Consonants Analysis (Oct 2/4)

Question 1

What is a fricative

Answer 1

Fricatives are sound that generate a turbulent airflow; hissing

Question 2

What are sibilants vs non-sibilants?

Answer 2

Sibilants: High pitched - high energy - narrow region for the air to go through s, z, sh, jj.

Non Sibilants: Low pitched - more spread, constriction happens over a wider space. f,v,th

Question 3

Which have more energy the voiced or voiceless frictatives?

Answer 3

Voiceless frictatives tend to have more energy (darker in a spectrogram)

Question 4

Poll Question:
Which sound will have greater amount of energy in the higher frequencies?

a. z
b. v
c. both are similar

Answer 4

a. [z] is sibilant, will have more energy.

Question 5

What is center of gravity?

Answer 5

a measure for how high the frequencies in a spectrum are on average.

Question 6

what unit do we use to measure center of gravity

Answer 6

hz.

Question 7

What are the acoustic cues of stops

Answer 7

Closure duration
Revoicing and aspiration (voice onset time)
Formant transition

Question 8

What are the 2 basic steps of a stop?

Answer 8

• Make a complete-closure of the airflow while the velar port remains closed
• as the air pressure behind the closure grows, release.

Question 9

What is the VOT (voice onset time)

Answer 9

The time between the release and the voicing onset is called the voice onset time.

Question 10

Is VOT longer is regular or aspirated stops

Answer 10

aspirated

Question 11

When does pre-voicing happen in stops?

Answer 11

Voiced stops have negative VOT or prevoicing. (voicing begins before the release of air.)

Question 12

What are formants cues for
- bilabial stops
- dentals
- velars

Answer 12

• bilabials all formants lower
• dentals would raise F2
• velars bring F2 and F3 together.