LNGT0101A: Introduction to Linguistics/Fall 2011
Assignment #3: Due on Monday October 22nd by e-mail no later than 5pm. If you are
submitting a handwritten copy, please submit the hard copy in class on Monday October 22nd.
Delay policy applies. No extensions will be given, except for academically legitimate reasons. So,
start working early!
Instructions: Please read thoroughly and carefully!
- This homework assignment consists of THREE parts: A, B and C. Read each part carefully
and make sure you answer all the questions. The whole assignment is worth 80 points (and 8% of
your overall grade in the course, so please turn in “neat” work). The number of points each
question is worth is indicated next to the question.
- Please type your answers in a .doc file (you may use the homework .doc file, but you do need to
edit it and delete the questions and keep only your answers to them). If you do not use Microsoft
Word, you may submit your homework in .pdf format. Any other file types are not accepted.
Please make sure to name the file ‘assignment3_your_last_name’.
- Submitting your homework in handwritten format is acceptable, and will not affect your score
in any way. However, if you decide to do that, please make sure you submit legible handwritten
answers, use a pen (not a pencil), and leave wide margins for me to write comments in.
Handwritten assignments that are illegible or do not follow the above instructions closely will be
returned to you without being graded, will have to be resubmitted, and will be subject to the
delay penalty upon resubmission.
- Finally, please make sure you write and sign (electronically) the Honor Code Pledge on the
homework before turning it in.
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Part A. Phonology problems (exercises from the main textbook)
Important Note: If a question asks you to formulate or state a rule to account for allophonic
variation, you do need to write a formal rule of the type ‘X  Y / W ___ Z’, using the notation
we discussed in class.
a)
Exercise 4 on Korean (pp. 310-311).
(10 points)
b)
Exercise 5 on German (p. 311).
(10 points)
c)
Exercise 8 on an English dialect (p. 312).
(15 points)
Part B. More transcription fun (this time with a Scottish flavor)*
Here is a link to an audio clip of a native of Glasgow starting a story about visiting his old school.
A transcript in standard English orthography would be something like the following:
My sister had asked me to take my nephew Peter
to go and see the headmaster at school
cause he's been getting in a bat [="bit"] of trouble.
The headmaster had sent her a letter asking for a meeting,
but she couldn't make it, she was going out, so I says "I'll do it. I'll do it."
a)
Use the IPA to write a narrow phonetic transcription of the first three lines of this passage,
as pronounced by the speaker on the audio clip.
b)
(5 points)
Comment on the pronunciation of the ‘t’ in this speaker’s English dialect. Is this a case of
allophonic variation? If so, state in plain English what the rule is. (That is, do not write a
formal phonological rule here.)
c)
(5 points)
Comment on the pronunciation of the ‘r’ in this speaker’s English dialect. Is it similar or
different from the North American English [ɹ] that we talked about in class? Explain your
answer.
(5 points)
Part C. This is how we say it back home!
Visit Bert Vaux’s North American English dialect survey website here:
http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html
Choose 10 of Vaux’s questions on pronunciation (these are the ones listed from 1 to 40) and
prepare your own mini-questionnaire. Interview THREE native speakers of English using your
mini-questionnaire. Your three speakers must come from THREE different dialectal regions
*
This exercise is borrowed from Mark Lieberman’s class website for Intro to Linguistics.
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(e.g., Northeast, Midland, and South, West, NYC; a list of these American English dialects on a
map can be seen in this video clip).
Important Note 1: Do not interview the three speakers at the same time; you have to interview
each one individually.
Important Note 2: Your interviewees cannot be other students in LNGT 101.
Now, answer the following two questions.
a)
First, tabulate your answer to this exercise in the following table.
Questions
(15 points)
Native
Native
Native
Speaker A
Speaker B
Speaker C
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
b)
Second, compare the responses in your table to those provided by Vaux’s participants for
the US state of each one of your interviewees, as given here:
(http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/states.html).
State your observations on the responses you have elicited from your interviewees.
Comment on any particularly interesting responses that you have found.
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(15 points)