2.1 Phonology Flashcards
Phonology
The study of the sound and structure of a language; the mental representation of sound.
Why is phonological understanding important?
It helps pupils understand how to break down a word into smaller sounds so that they can pronounce new words.
Whats the difference between phonology and phonetics?
Phonology breaks down the pronunciation whereas phonetics deals with producing sounds.
Phoneme 1
A unit of sound that when it is replaced changes the sound of a word in a particular language.
How many letters and sounds in English?
26 letters and 44 sounds; e.g. ‘c’ has the sounds ‘k’ and ‘s’.
Phoneme 2
Sounds that make up the structure of words; they are either vowels or consonants.
Vowels
An open sound spoken without blockage from lips, teeth, or tongue.
Types of Vowels
Long, short, schwa, single, diphthongs.
Schwa
A weak, unstressed sound - kind of like ‘er’; e.g. ‘enEmy’ or ‘Amaze.’
Diphthongs
Sliding vowels sounds; e.g. ‘boat’ or ‘rain’
Long vs Short Vowel Sounds
/i/ in ‘ship’ (short) vs ‘sheep’ (long)
Consonants
Sounds spoken with obstruction from lips, teeth, or tongue.
Types of Consonants
Voiced or unvoiced; e.g. put your finger to your throat and say ‘bed’. The ‘b’ in ‘bed’ will vibrate your vocal chords. In contrast, ‘pet’ will not - this is unvoiced.
Minimal Pair
Two words that differ in meaning because they contain only one phoneme that is different; often rhyming words, e.g. ‘bent’ and ‘vent’.
Phone
The smallest unit of sound; it can be universal - a sound in multiple languages.
