20 Vocab words!

Question 1

Sound Inventory

Answer 1

an assessment and measuring tool. The Speech Sound Inventory (SSI) can be used by Speech and Language Therapists but has also been designed as an accessible method for teachers to gather information on an individual child’s speech sound production.

Question 2

Phonetics

Answer 2

the study and classification of speech sounds

Question 3

Articulatory phonetics

Answer 3

aspects of phonetics which looks at how the sounds of speech are made with the organs of the vocal tract

Question 4

Acoustic phonetics

Answer 4

the study of the physical properties of speech and aims to analyse sound wave signals that occur within speech through varying frequencies, amplitudes and duration

Question 5

Auditory phonetics

Answer 5

branch of phonetics concerned with the perception of speech sounds, i.e. with how they are heard

Question 6

Orthographic units

Answer 6

such as letters of an alphabet, are technically called graphemes. These are a type of abstraction, analogous to the phonemes of spoken languages

Question 7

Transcription systems

Answer 7

are sets of rules which define how spoken language is to be represented in written symbols

Question 8

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Answer 8

a phonetic notation system that uses a set of symbols to represent each distinct sound that exists in human spoken language.

Question 9

Received Pronunciation (RP)

Question 10

Frequency

Answer 10

(pitch) and amplitude (‘loudness’ or intensity) of a sound can be analysed on a waveform. Frequency can be calculated through the number of cycles on a periodic waveform with a repeating pattern

Question 11

Vocal Tract

Answer 11

the entire passage
above the larynx. This is where speech sounds are shaped. Often, you will also
find references to the ‘vocal organs’, a term that refers to all parts of the body
involved in speech production, including also the parts up to the larynx such as
lungs and trachea (windpipe)

Question 12

Active articulator

Answer 12

the articulator that moves towards another articulator in the production of a speech sound

Question 13

Passive articulators

Answer 13

the articulator that remains stationary in the production of a speech sound

Question 14

Bilabial sounds

Answer 14

a type of consonant sound that is produced using both lips.

Question 15

Alveolar

Answer 15

made by putting your tongue against the hard place behind your top front teeth

Question 16

Labio-dentals

Answer 16

involve only the lower lip and addition-
ally the upper teeth. An example of a labio-dental sound is [f]. If we talk about
dental place of articulation, however, the lips do not play a role in production.

Question 17

Palatal sound

Answer 17

a consonant sound produced by raising the blade, or front, of the tongue toward or against the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge (the gums)

Question 18

Monophthong

Answer 18

a speech sound that consists of only one vowel sound

Question 19

Diphthongs

Answer 19

a vowel in which there is a noticeable sound change within the same syllable

Question 20

Approximants

Answer 20

a speech sound that is formed by the passage of air between two articulators (such as the lips or tongue) which are close but not touching and that is usually classified as a consonant