History of the English Language
Prof. G. Steinberg
Phonology and Sound Change Exercises
Here is a table showing, in phonemic form, the Latin ancestors
of ten words in modern French, Italian, and Spanish. What conclusions can
you draw about the sound changes that occurred? (NOTE: Identify the sound
changes by name if you can, but don't worry if a particular sound change
doesn't fit any of the categories we've learned in class; just describe
the sound correspondences that you perceive.)
| Latin |
French |
Italian |
Spanish |
English |
| kor, korpore |
kÆ |
korpo |
kwerpo |
"body" |
| kantare |
šãte |
kantare |
kantar |
"to sing" |
| klarus |
kler |
kiaro |
klaro |
"clear" |
| kervus |
serf |
tšervo |
siervo |
"hart" (deer) |
| karbo, karbone |
šarbõ |
karbone |
karbon |
"coal" |
| kwando |
kã |
kwando |
kwando |
"when" |
| kentum |
sã |
tšento |
siento |
"hundred" |
| kausa |
šoz |
koza |
kosa |
"thing" |
| kinis, kinere |
sãdr¶ |
tšenere |
senisa |
"ashes" |
| koda |
kÆ |
koda |
kola |
"tail" |
Suppose that a certain language has the following phonological rule:
Voice all segments that occur intervocalically (i.e., between two
vowels).
Below are some older forms of words in this language. In each case, provide
the form that results when the phonological rule above is applied to the
older form. In some cases, no change will occur; in other cases multiple
changes may occur.
Example: /bati/ à [badi]
/safi/ à
/sazi/ à
/suf/ à
/selumupi/ à
/strupto/ à
/vraaqinatš/ à
/išinumia/ à
/firsamili/ à
/unikæk/ à
/ajuwinsti/ à
/poritiput/ à
/uspisedi/ à
Click here
to go to the course syllabus.