formant frequencies and spectrograms

Question 1

how are vowels categorized?

Answer 1

vowels are characterized by different patterns of formants and different qualities

Question 2

what do formant frequencies depend on?

Answer 2

the length of an individual’s VT

Question 3

format frequencies are lower/higher for…

Answer 3

lower for adult men and higher for women

Question 4

formant frequencies for /a/ (hot)

Answer 4

F1=730 F2=1090 F3=2440

Question 5

forman frequencies for /iy/ (beet)

Answer 5

F1=270 F2=2290 F3=3010

Question 6

what is a spectrogram?

Answer 6

a visualization of a sound or sounds over time in terms of the amount of acoustic energy at different frequencies

Question 7

spectrograms show…

Answer 7

frequency (on vertical axis), amplitude (represented by darkness), and time (bottom axis)!

Question 8

what are resonant sounds?

Answer 8

vowels, diphthongs, glides, liquids, and nasals

Question 9

obstruents

Answer 9

non resonant sounds (constriction is present in VT)

Question 10

diphthongs

Answer 10

combination of 2 vowels, where formant transitions are slow

Question 11

the formant transitions in diphthongs represent…

Answer 11

the change on tongue position, which also changes resonant frequencies

Question 12

glides

Answer 12

quick and smooth vowel transitions from front to back tongue position or vice versa

• no steady state, only transitions
  ex) j (eeya)

Question 13

what are diphthongs and glides both characterized by?

Answer 13

FORMANT TRANSITIONS which are changes in the formant frequencies that occur as the VT resonance changes during the sound

Question 14

spectrographic characteristics of stops include

Answer 14

silent gap, release burst, and voice onset time

Question 15

voiceless stops are

Answer 15

complex aperiodic (P, T, K, and glottal)

Question 16

voiced stops are

Answer 16

periodic and aperiodic (B, D, G)

Question 17

how are stops articulated?

Answer 17

1) there is a buildup of oral pressure because the VT is sealed off with complete constriction of the articulators
2) release of pressure

Question 18

which articulator may be constricted during a stop

Answer 18

lips, glottis, velar, and alveolar ridge

Question 19

what does a voiceless stop look like on a spectrogram?

Answer 19

THIN vertical line- because of its short duration and it covers a broad range of frequencies

only release burst is shown, pressure build up is a silent gap in time.

Question 20

what does a voiced stop look like on a spectrogram?

Answer 20

same as voiceless stop, but because the vocal folds vibrate, its also periodic, which means there is a Fo, harmonics, and formants.

Fo=voice bar (lowest frequency)
F1= formant 1
F2= formant 2
F3= formant 3

Question 21

what does fundamental frequency reflect?

Answer 21

vocal FOLD vibration/pitch

Question 22

what do formant frequencies reflect?

Answer 22

the vocal TRACT, formants change the quality of a sound

Question 23

aspiration

Answer 23

noise generated by turbulent airflow (released pressure)

Question 24

there is more aspiration generated during…

Answer 24

voiceless stops

Question 25

how are fricatives produced?

Answer 25

1) a narrow channel is created by articulators for air to flow through
2) air is forced through the channel and makes an aperiodic sound when voiceless and aperiodic and periodic when voiced

Question 26

frication

Answer 26

the result of turbulent airflow in a fricative and is dipicted as a winde band of energy distributed over a broad range of frequencies

Question 27

how are voiceless fricatives shown on a spectrogram?

Answer 27

THICK vertical lines that cover a broad range of frequencies

fricatives are continuous vs. stops which are transient

Question 28

how are voiced fricatives shown on a spectrogram?

Answer 28

same as voiceless with voice bar and formants

Question 29

affricates

Answer 29

are continuous also, they are a stop + fricative

Question 30

how are nasals produced?

Answer 30

1) block air from exiting oral cavity (velum is lowered, full blockage in oral cavity)
2) air exits nasal cavity

Question 31

nasal formant

Answer 31

an additional high energy low frequency formant because of nasal cavity

Question 32

antiformants

Answer 32

areas of REDUCED acoustic energy

Question 33

why do antiformants occur?

Answer 33

because air in the oral cavity is trapped and acts as a band stop filter, which means it resonates frequencies outside of its bandwidth and damps those within.

Question 34

coarticulation

Answer 34

occurs when articulators move almost simultaneously in the production of adjacent sounds

the acoustic characteristics of the upcoming sound influence the preceding sound

the acoustic characteristics of the preceding sound influence the following sound

ex) Ki Ku
dim did

Question 35

liquids

Answer 35

not turbulent. mostly laminar

no formant transitions! look like vowels on spectrograms

Question 36

suprasegmentals

Answer 36

intonation and stress!

Question 37

intonation

Answer 37

variation in Fo levels throughout utterance

rise fall
fall rise

Question 38

stress

Answer 38

relative emphasis on a syllable or a word