Acoustic Characteristics of Resonant Sounds Flashcards
resonant consonants
nasals, liquids, glides
SLVT shape
relatively open, especially in vowels
Aperiodic noise
not present during articulation of resonant sounds
Resonant sound sound source
vocal fold vibration
VF vibration
characterized by the presence of formants (f1,2,3)
Formant frequencies
will vary based on a multitude of factors (e.g., gender, size, speaking situation, rate, phonetic context, word frequency)
F1
Most closely associated with pharynx size. This varies with tongue height. Air pocket size increases as tongue is pulled up. bigger air pocket, lower resonating frequency
High vowels and glides
highest tongue position and low F1 frequency
Lower tongue makles a
smaller air pocket.
smaller air pocket
higher resonating frequency.
Low vowels
High F1 Frequency
F2
Most closely associated with oral cavity size
Oral cavity size
varies with tongue advancement.
Size of air pocket in the oral cavity
decreases as the tongue moves forward.
Front vowels
high F2 frequency (front placement of tongue and small air pocket in oral cavity)
Back vowels
low F2 frequency (biggest air pocket and at the back of the mouth
F3
Important for distinguishing the retroflexed vowels for /er/ and the consonant /r/ in english
Retroflexed sounds
constrictions at the lips, toward the back of the hard palate and near the epiglotis. Constricting the vocal tract, these locations lower F3
As the degree of constriction increases
sound amplitude is reduced. Resonant consonants have a lower amplitude than vowels
Side cavity
tongue position for resonant consonants can produce this It is not directly connected with the open air. They don’t show up in the output speech signal.
side cavities appear as this in the output signal
zeroes; “anti-resonances”; the opposite of a formant.
Zeroes on the spectrogram
appears as white space or if it is near a formant frequency, a sudden reduction in formant amplitude
Nasal Consonants
Have a complete closure at some location in the oral cavity. (lips, alveolar ridge, or the velum)
Nasal consonants characterized
as zeroes in the output
Nasal cavity
large pocket of air which resonates at a low frequency. They have a low frequency formant
liquids and glides
involve a constriction in the vocal tract that does not produce turbulent airflow. articulation does not produce aperiodic noise
liquids and glides vocal tract
Tends to be more constricted than for vowels so amplitude is lower.
tongue shape for /l/
produces a side air pocket behind the tip of the tongue, which introduces zeroes into the spectrum for /l/.
Obstruent Sounds
Stops, fricatives, and affricates. Vocal tract is relatively constricted. Presence of narrow constriction somewhere in the vocal tract results in turbulent airflow.
When airflow becoes turbulent
aperiodic noise is produced
Fricatives
have a continuant noise because the airflow is never totally constricted.
stops
noncontinuent sounds because the airflow is completely stopped
voiceless stops
burst may be followed by an aspiration underscore noise; followed in turn by the onset of vocal fold vibration.
Voice onset time
period of time from the beginning of the burst till the onset of voicing.
affricates
combine the features of stops and fricatives; the blockage is released in a narrow constriction. Airflow through the constriction produces frication noise
Aperiodic noise
can serve as the only sound source for all obstruents. VF vibration is not required to produce an output sound. Therefore, obstruents can be voiceless
Voiced obstruent sounds
sometimes show no VF vibration but are nevertheless perceived as voice
