Re: Phoneme Analysis Question

From:    Joseph Fatula <joefatula@...>
>   If two phonemes have the same phonetic realization in a particular
> environment, how do you determine which a word has if it has that
> environment?
You have to show that there is some kind of surface alternation.
Perhaps the most famous example comes from German.  German has a
regular process of final-devoicing, producing quadruplets like
this:

  Rad [Rat] 'bicycle' [Nom.Sg]   Rades [Rades] 'bicycle's' [Gen.Sg]
  Rat [Rat] 'council' [Nom.Sg]   Rates [Rates] 'council's' [Gen.Sg]

There is no way to predict the voicing of the genitive of 'bicycle',
since 'council' in the genitive is otherwise identical but does not
undergo it.  Thus, we say the underlying representation of the former
has a voiced segment and devoices, while the latter remains as is.

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Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
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Chicago, IL 60637