Consonants and Vowels Flashcards
Phoneme
Smallest unit in language that distinguishes meaning.
Consonant
- characteristics
- Restrictions or closure in the vocal tract impeding the airstream
- Noise element, no harmonic vibration
- cannot be centre of a syllable
Distinctive features of consonants
- place of articulation
- manner of articulation
- state of glottis
Place of articulation
Describes exact place where the airstream is obstructed.
Places of Articulation
- 8
- bilabial
- labiodental
- dental
- alveolar
- postalveolar
- palatal
- velar
- glottal
Manner of articulation
Describes the type or degree of closure of the speech organs,
I.e. how the airstream is modified in the vocal tract
Manner of articulation
Name all of them
- Plosive
- Fricative
- Affricate
- Nasal
- Lateral
- Approximant
State of glottis
Voiced
Voiceless
Voiced
Vibration of the vocal folds (vocal folds close together)
Voiceless
No vibration of vocal folds (Vocal folds apart)
/d/
Plosive, alveolar, voiced
E.g.: dog
E.g.: dog
/p/
plosive, bilabial, voiceless
E.g.: pull
E.g.: pull
/b/
Plosive, bilabial, voiced
E.g.: burn
E.g.: burn
/t/
Plosive, alveolar, voiceless
E.g.: take
E.g.: take
/k/
Plosive, velar, voiceless
E.g.: king
E.g.: king
/g/
Plosive, velar, voiced
E.g.: get
E.g.: get
/f/
Fricative, labiodental, voiceless
E.g.: fish
E.g.: fish
/v/
Fricative, labiodental, voiced
E.g.: vain
E.g.: vain
/θ/
Fricative, dental, voiceless
E.g.: thin
E.g.: thin
/ð/
Fricative, dental, voiced
E.g.: there
E.g.: there
/s/
Fricative, alveolar, voiceless
E.g.: sin
E.g.: sin
/z/
Fricative, alveolar, voiced
E.g.: zoo
E.g.: zoo
/ʃ/
Fricative, postalveolar, voiceless
E.g.: shine
E.g.: shine
/ʒ/
Fricative, postalveolar, voiced
E.g.: rouge
E.g.: rouge
/h/
Fricative, glottal, voiceless
E.g.: high
E.g.: high
/tʃ/
Affricate, postalveolar, voiceless
E.g.: chair
E.g.: chair
/dʒ/
Affricate, postalveolar, voiced
E.g.: job
E.g.: bridge
/m/
Nasal, bilabial, voiced
E.g.: mouse
/n/
Nasal, alveolar, voiced
E.g.: noise
E.g.: nose
/ɳ/
Nasal, velar, voiced
E.g.: king
E.g.: king
/l/
Lateral, alveolar, voiced
E.g.: long
E.g.: long
/w/
Approximant, bilabial, voiced
E.g.: warn
E.g.: warn
/r/
Approximant, postalveolar, voiced
E.g.: red
E.g.: red
/j/
Approximant, palatal, voiced
E.g.: yes
E.g.: yes
Vowel
- characteristics
- no obstruction of the airstream
- harmonic vibration, no noise element
- can be centre of a syllable
Distinctive features of a vowel
- openess of the mouth
- position of the tongue
- long/ short
Monophthong
No change in quality during articulation
E.g.: /fɪt/ (fit)
/ʃuːt/ (shoot)
/iː/
Front, closed, long
Monophthong
E.g.: seat
/ɪ/
Front, between closed and half-closed, short
Monophthong
E.g.: sit
/ʊ/
Back, between closed and half closed, short
Monophthong
E.g.: foot, put
/u:/
Back, closed, long
Monophthong
E.g.: food, boot
/e/
Front, half-closed/ half-open, short
Monophthong
E.g.: set, pet
/ɜ:/
Central, half-closed, long
Monophthong
E.g.: bird, heard
/ə/
Central, half-open, short
Monophthong
E.g.: mother
/ɔ:/
Back, between half-closed and half-open, long
Monophthong
E.g.: law
/æ/
Front, open, short
Monophthong
E.g.: sat, pat
/ʌ/
Central, open, short
Monophthong
E.g.: some, cut
/ɑ:/
Back, open, long
Monophthong
E.g.: father
/ɒ/
Back, open, short
Monophthong
E.g.: dog
Diphthong
Change of quality within one syllable
> both elements merge
/meɪk/ (make)
/ðeə/ (there)
- Closing Diphthong
- Centring Diphthong
/eɪ/
Front, between half open and half-closed > front, closed, long
Closing diphthong
E.g.: mate, they, place
/ʊə/
Back, closed > central, long
Centring Diphthongs
E.g.: sure, poor
> strong tendency to replace Diphthong with the long Monophthong /ɔ:/
/əʊ/
Central, between half-closed and half-open > back, closed, long
Closing Diphthong
E.g.: home, so
/aɪ/
Central, Open > Front, closed, long
Closing Diphthong
E.g.: my/ time
/aʊ/
Back, open > back, closed, long
Closing Diphthong
E.g.: house, town
/ɔɪ/
Back, half-open > front, closed, long
Closing Diphthong
E.g.: boy, oil
/ɪə/
Front, closed > central, long
Centring Diphthong
E.g.: here, dear
/eə/
Front, half-open > central, long
Centring Diphthong
E.g.: There, air
Closing Diphthong
- end in /ɪ, ʊ/
Centring Diphthong
- end in /ə/
Allophone
Different realizations of one phoneme
Notations: [ ]
Lexical Morphemes
Carry an independent meaning
E.g.: {-er} {un-} {dog}
Grammatical Morphemes
Express grammatical relations
E.g.: {the} {-ed} {-s}
Free lexical morpheme
-can stand alone
-content words
E.g.: {fair} {dog}
Bound lexical morpheme
-bound to a word
-derivational morpheme
-indicates where it is bound (prefix or suffix) with a -
E.g.: {un-} {-er} {-ly}
free grammatical morpheme
-function word
E.g.: {the} {but]
Bound grammatical morpheme
-inflectional morpheme
E.g.: {-s} in dogs
Minimal pair
Words that differ/ are distinguished in just one sound in the same position
E.g.:
-/b,ɪ,t/ /h,ɪ,t/differ in one phoneme
Plosive
Blocking the airstream completely, releasing air in a burst (exposive)
Fricative
Restricting the airstream at different places (friction)
Affricate
Moving from plosive to fricative (explosion then friction)
Nasal
Airstream is not moving out of your mouth but out of your nose
Lateral
Airstream passes through the sides of your tongue
Approximant
Least consonant like sounds, approximating vowels
