Which term describes language-specific rules about permissible sound sequences?

• A. Phonotactic constraint
• B. Prosodic alignment
• C. Semantic mapping
• D. Lexical access

Answer: (A)

Phonotactic constraints describe language-specific rules about which sound sequences are allowed. They govern which consonant clusters can appear together, where vowels can occur within syllables, and how sounds are arranged across syllables. Because these rules differ across languages, a sequence that seems plausible in one language may be disallowed in another, shaping what native speakers consider a well-formed word or syllable. These constraints are learned implicitly from exposure to a language and help explain why certain clusters occur or are avoided. This idea is distinct from prosody (rhythm and stress patterns), semantics (meaning), or lexical access (retrieving word forms during processing).