Ch. 2: Physiologic & Acoustic Phonetics Flashcards
1
Q
Phonology
A
The scientific study of sound systems and patterns used to create the sounds and words of language.
2
Q
Phoneme
A
The smallest unit of sound that can affect meaning.
3
Q
Allophones
A
Variations of phonemes. They do not change word meanings. Listeners perceive allophones as being the same. E.g., the sound /r/ is a phoneme, but it sounds slightly different when speakers produce it in different linguistic contexts.
4
Q
Phonemic
A
Refers to the abstract system of sounds.
5
Q
Phonetic
A
Refers to the concrete production of specific sounds.
6
Q
Phonetics
A
The study of speech sounds.
7
Q
Phone
A
Any sound produced by the vocal tract. May or may not be a speech sound.
8
Q
Acoustic Phonetics
A
Examines the relationship between articulation and the acoustic signal of speech. The concern is the acoustic properties of sound waves (e.g., periodicity and aperiodicity).
9
Q
Auditory Phonetics
A
The study of hearing, perception, and the brain’s processing of speech.
10
Q
Articulatory/Physiological Phonetics
A
The study of speech sound production. Emphases is on how the articulators produce individual sounds.
11
Q
Applied Phonetics
A
The study of the practical application of research in articulatory, perceptual, acoustic, and experimental phonetics.
12
Q
Experimental Phonetics
A
Involves the use of objective laboratory techniques to scientifically analyze speech sounds.
13
Q
Descriptive Phonetics
A
The study an explanation of the unique sound properties of various dialects and languages.
14
Q
Articulation
A
The production of speech sounds.
15
Q
Orthographic Symbols
A
Symbols used in IPA used to denote sounds.
16
Q
Diacritical Markers
A
Special symbols used in narrow phonetic transcription.
17
Q
[:]
A
Full lengthening. This mark, when placed to the right of a phoneme, indicates that the duration of the phoneme has been increased considerably (almost doubled).
18
Q
[‘]
A
Half lengthening. This mark, when placed to the right of a phoneme, indicates that the duration of the phoneme has been somewhat increased.
19
Q
[~]
A
Nasalization. This mark, when placed above a phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually non-nasal, has become nasalized.
20
Q
[o]
A
Devoicing. This mark, when placed below a phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually voiced, has become devoiced.
21
Q
(v)
A
Voicing. This mark, when placed below a phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually voiceless, has become voiced.
22
Q
[h] or [‘]
A
Aspiration. This mark, when placed at the top right side of a phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually unaspirated, becomes aspirated.
23
Q
[,]
A
Unaspiration. In American English, this mark, when placed at the top left side of phoneme /p/, /t/, /k/ in the word-initial positions, indicaes that the phoneme, usually aspirated, becomes unaspirated.
24
Q
[w]
A
Labialization. This mark, when placed directly below the phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually nonlabial, becomes labialized.
25
[m]
Nonlabialization. This mark, placed directly below the phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually labial, becomes nonlabial.
26
[n]
Dentalization. This mark, placed directly below the phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually not linguadental, is produced at the linguadental place of articulation.
27
[.]
Palatization. This mark, placed directly above the phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually nonplatal, becomes palatalized.
28
[.]
Closing of vowel. This mark, placed directly below the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with greater closing than normally required for its production.
29
[(]
Opening of vowel. This mark, when placed directly below the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with greater opening than normally required for its production.
30
[_]
Tongue raising. This mark, when placed to the right of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual tongue raising.
31
[T]
Tongue lowering. This mark, when placed to the right of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual tongue lowering.
32
[+] or [ ]
Tongue advancement. This mark, when placed to the right of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual tongue advancement.
33
[-] or [ ]
Tongue retraction. This mark, when placed to the right of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual tongue retraction.
34
[‘]
Lip rounding. This mark, when placed at the top right side of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual lip rounding.
35
[ ]
Lip spreading. This mark, when placed at the top right side of the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme is produced with more than usual lip spreading.
36
[-]
Vowel centralization. This mark, when placed across the vowel phoneme, indicates that the phoneme, usually noncentral, becomes centralized.
37
[I]
Consonant syllabification. In American English this mark is placed below the consonants /m/, /n /ng/, and /l/ when these consonants perform the function of the nucleus in a syllable.
38
Syllable
The smallest phonetic unit.
39
Onset
Initial consonant or consonant cluster of the syllable, created by release of the syllable pulse through articulatory movements or action of the chest muscles.
40
Nucleus
A vowel or diphthong in the middle of the syllable. Created by vowel-shaping movements of the vocal tract.
41
Coda
Consonant at the end of the syllable. Created by arrest of the syllable pulse through articulatory movements, action of the chest muscles, or both.
42
Open Syllables
Syllables that end in vowels.
43
Closed Syllables
Syllables that end in consonants.
44
Syllabification
The skill involved in identifying the number of syllables in words.
45
Distinctive Feature Analysis
An approach to classifying speech sounds. Each phoneme is a collection of independent features. Each phoneme (consonant or vowel) is described according to a cluster of features that are either present or absent in that phoneme. A binary system in which the presence of a feature is noted by a plus (+) mark and the absence of a feature is noted by a minus (-) symbol.
46
Place-Voice-Manner Analysis
An approach to classifying speech sounds. Categorizes consonants in terms of three parameters: place, voice, manner.
47
Place of Articulation
Refers to the location of the sound’s production, indicating the primary articulators that shape the sounds.
48
Voicing
Refers to vocal fold vibration during produced of sounds.
49
Manner of Articulation
Refers to the degree or type of constriction of the vocal tract during consonant production.
50
Cognate Pairs
Sounds that are identical in every way except voicing.
51
Nasals
Produced by lowering the velum to keep the velopharyngeal port open.
52
Fricatives
Derive their name from the friction – a hissing type quality—that results from the continuous forcing of air through a narrow constriction.
53
Affricates
Sounds that begin as stops and are released as fricatives.
54
Stops
Produced by complete constriction or closure of the vocal tract at some point, so the flow is totally stopped.
55
Glides
Produced by a quick transition of the articulators as they move from a partially constricted state to a more open state for the vowels that follow them. Also known as semivowels or sonorants.
56
Liquids
Sounds produced with the least oral cavity restriction of all the consonants.
57
Retroflex /r/
/r/ made with the tongue tip retracted and approximating the hard palate.
58
Bunched /r/
/r/ produced when the dorsum of the tongue is retracted and elevated toward the hard palate.
59
Consonant Clusters/Blends
Sounds produced when several consonants occur in a row.
60
Vocalics
Include all vowels. These sounds are produced without a marked constriction in the vocal tract.
61
Sonorants
Include all vowels. Produced by an airstream that passes unconstructed through the oral or nasal cavity.
62
Voiced Vowels
Include all vowels. All vowels are produced with vocal fold vibration.
63
Rounded Vowels
Vowels produced with the lips protruded or rounded.
64
Tense Vowels
Vowels produced with muscle contraction or tension at the root of the tongue.
65
Front Vowels
Vowels produced when the tongue is in a position anterior to the neutral schwa position.
66
Back Vowels
Vowels made with the tongue retracted from the neutral schwa position.
67
High Vowels
Vowels made with the tongue lowered from the neutral schwa position.
68
Low Vowels
Vowels made with the tongue lowered from the neutral schwa position.
69
Rhotic
Refers to the sounds made with an /r/ coloring.
70
Lip Position
Causes vowels to be categorized as rounded or unrounded.
71
Tense/Lax Qualities
Tense vowels have longer duration and are produced with increased tension, while lax vowels are of shorter duration and are produced with relatively less muscle tension.
72
Tongue Height
Causes vowels to be categorized as high, mid, or low in terms of production within the oral cavity.
73
Tongue Forwardness or Retraction
Causes vowels to be categorized as front, central, or back in terms of production within the oral cavity.
74
Diphthongs
Produced as slow gliding movement from one vowel (the onglide) to the adjacent vowel (the offglide). Represented phonetically by digraph symbols that highlight the initial and final segments.
75
Phonetic Adaptations
Encompass variations in the way the articulators move and the extent to which vocal tract configurations change shape.
76
Assimilation
When speech sounds are modified due to the influence of adjacent sounds.
77
Coarticulation
Refers to the influence of one phoneme upon another phoneme in production or perception. Two different articulators move simultaneously to produce two different speech sounds. Creates both adaptation and assimilation.
78
Suprasegmentals
Add meaning, variety, and color to running speech. Involve such larger units as syllables, words, phrases, and sentences. Also referred to as features of prosody.
79
Stress
An important characteristic of syllables, as it can change the meanings of words.
80
Primary Stress
Stressed syllables.
81
Secondary/Weak Stress
Unstressed syllables.
82
Rate
Speed with which a person speaks.
83
Pitch
The auditory sensation of the frequency with which the vocal folds vibrate.
84
Intensity
Sound pressure. Physical property of sound.
85
Loudness
Sensory correlate of intensity. Also known as volume.
86
Juncture/Vocal Punctuation
A combination of suprasegmentals, such as intonation and pausing, that mark special distinctions or grammatical divisions in speech. These distinctions affect the meaning of an utterance.
87
Acoustics
A branch of physics that is the study of physical properties of sound and how sound is generated and propagated.
88
Psychoacoustics
Study of how humans respond to sound as a physical phenomenon. A branch of both psychology and acoustics.
89
Sound Waves
Movements of particles in a medium containing expansions and contractions of molecules.
90
Compression/Condensation
A phase of sound in which the vibratory movements of an object (e.g., the tines of a tuning fork) increase the density of air molecules because the molecules are compressed or condensed. The opposite of rarefaction.
91
Rarefaction
Thinning of air molecules when the vibrating object returns to equilibrium. The opposite of compression/condensation.
92
Simple Harmonic Motion
Refers to the back-and-forth movement of particles when the movement is symmetrical or periodic. Also known as a sine wave.
93
Sinusoidal Motion
A wave with horizontal and vertical symmetry because it contains one peak/crest and one valley/trough. Contains a single frequency. Is a result of simple harmonic motion.
94
Aperiodic Waves
Waves that do not repeat themselves at regular intervals. Their vibratory patterns are random and difficult to predict from one time interval to the next.
95
Periodic Waves
Sound waves that repeat themselves at regular intervals and are predictable.
96
Amplitude
One of two characteristics of vibratory motion and is the magnitude and direction of the displacement. In acoustics, it is the strength or magnitude of a sound signal.
97
Intensity
The quality of sound that creates the sensation of loudness. Physically, it is the amount of energy transmitted per second over an area of one square meter.
98
Bel
A logarithmic unit of measure of sound intensity.
99
Decibel (dB)
A measure of sound intensity that equals one-tenth of a bel.
100
Csg System
A metric system of measure length in centimeters (cm), time in seconds (sec), and mass in grams (g). Can be contrasted with the MKS system.
101
MKS System
A metric system of measuring length in meters (m), mass in kilograms (kg), and time in seconds.
102
Dyne
A measure of force in the csg metric system. 1 dyne is the force required to accelerate a mass of 1 gram from a velocity of 0 cm per second to a velocity of 1 cm per second in 1 second.
103
Density
The amount of mass per unit volume. Serves as a medium for sound and affects sound transmission.
104
Displacement
Change in position.
105
Oscillation
The back-and-forth movement of air molecules because of a vibrating object.
106
Force
A vector quantity that tends to produce an acceleration of a body in the direction of its application. Product of mass and acceleration.
107
Elasticity
A property that makes it possible for matter (which helps transmit sound) to recover its form and volume when subjected to distortion. All matter is subjected to distortion when force is applied to it.
108
Velocity
A change in position of, for example, air molecules when an object is set to vibration. Measured in terms of the distance an object moves per the time and the direction it takes as it moves.
109
Frequency
One of the two characteristics of vibratory motion. The rate of vibratory motion that is measure in terms of the number of cycles completed per second or, more recently, in terms of Hertz (Hz).
110
Hertz (Hz)
The unit of measure for frequency. Same as cycles per second. 1 cycle per second = 1 Hz.
111
Natural Frequency
The frequency with which a source sound normally vibrates. Determined by the source’s mass and stiffness.
112
Formant Frequency
A frequency region with concentrated acoustic energy. The center frequency of a formant, which is a resonance.
113
Fundamental Frequency
The lowest frequency of a periodic wave. The first harmonic.
114
Octave
An indication of the interval between two frequencies. The intervals always maintain a ratio of 1:2, thus each octave doubles as a particular frequency (e.g., 200 Hz is one octave above 100 Hz).
115
Impedance
Acoustic, mechanical, or electrical resistance to motion or sound transmission.
116
Newton’s Law of Motion
Explains motion and its characteristics. Sound involves motion. The law of inertia states that all bodies remain at rest or in a state of uniform motion unless another force acts in opposition. A body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest. The law of reaction forces says that every force is associated with a reaction force of opposite direction.
117
Pressure
The amount of force per unit area. Measured either as dynes or newtons.
118
Reflection
Refers to the phenomenon of sound waves traveling back after hitting an obstacle, with no change in the speed of propagation.
119
Refraction
The bending of the sound wave due to change in its speed of propagation.
120
Resonance
The modification of sound by other sources. Refers to the modification of sound by other sources. Refers to modification of the laryngeal tone predominantly by the nasal and oral cavities.
121
Transmitting Medium
Any matter that carries or transmits sound. Air, liquids, and solids can all transmit sound.
122
Complex Tone
Tone created when two or more single frequency tones of differing frequencies are combined.
123
dB SPL
Measure of intensity of sound pressure. Sound pressure is the square root of power, which is measured in watts. The pressure itself is measured in terms of pascals.
124
Hearing Level (HL)
Minimum sound intensity to stimulate the human auditory system.
125
Sound Spectrograph
An electronic instrument that graphically records the changing intensity levels of the frequency components in a complex sound wave.
126
Spectrogram
The display of the running short-term spectrum.
127
Process of a Spectrogram
1) The person speaks into a microphone, which transduces the speech sample so that air pressure variations of the acoustic signal are put into the form of voltage variations.
2) The electrical signal is converted to an electromagnetic signal for storage on the magnetic drum of the spectrograph.
3) The stored magnetic pattern is converted back into an electrical signal for analysis as a spectrogram.
4) The signal is then filtered so that one can determine energy in various frequency regions.
5) The current of the electrical signal is amplified and fed to a marking stylus.
6 As the current flows from the stylus to the paper, there is localized burning of the paper. The burning produces a blackening of the paper in proportion to the current which is flowing through the stylus.
128
Voice Onset Time
The time between the release of the stop consonant and the beginning of the vowel.
129
Voice Termination Time
The time required to cease vocal activity.
