Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Flashcards
What is linguistics?
It is the scientific study of language and its structure.
What is language?
Is a system of conventional signals used for communication by a whole community. This pattern of conventions covers a system of significant sound units (the phonemes), the inflexion and arrangement of words, and the association of meaning with
words.
What is phonetics?
Is one of the aspects of language studied by Linguistics. It is the study of speech sounds as they are made by a speaker and heard by a listener. It is the science that studies the features of all human sounds whichever the language they occur in. It describes how a spoken word sound, and teaches people how to differenciate those sounds and how to make them.
What is phonology?
It is the study of sound systems. It studies the function of sounds.
Unit of phonetic description
Phone
Unit of phonological description
Phoneme
Differences between language and speech
Language: abstract-general-limited-made in our minds.
Speech: concrete-individual-limitless-measurable.
Differences between accent and dialect
Accent: the only difference is in pronounciation. English (RP and Estuary Enligsh.)
Dialect: differences in vocabulary, grammar, spelling or pronounciation, word order. English (Britissh E, American E, etc)
Speech production mechanism (speaker)
Psychological stage: the concept is formulated on the brain.
Physiological: the brain sends the information to the speech organs.
Physical: the speech organs produce movement and create ir disturbances.
Speech production mechanism (listener)
Physical stage: the message is received by the hearing apparatus.
Physiological: the message travels to the brain.
Psychological: the message is decodified by the brain and it creates a new concept.
Resonators
the mouth, nasal cavity and larynx.
Articulators
teeth, lips, tongue, hard palate, soft palate and uvula.
Vowels
are sounds with no obstructions of the air flow as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
Consonants
are sounds in which it is difficult or impossible for the air to pass through the mouth so there’s obstruction.
Shape and position of the tongue.
Positions: open: the tongue is distant to the paladar, open vowels.
close: the tongue is close to the paladar, close vowels.
Shapes: front: the front of the tongue is elevated, creating front vowels.
back: the back of the tongue is elevated, creating back vowels.
Lip shape
Rounded: the corners of the lips are drawn together and pushed forward, as in /ʊ/.
Spread: the corners of the lips are moved away from each other, like a smile, as in /ɪ/.
Neutral: the lips are not visibly spread or rounded, as in /ə/.
Cardinal vowels
are a standard reference system. They don’t guarantee that you’re going to know how to make the English sounds and they’re not exclusive from one language.
Which are the five main parameters according to which vowels may be differentiated?
Openness of the mouth, lip shape, tongue elevation, position of the tongue elevation and length variation.
Differences between pure vowels and diphthongs
Diphthongs consist of a movement or glide form one vowel to another. Pure vowels do not glide and remain constant.
Parts of the tongue
tip, blade, front, back and root.
Palate
hard palate, soft palate and alveolar ridge.
Speech chain
1) a concept is formulated on the brain.
2) the nervous system transmits the message to the speech organs.
3) an air stream is expelled from the lungs.
4) the contraction of muscles in the chest makes air flow.
5) the air passing through the vocal tract may end at either the mouth (oral cavity) or nostrils (nasal cavity)
6) the pressure of the outgoing air sets the vocal cords vibrating, thus producing sound.
7) the pharynx is above the larynx and the air goes through the vocal tract.
8)the air passes through the trachea and between the vocal cords (situated on the larynx)
9) the air/sound is shaped, obstructed and reinforced by the articulators and resonators of speech.
