File 2 Vocabulary

Question 1

Phonetics

Answer 1

The study of the minimal units of language.

Question 2

Articulatory phonetics

Answer 2

Subfield of phonetics concerned with the production of speech sounds.

Question 3

Acoustic phonetics

Answer 3

Subfield of phonetics that is concerned with the physical characteristics of the sounds of speech.

Question 4

Auditory phonetics

Answer 4

Subfield of phonetics concerned with the perception of speech sounds.

Question 5

Impressionistic phonetic transcription

Answer 5

A method of writing down speech sounds with the intent of capturing how they are pronounced.

Question 6

Consonants

Answer 6

Speech sounds produced with a constriction somewhere in the vocal tract that impedes airflow.

Question 7

Glottis

Answer 7

The space between the vocal folds.

Question 8

Vowel space

Answer 8

Range of possible vowel sounds of a language from the high front vowel to the high back vowel.

Question 9

Uvula

Answer 9

The small fleshy mass that hangs down at the back of the throat; used to produce uvular consonants.

Question 10

Pharynx

Answer 10

The part of the oral tract above the larynx but behind the uvula. (throat)

Question 11

Segments

Answer 11

The individual units of the speech stream; segments can be further subdivided into consonants and vowels.

Question 12

Suprasegmental

Answer 12

A phonetic characteristic of speech sounds, such as length, intonation, tone, or stress, that “rides on top of” segmental features.

Question 13

Stress

Answer 13

A property of syllables; a stressed syllable is more prominent than an unstressed one, due to having greater loudness, longer duration, different pitch, or full vowels.

Question 14

Formants

Answer 14

Resonant frequency that amplifies some groups of harmonics above others; appears as a dark band on a spectrogram.

Question 15

Aspiration

Answer 15

A puff of air that follows the release of a consonant when there is delay in the onset of voicing.

Question 16

Location

Answer 16

Where a sign takes place; one of the parameters of visual-gestural languages.

Question 17

Movement

Answer 17

Whether the hands move during a sign, and, if so, the path or type of that motion.

Question 18

Handshape

Answer 18

The configuration of the hands and fingers in a sign.

Question 19

Orientation

Answer 19

The direction that the hand or hands are facing during a sign; may also include whether there is contact between the hands and how that contact takes place.

Question 20

Primes

Answer 20

With regard to visual-gestural languages, a fundamental element, equivalent in many ways to a phoneme in an auditory-vocal language, with the exception that primes are produced simultaneously, whereas phonemes can be produced only sequentially.