CHAPTER 2 || Sounds of Language: Phonetics and Phonology Flashcards
ACOUSTIC PHONETICS
Concerning the physical properties of the sound waves.
ALLOPHONE
Derives from Greek: allo comes from allos (other). Allophone literally means other sounds.
One of the alternative phonetic realizations of a phoneme.
Ex. [t] and [th] are allophones of /t/ in English.
ARTICULARY PHONETICS
Concerning the production of sounds.
*We will mainly be dealing with articulary phonetics in this chapter.
AUDITORY PHONETICS
Concerning the perception of speech sounds.
CLICK
A speech sound produced by a velaric airstream mechanism. The back of the tongue makes a closure at the velum, and a second contact is made further forward in the oral cavity. The enclosed space is next enlarged so that the air within it is rarefied; the second closure is then released, and air flows inwards with a clicking noise.
Ex. English tut! tut! is made up of clicks.
Ex. Clicks are made up of the regular phonology of Khoisan and nearby Bantu language.
COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
When two speech sounds do not share any environments of occurrence.
Ex. In English, [p] and [ph] are in complementary distribution. [p] occurs following [s], [ph] at the beginning of a word, and there is nowhere where both are normally found.
Ex. The oral vowel occurs in words like sip and pill.
Ex. The nasal vowel occurs in words like sin and sing.
CONSONANT
A speech sound produced with a narrowing or closure at some point in the vocal tract.
Involves a constriction in the vocal tract, obstructing the flow of air; the airstream is impeded or interrupted somewhere along the way from the lungs to the outside.
Ex. The pronounciation of the letters c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
DIPHTHONG
A vowel sound involving significant movement of the tongue from one vowel position to another.
They are produced when the tongue is in contant motion throughout, traveling from one vowel position to another.
EJECTIVE
A speech sound produced on an egressive glottalic airstream.
They are formed by raising the larynx so as to compress the air behind the oral closure; this closure is released while the glottal closure remains, resulting in a popping sound.
About a fifth of the world’s language have ejectives.
FREE VARIATION
Where one sound can replace another in a given environment without giving rise to a new word.
Ex. If [p¬] is replaced by [ph] at the end of the word stop.
Ex. The word slab can be produced with either a final released [b] or an unreleased [b¬].
GLOTTALIC AIRSTREAM
An airstream produced by forming a cavity above the larynx, which is compressed or rarefied by raising or lowering the glottis; then the upper obstruction is released.
A number of languages of Africa, India and the Americas employ a glottalic airstream in the production of some (never all) phones.
Two types of glottalic airtream: ejectives and implosives.
IMPLOSIVE
A speech sound produced on an ingressive glottalic airstream.
They are produced by pulling the larynx downwards during oral closure, and releasing the oral closure, resulting in an audible inrush of air.
Only 10% of the world’s languages have implosives.
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET
(IPA)
A set of symbols based primarily on the Latin alphabet designed to represent the sounds of all of the world’s languages.
INTONATION
The pitch contour of a phrase or sentence.
Ex. If you say, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” as a plain statement, you will probably say it with a fall of pitch at the end.
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
The way the airstream is obstructed and modified as it passes through the constriction in the vocal tract in the production of a consonant. Manners of articulation include stop, nasal, fricative.
