A Linguistics Workbook, 4th Edition

Name

Section

3.5 Phonological Rules 5: Japanese

Below are two lists of Japanese verb forms. List I consists of the base forms of

verbs to which various affixes can be attached. List I1 consists of base forms

to which the suffix -te has been added. This morpheme indicates continuous/

progressive action, as in Ima ame ga futte imasu "It's raining now." Examine the

data in the two lists and answer the questions that follow.

List I List I1

Japanese Japanese

base form English gloss -te form

1. tabe-


2. yob-


3. shin-


4. kak-


5. yom-


6. mi-


7. asob-


8. tob-


9. aruk-


10. nom-

"eat"

"call"

"die"

"write"

"read"

"see"

"play"

"fly"

"walk"

"drink"

tabete

yonde

shinde

kaite

yonde

mite

asonde

tonde

aruite

nonde

Questions

A. For the purposes of this exercise, assume that -te is attached to the base forms

in list I. Questions A-l through A-4 ask you to propose phonological rules to

account for the forms in list 11. That is, they ask you to show how, with a

small number of rules, the phonological alternations that the base forms and

the suffix -te undergo during the suffmation process can be accounted for. ai

See appendix 1 for instructions on how to write informal phonological rules. 2

9

The answer to question A-l is given to illustrate the form the rules should take 8

in this exercise. + C

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