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Phonetics
the study and classification of speech sounds
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages
Vocal tract
the passage above the larynx where speech sounds are made
Articulators
any of the vocal organs above the larynx, including the tongue, lips, teeth, and hard palate
Manner of articulation
describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make contact. Often the concept is only used for the production of consonants.
Vowel frontness
the position of the tongue during the articulation of a vowel relative to the front of the mouth. front near-front central near-back back
Vowel height
refers to the vertical position of either the tongue or the jaw relative to either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw. close (high) near-close (near-high) close-mid (high-mid) mid (true-mid) open-mid (low-mid) near-open (near-low) open (low)
‘Received Pronunciation’ (RP)
sounds that occur in the standard accent of British English
frequency
number of vibrations occurring in a sound
affricate
a phoneme which combines a plosive with an immediately following fricative or spirant sharing the same place of articulation
affricate
a phoneme which combines a plosive with an immediately following fricative or spirant sharing the same place of articulation
vocal cords/vocal folds
dual bands of smooth muscle tissue in the larynx
vocal cords/vocal folds
dual bands of smooth muscle tissue in the larynx
plosive
consonant that is produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, teeth, or palate, followed by a sudden release of air. The basic plosives in English are t, k, and p (voiceless) and d, g, and b (voiced).
fricative
a type of consonant made by the friction of breath in a narrow opening, producing a turbulent air flow. f and th
nasal
the voice resonating in the nose, e.g., m, n, ng
approximant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no turbulence.
rounded
the position (rounding) of the lips in some vowels
unrounded
the position (spreading) of the lips in some vowels
diphthong
a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another (as in coin, loud, and side ). “Gliding vowel”
monophthong
a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation (as in teeth).
