Humanities Homework Help. University of California Los Angeles Mono Syllabic Sequence Worksheet
In the lecture, I showed you a slide of a variety of minimal pairs that can be made in English with the syllable [_aj]:
[p] pie |
[b] by |
[m] my |
[f] fie |
[v] vie |
[θ] thigh |
[ð] thy |
[ʃ] shy |
[ʒ]* |
[tʃ] chai |
[t] tie |
[d] die |
[s] sigh |
[z] * |
[n] nigh |
[dʒ] * |
[k] kye |
[g] guy |
[ŋ]* |
[l] lye/lie |
[ɹ]rye |
[j] * |
[w] why |
[L] * |
The asterisk (*) means that there is no word in English that has that consonant with [_aj]–either it can’t exist due to sequential constraints, or it is a possible word that doesn’t exist yet in the language (accidental gap).
So, can you come up with a mono-syllabic sequence that has more actual lexicons in English than [_aj]? There are a couple–not many–but if you can find one, you will earn 10 points of extra credit, in the Homework grade. Make sure to lay it out exactly as I did–in a grid, with the allophone and the sequence. This sequence has 18 minimal pairs, and includes words that actually exist in English–with a bit of twisting of history