Drafted by: Gregory Yeo

EL1101E – Problem Set 3: Phonology

1. In Lewis Carrol’s famous poem, Jabberwocky, he coins several new

seemingly unintelligible words. Here is a short extract from the poem (the
periods in the transcriptions indicate a syllable break):

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves [twɒz brɪ.lig ænd ðə slaɪ.ði təʊvz]
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: [dɪd gaɪ.ər ænd gɪm.bəl ɪn ðə weɪb]
All mimsy were the borogoves, [ɔl mɪm.zi wɜ ðə bɒ.rəʊ.gəʊvz]
And the mome raths outgrabe. [ænd ðə məʊm ræθs aʊt.greɪb]

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! [bɪ.wɛ ðə dʒæ.bə.wɒk maɪ sʌn]

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! [ðə ʤɔz ðæt baɪt ðə klɔz ðæt kæʧ]
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun [bɪ.wɛ ðə dʒʌb.dʒʌb bɜd ænd ʃʌn]
The frumious Bandersnatch!” [ðə fru.mɪəs bæn.də.snætʃ]

i. Identify the ‘nonsense’ words used in the extract above.

ii. If these words are all nonsensical, why are native speakers of English
still able to read the poem without too much difficulty?

iii. Recall that Hawaiian only allows for V and CV syllables.

Choose four words that you think a native speaker of Hawaiian would
have trouble pronouncing and explain why. (Assume that they speak
only Hawaiian.)

iv. Assuming that phonetic inventory is not an issue, what do you think is
a possible strategy that the speaker would use when attempting to
pronounce those words?
Drafted by: Gregory Yeo

2. Consider the following simplified transcriptions of some words in Standard
Mandarin Chinese. (Note: These are IPA transcriptions, which differ from Hanyu
Pinyin, and tones have been ignored for simplicity.)

[t͡sɨ] ‘character’ [t͡ɕi] ‘remember’ [t͡ʃɨ] ‘treat’

[t͡ɕin] ‘gold’ [t͡ʃə] ‘fold’ [t͡soŋ] ‘dumpling’
[t͡ʃan] ‘stand’ [t͡su] ‘rent’ [t͡ɕiŋ] ‘well’
[t͡ʃoŋ] ‘plant/grow’ [t͡sə] ‘duty’ [t͡ɕy] ‘raise’
[t͡ʃu] ‘pig’ [t͡san] ‘praise’ [t͡ɕyn] ‘military’

New IPA symbols:

[t͡s]: voiceless alveolar affricate
[t͡ɕ]: voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate (constrictions at alveolar ridge and palate)
[ɨ]: high central unrounded vowel
[y]: high front rounded vowel

a) Based on the data above, which consonants are in complementary

distribution with one another? State the phonetic generalizations over
where each of these consonants can be found.

b) Which consonants are possibly allophones of the same phoneme?

Now consider the following transcriptions of a Singapore Mandarin speaker’s

pronunciations of the same words:

[t͡ɕɨ] ‘character’ [t͡ɕi] ‘remember’ [t͡ʃɨ] ‘treat’

[t͡ɕin] ‘gold’ [t͡ʃə] ‘fold’ [t͡ɕoŋ] ‘dumpling’
[t͡ʃan] ‘stand’ [t͡ɕu] ‘rent’ [t͡ɕiŋ] ‘well’
[t͡ʃoŋ] ‘plant/grow’ [t͡ɕə] ‘duty’ [t͡ɕy] ‘raise’
[t͡ʃu] ‘pig’ [t͡ɕan] ‘praise’ [t͡ɕyn] ‘military’

c) Which consonants are in complementary distribution with one another?

State the phonetic generalizations over where each of these consonants can
be found.
Drafted by: Gregory Yeo

d) Assuming that the Singaporean Mandarin speaker has the same phonemic
inventory (inventory of phonemes) as Standard Mandarin speakers, what
does this suggest about the situation in (b) above?