be due the following week -- we are still exactly one day behind on the syllabus. In fact, I strongly recommend that you not do this assignment before then, because there will be essential information relevant to this assignment provided in class... |
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2/9/00 |
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Hi, I seem to be having a bit of difficulty with the homework assignment due on 2/10. Especially on number 12 and 14 in FR. |
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HI, Let me see if I can help. Number [12] of FR: To figure out whether [v] and [b] are distinct phonemes or allophones of a single phoneme, you first want to see if there are any minimal pairs distinguished by [v] vs. [b]. If so, then they are distinct phonemes. If not, you want to consider their distribution. Is there something predictable about their distribution? First consider the left context. What can occur to the left of [v]? What can occur to the left of [b]? Are the sets of things that can occur to the left of the two distinct? If so, then the two sounds are in complementary distribution. If not, consider the right context. Again, if there is a complementary distribution with respect to what can occur to the right of these two sounds, then they are likely to be allophones of a single phoneme, related by a rule. If you conclude that they are allophones of a single phoneme, the next step is to figure out which is the basic phoneme (often the one that occurs in the most contexts). Suppose you conclude that "x" is the basic phoneme, and "y" is an allophone of "x". Then you would write a rule like: x --> y / and then the right side of the rule would represent the context in which "x" is realized as "y". So, for example, if "x" is realized as "y" when it comes before "z", the rule would be x --> y / ___ z
Number [14] of FR This is a very interesting set of data, illustrating the application of several different types of rules. It may be helpful to try to figure out what the basic morphemes are. Remember that a give meaning (morpheme) is associated with the same string of phonemes, although in some contexts those phonemes may be realized in different (but predictable) ways phonetically. You might find several different types of assimilation occurring in the data here. In class last time, we talked about nasal assimilation, for example, and also about assimilation to place of articulation. So, you might not be surprised to find these things happening in this problem... So, if you can identify the basic morphemes (by comparing different words that include parts with the same meaning) and identify several types of regular phonological processes that occur, you would be in a good position to answer the questions that are asked.
Feel free to ask further questions by e-mail... I will go over some of the homework problems tomorrow in class. |
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2/7/00 |
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I found the last segment of Thursday's lecture to be really helpful in figuring out how to differentiate allophones (in the example set [E] vs.[nasal E]), but I'm having trouble with differentiating allophones of different phonemes from allophones of a single phoneme. When presented with the corpus in the excercise, I can determine that the phones are in complementary distribution, but beyond that I'm feeling stuck. |
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If you have two sounds that are in complementary distribution, and if they are phonetically similar (as is the case for most of the homework examples), then they are likely to be allophones of a single phoneme. I hope I didn't confuse you by discussing English nasal vs. oral vowels. Perhaps the hard part comes in figuring out which of the allophones is the base phoneme from which the other should be derived. In general, you want to come up with the simplest rule. So, if it looks like you have one of the allophones in most situations, EXCEPT in some specific context, then that first one is likely to be the base phoneme, and you will formulate a rule to derive the other in the specific situation where it occurs. |
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1/20/00 |
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I was just doing asignment #2 and came across a very confusing question. In #6 (FR) part B it asks what is the morpheme that means cornfields. We know however that cornfield is one morpheme and then to make it plural you have to add another morpheme. So wouldn't that make it the morphemeS that denote cornfields? Or maybe the word that denotes cornfields? haw can it be one morpheme if the whole point of the question was to see if we could combine two morphemes? |
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You are absolutely correct! Thanks for catching that error in the book! You can answer the question as if it had been: "The WORD meaning... " |
If you have a question, send e-mail to carol@louis-xiv.bu.edu.