1. Articulation and Acoustics Flashcards
What is the alveolar ridge?
The small protuberance just behind the upper teeth.
What is the hard palate?
The bony structure that makes up the front part of the roof of the mouth.
What is the velum?
The muscular flap behind the hard palate, also called the soft palate.
What is velic closure?
The action of raising the velum (soft palate) to press against the back wall of the pharynx and shut off the nasal tract.
What is the uvula?
The small appendage hanging down from the lower end of the soft palate.
What are labial articulations?
Speech gestures using the lips.
What are coronal articulations?
Speech gestures using the tip or blade of the tongue.
What are dorsal articulations?
Speech gestures using the back of the tongue.
What are bilabial articulations?
Speech gestures made with the two lips.
What are labiodental articulations?
Speech gestures made with the lower lip and the upper front teeth.
What are dental articulations?
Speech gestures made with the tongue tip or blade and the upper front teeth.
What are interdental articulations?
Dental articulations where the tongue protrudes between the teeth rather than being behind the upper teeth.
What are alveolar articulations?
Articulations made with the tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge.
What are retroflex articulations?
Articulations made with the tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge.
What are palato-alveolar articulations?
Articulations made with the tongue blade and the back of the alveolar ridge.
What are post-alveolar articulations?
Palato-alveolar articulations, called so because they are made farther back in the mouth than alveolar articulations.
What are palatal articulations?
Articulations made with the front of the tongue and hard palate.
What are velar articulations?
Articulations made with the back of the tongue and soft palate.
What is a stop?
Complete closure of the articulators involved so that the airstream cannot escape through the mouth.
What is an oral stop?
A stop with the velum raised so that the nasal tract is blocked and the airstream is completely obstructed.
What is a plosive?
An oral stop where pressure builds behind the place of articulation and then is released in a small burst of sound.
What is a nasal stop?
A stop where the velum is lowered so that air can go through the nasal tract.
What is the usual differentiation between stop and nasal?
The term stop is almost always used to indicate an oral stop, while the term nasal is almost always used to indicate a nasal stop, though both can be classified as stops, and though stop is commonly used to imply complete stoppage of airflow through both the nose and mouth.
What is a fricative?
Close approximation of two articulators so that the airstream is partially obstructed and turbulent airflow is produced.
What is a sibilant?
A fricative or affricate made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the sharp edge of the teeth, which are held close together, making a higher-pitched and more obvious hiss.
What is a strident?
A fricative or affricate made directly with the tongue or lips etc. and the place of contact in the mouth. All sibilants are stridents, but stridents that are created without the involvement of the teeth make a lower sound and are not sibilants.
What is an approximant?
A gesture in which one articulator is close to another, but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream would be produced.
What is a lateral?
An obstruction of the airstream at a point along the center of the oral tract with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Called approximants because there is no stoppage of air and no fricative noises.
What is an affricate?
The combination of a stop immediately followed by a fricative.
What is an apical articulation?
An articulation made with the tip of the tongue.
What is a laminal articulation?
An articulation made with the blade of the tongue.
What are the differences between consonants, vowels and glides?
Consonants are produced with substantial constriction in vocal tract, have less acoustic energy than vowels and may involve intervals of silence or noise. Vowels are produced with less constriction and have more acoustic energy than consonants. Glides are vowel-like consonants, being more constricted than vowels while having lower energy.
How are consonants described?
Voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation.
What is the active articulator?
The part of the vocal tract that moves to create an articulation.
What is a passive articulator?
The part of the vocal tract that does not move to create an articulation.
What are the articulators of a bilabial?
Passive: upper lip, Active: lower lip
What are the articulators of a labiodental?
Passive: upper teeth, Active: lower lip
What are the articulators of a dental?
Passive: upper teeth, Active: tongue tip/blade
What are the articulators of an alveolar?
Passive: alveolar ridge, Active: tongue tip/blade
What are the articulators of a post-alveolar?
Passive: back of alveolar ridge, Active: tongue blade
What are the articulators of a palatal?
Passive: hard palate, Active: front of tongue
What are the articulators of a velar?
Passive: soft palate, Active: back of tongue
What are the articulators of a uvular?
Passive: uvula, Active: back of tongue
What are the articulators of a glottal?
Passive: glottis, Active: larynx
What is labialisation?
The co-articulation of the vowel u with another articulation.
What is palatalisation?
The co-articulation of the vowel i with another articulation.
What is velarisation?
The co-articulation of the vowel (unrounded o) with another articulation.
What is pharyngealisation?
The co-articulation of the vowel (low back unrounded) with another articulation.
What are formants?
Characteristic overtones of vowel sounds.
What is intonation?
The pitch pattern in a sentence.
What is the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds?
Voiced sounds are produced when the vocal folds are vibrating, while voiceless sounds are produced when the vocal folds are apart.
What makes up the vocal tract?
The air passages above the larynx, the oral tract and the nasal tract.
What are the four main components of the speech mechanism?
The oro-nasal process, the articulatory process, the phonation process, and the airstream process.
What are front vowels?
Vowels where the highest part of the tongue is in the front of the mouth.
What are back vowels?
Vowels where the tongue is close to the back surface of the vocal tract.
What is the difference between unrounded and rounded vowels?
Rounded vowels use rounded lips, unrounded vowels do not.
