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English Lingustics > English linguistics > Flashcards

English linguistics Flashcards

1
Q

What is a system?

A

a complex whole
a set of connected parts
an organised body of material and immaterial things

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2
Q

What type of system is the language?

A

a communication system

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3
Q

How many sub system is language organised in?

A

Lexis (vocabulary)
Grammar (tenses, morphology, syntax…)
Sounds (e.g. phonology)
Writing (e.g. spelling)

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4
Q

What does phonology include in its studies?

A

Phonemes (its basic units)
Stress (gives prominence to the sound)
Stress timing (the rhythm of the language)
Intonation (not what you say, but how you say it)

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5
Q

What is a grapheme?

A

the basic unit of the writing sub system

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6
Q

What may represent multiple graphemes?

A

a single phoneme:
Digraphs (2 graphemes represent 1 phoneme)
Trigraphs (3 graphemes represent 1 phoneme)

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7
Q

Is English a “phonetic” language?

A

no

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8
Q

What are the fields of theoretical linguistics?

A

Pragmatics (meaning of language in context)
Semantics (literal meaning of phrases and sentences) Syntax (language structure)
Morphology (word structure)
Phonology (language sounds)
Phonetic (speech sounds + voicing and aspiration)

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9
Q

How do we produce sounds when speaking?

A

By contracting muscles:
in the chest (the same we use for breathing, they produce flow of air needed in almost all speech sounds)
in the larynx (produce modifications in the flow of air from chest to mouth)

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10
Q

Where does air pass through during the production of a sound?

A

through larynx, then vocal tract, then either mouth (oral cavity) or nose (nasal cavity)

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11
Q

Where are located the articulators?

A

in the vocal tract

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12
Q

List all of the articulators

A

Pharynx = tube above larynx and its top divided in back of oral cavity and beginning nasal cavity)
Soft palate/Velum = allows air to pass through nose and mouth, in speech raised if we don’t need air to pass through nose, can be touched by tongue, sounds -> velar
Hard palate = sounds -> palatal
Alveolar ridge = between top front teeth and hard palate, sounds -> alveolar
Tongue = tip, blade, root, front, back
Teeth = tongue touches upper side of teeth, sounds -> dental
Lips = can be pressed together (bilabial), touch top teeth (labiodental), rounded (lip-shape vowels)

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13
Q

List the parts that could be articulators

A

Larynx = a complex and independent one
Jaws = we move the lower one when speaking, but not considered articulator because never touch other articulators
Nose + nasal cavity = not articulator because we can’t do anything active with them

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14
Q

What is phonology?

A

The study of the distribution of sounds (so, contexts and positions where particular words can occur)

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15
Q

How many groups of sounds are there?

A

Vowels and Consonants

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16
Q

What is a vowel?

A

sound produced with no blocking or obstructing flow of air from lungs to oral cavity
voiced sound
they differ from each other

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17
Q

How vowels differ from each other?

A

Height of tongue (close v, close mid v, open mid v, open v)
Position of tongue (front v, central v, back v)
Rounding of lips (rounded, spread, neutral)

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18
Q

What are cardinal vowels?

A

standard reference system of vowels developed by phoneticians
divide into primary v and secondary v

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19
Q

What are primary vowels?

A

most familiar v to speakers of most European languages (a e i o u ɑ ɛ ɔ)

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20
Q

What are secondary vowels?

A

sound less familiar (ɑː ɒ æ eː ɜː ə iː ɪ ɔː uː ʊ ʌ)

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21
Q

What is a consonant?

A

sound produced when airflow is blocked or hindered

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22
Q

How are consonants classified?

A

voicing
place of articulation
manner of articulation

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23
Q

What are the English short vowels?

A

æ = neutral, open, front
e = neutral, open mid, front
ɪ = neutral, close, front
ʌ = neutral, open mid, central
ʊ = rounded, close, central
ə = neutral, central
ɒ = rounded, open, back

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24
Q

Draw the short English vowels square

A

\ \ |
\ ___ ɪ_\ _____ ʊ ___ |
\ e \ ə |
\ _____ \ ________|
\ æ___ ʌ ______ ɒ|

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25
Q

What are the English long vowels?

A

ɑː = neutral, open, back
ɜː = neutral, central
iː = spread, close, front
ɔː = rounded, close mid, back
uː = rounded, close, back

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26
Q

Why English long vowels are long?

A

Tend to be longer than short vowels
length varies according to context and presence/absence of stress
: mark can be omitted, since long vowel symbols are different from short vowels one

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27
Q

Draw the long English vowels square

A

\ i: \ u:|
\ _____\ __________ |
\ \ ɜː ɔː |
\ _____ \ ________|
\ __________ ɑː__|

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28
Q

What are diphthongs?

A

sounds which consist of a movement or glide from a vowel to another (all other vowels are called pure if they don’t glide)
in terms of length similar to long vowels but 1st v longer and stronger than 2nd

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29
Q

What types of diphthongs are there?

A

centring d = glide towards ə (ɪə, eə, ʊə)
closing d = glide towards ɪ (eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ) and ʊ (əʊ, aʊ)

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30
Q

What are triphthongs?

A

Sounds which consist of a movement or glide from a vowel to another and to a 3rd one

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31
Q

What type of triphthongs are there?

A

closing d. + ə (eɪə, aɪə, ɔɪə, əʊə, aʊə)

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32
Q

What is the larynx?

A

located in the neck
made of 2 large hollow cartilages attached to the top of the trachea
the front comes to a point called Adam’s apple

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33
Q

What is the Adam’s apple?

A

part of the larynx
inside are located the vocal folds/cords

34
Q

What are the vocal folds?

A

located in the Adam’s apple
2 flaps of muscles
opening between them called glottis

35
Q

What are the possible states of the vocal folds?

A

wide apart = open glottis, for normal breathing and during voiceless consonants (e.g. p, f, s)
narrow glottis = air passes through it and produces fricative sounds (symbol ʰ)
position for v.f. vibration = edges of v.f. touch each other and air passing through glottis causes vibration, then v.f. close again
v.f. tightly close = no air passes through and produces a glottal plosive (symbol ʔ)

36
Q

What is the egressive pulmonic airstream?

A

sounds where air is made to move out of the lungs (majority of languages, the minority have air moving in the vocal tract)

37
Q

What is voicing/phonation?

A

sound produced when v.f. vibrate

38
Q

What is the subglottal pressure?

A

pressure of air below the v.f.
it can vary

39
Q

What are the variations of the sub glottal pressure?

A

in intensity = voicing with high intensity for shouting, low intensity for speaking quietly
in frequency = if v.f. vibrate rapidly voicing at high frequency, fewer vibrations voicing at low frequency
in quality = e.g. murmured, breathy…

40
Q

What are plosives?

A

consonant articulation divided in 4 phases

41
Q

What are the plosives phases?

A

closing p = 1 articulator moved against another / 2 articulators moved against each other to form a stricture that doesn’t allow air to escape from v.f.
compression p = air allowed to escape
release p = if air behind stricture still under pressure when plosive released, the escape of air may produce noise (-> plosion)
post release p = there may be voicing during part/all plosive articulation

42
Q

What are the English plosives?

A

p b t d k g ʔ

p b = bilabial
t d = alveolar
k g = velar

p t k = voiceless, fortis c (strong)
b d g = fully voiced, partly voiced, voiceless, lenis c (weak)

ʔ = frequent but less important, alternative pronunciation of p t k in certain contexts

43
Q

When can plosives occur in consonant contexts?

A

initial p, medial p, final p

44
Q

When can plosives occur in vowel contexts?

A

initial p (CV) = b d g not preceded by consonant, p t k can be preceded by s (-> p t k unaspirated)
medial p (VCV) = pronunciation depends on whether the syllables preceding or following plosive are stressed
final p = b d g little voicing, p t k voiceless and vowels before shorter

45
Q

What are the segments?

A

pieces of stream of sounds that we produce when we speak

46
Q

What is the phonemic system?

A

set of units (phonemes)

47
Q

What is a phoneme?

A

basic unit of sound
abstract
can be of 2 types

48
Q

What types can phonemes be?

A

free variation = it makes little difference which of 2 possible ways we choose to pronounce a sound -> meaning of word doesn’t changes (these phonemes are allophones)

complementary distribution = one sound occur when the other cannot (meaning of word changes)

49
Q

What type of symbols exist?

A

phonemic = x phonemes, some of them consist of 2 characters (e.g. tʃ, dʒ)

phonetic = contains also diacritics (marks that modify symbols in some way) and allophones

50
Q

What type of transcriptions exist?

A

phonemic = every speech sound must be identified as one of the phonemes and written with appropriate symbol -> slant brackets //

phonetic = contains more info than phonemic, there are 3 types of this transcription -> squared brackets []

51
Q

What are the different types of phonetic transcription?

A

narrow = contains all info about quality of sounds

broad = little more info than phonemic transcription

allophonic = basically a phonemic transcription + allophones

52
Q

What is phonology?

A

study of phonemes function in language
study of relationships among different phonemes

53
Q

What else can provoke a sound contrast?

A

stress = sets the difference between words (e.g. some words function both as nouns and verbs)

intonation = if word said with rising pitch of voice heard as question, with falling pitch as agreement

54
Q

What are fricatives?

A

continuant consonants = you can continue making them without interruption as long as you have air in lungs

air escapes through narrow passage and makes hissing sound

55
Q

What are affricates?

A

begin plosives, end fricatives but both homorganic (-> made with same articulators, e.g. t d, ʃ ʒ)

56
Q

What are the fricatives of English?

A

f v = labiodental
θ ð = dental
s z = alveolar
ʃ ʒ = post-alveolar
h = glottal

f θ s ʃ = fortis
v ð z ʒ = lenis

57
Q

What is the glottal h?

A

occurs between voiced sounds (e.g. ahead)
pronounced with breathy voice

58
Q

What sounds are associated with glottal h?

A

ʍ = sound produced in words which begin ortographically with wh, mostly by American and Scottish speakers

ç = palatal fricative, usually substituted with h+j (e.g. huge)

59
Q

What are fortis consonants?

A

consonants that sometimes are preceded by something other than a vowel and it’s the case x syllables ending with m n ŋ + p t k (e.g. bump) and the vowels are shortened

usually articulated with open glottis in the case of fricatives, with plosives closed glottis (-> glottalisation)

60
Q

What is glottalisation?

A

closure of glottis immediately before plosives like p t k tʃ or at the end of a stressed syllable

61
Q

What are nasals?

A

consonants in which air escapes through nose, there are 3 types of nasals

62
Q

What types of nasals are there?

A

m = bilabial
n = alveolar
ŋ = velar, unusual distribution

63
Q

What distributions has ŋ?

A

initial p = never

medial p = frequently, but in BBC accent there’s a rule: ŋk k alway pronounced, ŋg g in some contexts

after vowels = rarely after diphthongs and long vowels

64
Q

In what contexts g is pronounced in ŋg?

A

pronounced = in words that cannot be morphologically divided

not pronounced = in words that can be morphologically pronounced

65
Q

What is the consonant L?

A

lateral approximant = there’s complete closure between centre of tongue and the part of the roof of the mouth, so air escapes along the sides of the tongue

two types of L in BBC accent before vowels

66
Q

Why is L different from other approximants?

A

because in the other approximates there’s less contact between articulators

67
Q

What are the 2 types of L?

A

Dark L = found also before consonants, quality similar to [u] and phonetic symbol is ɫ

Clear L = quality similar to [i]

68
Q

What are the allophones of L?

A

Dark L

Clear L

L when it follows p k at the beginning of a stressed syllable (l devoiced and fricative)

69
Q

What is the consonant R?

A

approximant in which articulators approach each other but don’t get sufficiently close to each other to produce a “complete” consonant -> so retroflex consonant

of 2 types

70
Q

What are the 2 types of r sound?

A

rhotic = in final p and before c.

non-rhotic = before vowels (if found at the beginning of syllables and preceded by p t k, r is fricative and voiceless)

71
Q

What are the consonants w and j?

A

approximants/semivowels

phonetically like vowels, phonologically like consonants

articulation of w practically the same as [u] but shorter, articulation of j practically the same as [I] but shorter

considered consonants

72
Q

Why are w and j considered consonants?

A

only occur before vowel phonemes = typical consonantal distribution

indefinite article before them is “a” just like other consonants (an before vowels)

definite article before them Is pronounced as ðə just like other consonants (ði before vowels)

73
Q

IPA of consonants

A

(guarda su schemi)

BIL. LAB. DENT. ALV. POST. PAL

74
Q

What’s the phonetic definition of syllable?

A

(in relation to the way we produce them and the way they sound) described as consisting of a centre which has little/no obstruction to airflow and sounds comparatively loud

75
Q

What’s the phonetic internal division of the syllable?

A

nucleus (minimum syllable) = single vowel in isolation preceded and followed by silence (e.g. are [ɑː] and also all isolated sounds which indicate x example agreement [m])

onset = 1 or more consonants that precede the centre (e.g. bar [bɑː])

coda = 1 or more consonants follow the centre (e.g. ought [ɔːt]

onset + coda = e.g. fill [fɪl]

76
Q

What is the rhyme?

A

peak (vowel) + coda

77
Q

What is the phonological definition of syllable?

A

it involves looking at the possible combination of English phonemes: we find that words can begin with a vowel of 1/2/3 consonants and they can end with a vowel or 1/2/3/4 consonants

78
Q

What’s the study of the possible combinations of English phonemes?

A

phonotactis

79
Q

How can the onset be in an English syllable?

A

1st syllable of a word beginning with a vowel = zero onset

// consonant = the c may be any c phoneme except ŋ

// 2 consonants (consonant cluster) = of 2 types:
- PRE-INITIAL C + INITIAL C = s + a small set of c
- INITIAL C + POST INITIAL C = one of a set of 15 c + one of l r w j

80
Q

How can the coda be in an English syllable?

A

no final c = zero coda

1 final c = any c except h w j r (r only in rhotic accents, not BBC)

2 final c = of 2 types:
- PRE FINAL + FINAL = m n ŋ l s + -
- FINAL + POST FINAL = - + s z t d θ

3 final c = of 2 types:
- PRE FINAL + FINAL + POST FINAL
- FINAL + POST FINAL 1 + POST FINAL 2

4 final c = of 2 types:
- PRE FINAL + FINAL + POST FINAL 1 + POST FINAL 2
- FINAL + POST FINAL 1 + POST FINAL 2 + POST FINAL 3

81
Q
A

English Lingustics (1 decks)

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