how you set up your lexicon
For this, you will use the attached: English Plurals.pdf, Eng-Plural Data 1-10.pdf, followed by the subsequent questions and possible answers of Eng-Plural Data 1-10, And the Phono Guidelines.pdf
Following the directions and formats with the appropriate charts and prose is of the utmost importance, so please do top-notch work, and triple check all your grammar and spelling.
In support of your analysis, your paper should include the following charts and tables:
- Vowel chart and consonant chart of all the segments in the dataset, organized as in the IPA chart by place and manner (for consonants) or by height and backness (for vowels).
- A table with the local environments where each allophone occurs (for the allophone(s) under consideration)
- Formal phonological rule(s), phrased using features, not lists of segments
- Paraphrased phonological rule(s) in prose form: This explains what your formal rule is supposed to do, and shows us that you understand it.
- Sample derivations that illustrate how your analysis works. I.e., /underlying representation/ –> [surface representation] for a number of examples that illustrate why you chose the features you did for the rule in (3,4). This is your “proof” section.
- Lexicon: what you hypothesize the underlying representation to be for all forms in the problem. What you think the speaker has in their head, before the rule(s) you discovered apply.
Your paper must explain all your reasoning:
- how you set up your lexicon,
- how your rule works,
- why you chose the particular distinctive features in your rules,
- how your sample derivations work,
- why alternative rule formulations are not as good as the one you have proposed, any problems you might have encountered, etc.
This discussion should be integrated with the tables and charts. Refer to the Phono Guidelines pdf for further guidance on how to organize your paper. The resulting essay alone must be at least two pages long, if you’re very concise, or more likely 3-5 pages long. There is absolutely no reason for it to be more than 10 pages long; you should aim for 2-5 pages (single spaced, 12pt font, reasonable margins).
