Deducing Rules from Audio Flashcards

Heard in Trelvan: [ma-KO] = 'a dog', [MA-ko] = 'the dog'. Stress shift changes definiteness. You hear [bre-NU]. What does this mean, given [BRE-nu] = 'a fish'?

Answer: The fish

Second-syllable stress = definite ('the'); [bre-NU] → 'the fish'.

You hear Kelvor minimal pairs: [brak] = hot, [brak:] (long vowel) = cold. [vel] = fast, [vel:] = slow. You hear [talo:]. What is the meaning if [talo] = loud?

Answer: Quiet

Long vowel = opposite meaning; [talo:] is the opposite of loud → quiet.

In a spoken language sample, you hear sentences that end in a short silence = statement, and sentences that end in a lengthened final vowel = question. A new sentence ends with a lengthened vowel. What type of sentence is it?

Answer: A question

Lengthened final vowel = question, per the established pattern.

You hear: [na-lu] = singular, [na-lu-lu] = plural (the last syllable is repeated). You hear [bre-nu-nu]. Given [bre-nu] = cloud, what does [bre-nu-nu] mean?

Answer: Clouds

Syllable reduplication at end = plural; [bre-nu-nu] = clouds.

Heard in Veltari: [KELU] = 'run!', [kelu] (soft onset) = 'running'. The presence of a glottal stop at the start signals imperative (command). You hear a word with a soft onset and no glottal stop. What is its grammatical function?

Answer: A gerund/participle (ongoing action)

Soft onset (no glottal stop) = gerund/participle; glottal stop = imperative.

In spoken Norvik, you hear that words with nasal-final syllables (ending in [m] or [n]) refer to animate things, and oral-final syllables (ending in stops or vowels) refer to inanimates. You hear a new word ending in [n]. What does it likely refer to?

Answer: Something animate (person or animal)

Nasal final [n] = animate referent.