Basic concepts

Question 1

phonetics

Answer 1

The study of the characteristics of human sound making especially of those sounds used in speech (phones); categorised under descriptive linguistics. Generally divided into three branches: auditory, acoustic and articulatory phonetics.

Question 2

auditory phonetics

Answer 2

The branch that studies the way people perceive sound, as mediated by the ear, auditory nerve, and brain (the perception of speech sounds by the hearer)

Question 3

acoustic phonetics

Answer 3

The branch that studies the physical properties of speech sounds (the transmission of speech sounds); the instrumental study of sound waves travelling through the air between speaker and hearer

Question 4

articulatory phonetics

Answer 4

The branch that studies how speech organs move to form speech sounds (the production or articulation of speech sounds).

Question 5

phonology

Answer 5

The study of the sound systems of languages; analysis of the rules for the organisation of sound units in languages such as the distribution and combinatory possibilities of sounds; categorised as theoretical linguistics.

Question 6

phonemes

Answer 6

The smallest sound unit that can distinguish words / meaning; the speech sounds that occur systematically in a particular language; abstract sound units, not physical entities. English has 44 of them.

Question 7

allophone

Answer 7

Phonetic realisations of a phoneme, the actual speech sounds that represent a phoneme. These may be:

• In complementary distribution when they occur in mutually exclusive environments, which means that they are positional variants.
  e. g. pin & spin
• In free variation when their use is not conditioned by their phonetic environment.
  e. g. data & data / either

Question 8

minimal pair

Answer 8

A pair of words in a given language distinguished by a single phoneme.
e.g. sit & seat

Question 9

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Answer 9

A notation by means of which a particular sound is represented in writing by one symbol.

Question 10

phonemic transcription

Answer 10

Also called broad transcription; a transcription that represents phonemes and which shows only distinctive contrasts.
The symbols are enclosed in slant brackets.

Question 11

phonetic transcription

Answer 11

Also called narrow transcription; a transcription that represents precise phonetic values, not just phonemes. This system uses a greater number of symbols including diacritics and reflects allophonic variants and minute articulatory detail. Phonetic transcriptions are enclosed in square brackets.

Question 12

Rhotic

Answer 12

Varieties of English where orthographic r is pronounced wherever it occurs.
e.g. General American, Irish and Scottish English

Question 13

Non-rhotic

Answer 13

Varieties where r is only sounded before vowels, not before consonants or before a pause.
e.g. RP, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English

Question 14

Received Pronunciation (RP)

Answer 14

The accent that is used as a norm for foreign speakers studying British English. It is essentially the accent of educated speakers in the South-East of England. It is not a regional accent and is used all over Britain. Sometimes called the Queen’s English or BBC English.

Question 15

Estuary English (EE)

Answer 15

This is the (middle and upper-middle class) accent used in the south of England today that has much in common with RP and is a suitable teaching standard.

Question 16

London

Answer 16

Cockney

Question 17

Liverpool

Answer 17

Scouse

Question 18

Newcastle

Answer 18

Geordie

Question 19

Birmingham

Answer 19

Brummie

Question 20

consonants

Answer 20

Consonants are either voiced or voiceless sounds and are made by obstruction the flow of air, usually in the mouth. Phonologically, consonants are phonemes that typically occur at the margins of syllables. There is also a small class of so-called semi-vowels or semi-consonants, /j/ and /w/, which are pronounced like vowels but function like consonants.

Question 21

vowels

Answer 21

Vowels are voiced sounds by definition, i.e. they are all characterised by vibration of the vocal cords. There is no obstruction of any kind in the mouth. The qualitative differences between the respective vowel sounds are obtained by relatively small changes in tongue position combined with various degrees of lip rounding. Phonologically, vowels are phonemes that are typically central to syllables.