Practice question · Multiple choice
Phonetics examines physical sound, whilst phonology examines linguistic systems. What follows from this distinction when transcribing an unreleased [t̚] at the end of 'cat'?
Hints
- Does releasing or unreleasing the final consonant create an entirely new lexical item in English?
- Which transcription brackets are dedicated to recording physical production rather than abstract categories?
Show the answer
A. The feature is marked in narrow brackets to capture phonetic detail
Why
Confusing physical variants with contrastive units leads to misusing slants, which solely record phonemes. Free variation in allophones alters acoustic reality without creating separate lexical categories, making broad transcription deliberately omit the detail.
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More questions on Phonetics and Phonology
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