/Broad/ VS. [Narrow] transcription I Flashcards
What are diacritics?
Diacritics are added detail, but it changes the intention of the transcription from /broad/ to [narrow]. It is no longer the general idea of the sounds in the utterance, but a true representation of the speech sounds
What are diacritics for?
Diacritics are used to add detail about the production of a phoneme
-airflow variations -sound duration -articulatory variations -voicing variation -vocal quality -dimension (raised, lowered, fronted, backed, centralised) -nasality
When should we use diacritics?
Use them only when you hear that detail, or if you want to draw attention to an interesting feature.
You don’t have to mark /w/ as “rounded” – it already is round!
You don’t have to mark /p/ as “devoiced” – it already is voiceless!
What are the 3 “Distribution” Types of Phonemes?
Contrastive Distribution
Free Variation
Complimentary Distribution
Think of “distribution” as how a sound is used.
What are contrastive distributions? (3)
This is when a language considers two sounds to be different, like when two phonemes occur in a minimal pair, so every time the phoneme changes, the word meaning changes.
Phonemes are distributed contrastively (to contrast meaning)
Minimal pairs establish phonemes in a language
If the change in the sound triggers a change in meaning in a word, it is in contrastive distribution.
What are free variations? (2)
Sounds that can be produced in different ways in the same context without changing the meaning of the word
Free variation allophones can appear in any context
- Allophone doesn’t change the word meaning
- Natural speaker variations produce allophones
What are complimentary distributions?
When allophones that occur in one specific context
E.g.,
In a certain position in a word
In a consonant cluster vs. as a singleton
before, after, or between vowels
What is Coarticulation?
The modification of sound based on its environment – the neighbouring sounds. This is where we start to discuss how phonemes are really strings of sounds and not individual, discrete sounds.
What are two types of coarticulations?
Anticipatory: sound affected by sound coming after it
Perseverative: sound affected by sound that was before it
What is Anticipatory Coarticulation?
What is perseverative coarticulation?
What is Homorganic phoneme?
A way to describe sounds that are made in the same place.
E.g., /t/ and /n/ are homorganic because they’re both alveolar. /ŋ/ and /k/ are homorganic because they’re velar.
Homorganic sounds often influence each other to create allophones or dictate the need for diacritics.
What are syllabic consonants?
This is the exception to the rule that all syllables have one vowel sounds as a nucleus.
There are 3 common syllabic consonants in NA English: /l, m, n/
Use the diacritic [ ̩ ], a straight, short, vertical line under the phoneme.
When do syllabic consonants occur? (2)
1) in unstressed syllables (therefore, multisyllabic words)
2) usually in word final positions
What are the 5 most common allophones of /t/?
1) The Aspirated Release
2) The Held Release
3) The Tap
4) Free Variation: Glottal Stop or Nasal Release
5) The Mystery of the Disappearing /t/
What is aspiration?
To review how we make a stop consonant, there are two gestures –
a) stopping the air and then
b) releasing it
The release of air is called aspiration.
The diacritic to mark aspiration is [ ʰ], and it’s a feature of English voiceless stops: [pʰ tʰ kʰ]
What is Held release?
Here, the second gesture of a /t/ is not executed. The air is not released.
Held /t/ typically happens in one environment: (3)
1) Word final (optional, but a very GAE marker*) “great” “packet” or
2) Word final when next word starts with consonant “might do” or
3) When in coda with consonant in onset of next σ “utmost”
What is the Tap [ɾ] or Flap?
PMV: voiced alveolar tap
Tap is a new manner for us! A tap is a hyper-quick stop where very little intraoral pressure is built up – like one cycle of a trill.
Because this is not phonemic, it’s not often on English phoneme charts. Compare: Spanish ->
What are Tap examples?
What can tap do between words in transcriptions?
A tap can bridge word barriers:
“I have to get up”
[aɪ ˈhav̥tʰə gɛˈɾʌp ̚]
What are Free variations?
Another common allophone for /t/ in North American English
The Glottal Stop [ʔ] or Nasal Release [ⁿ]
When does the glottal stop occur?
It’s usually introduced as the sound between “uh-oh!” and is non-phonemic in English.
It is phonemic in a lot of languages, and often transliterated as an apostrophe in English orthography
Hawai’i a’a
When do nasal release [tⁿ] occur?
The air is fully obstructed in the mouth, intraoral pressure is built up, and the air bursts out of the mouth.
For a nasal release, the air does not burst out of the mouth, but is re-routed out of the nose.
What is the great disappearing /t/ ?
In informal speech, the /t/ sound can disappear when it appears after a /n/ sound. This is optional, and not disordered at all.
Atlantic [ət ̚ˈlænɪk]
internet [ˈɪnɚnɛt]
interview [ˈɪnɚvju]
centre [ˈsɛnɚ]
advantage [ədˈvænɪdʒ]
What are the 3 scenarios to transcribe past tense morphemes?
Past tense morpheme transcription:
dance
wash
paint
guzzle
sew
gallop
snooze
match
What are 3 scenarios for plural morpheme transcription?
Plural morpheme transcription:
splash
craft
piano
colour
fox
bug
witch
cow
What are function words?
Function words include articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions.
They are important because they show relationships between content words i.e., the verbs, nouns, adjectives.
Why can’t function words be reduced?
Although they are important and can’t be removed, are often reduced (shortened/weakened) in conversational speech and more energy is put into content words. It’s not wrong, but it is informal.
Let’s go to the park. Get her in the car.
He bought a new chair. Because I wanted to go.
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
Can prepositions be reduced in conversational speech?
Yes,
Reducing prepositions in conversational speech is natural.
There are dozens of prepositions, but these two are often very reduced, losing phonemes.
of -> [ə] “a bottle of pop” “piece of cake”
and -> [ən] or [n̩] “fish and chips” “rock and roll”
