Introduction to Clinical Phonetics Flashcards
What are the 5 domains of language?
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
What is Phonetics?
Study of the perception and production of speech sounds.
What is Phonology? (3)
The study of how speech sounds are used in a given language
A language’s inventory of sounds and their features
How sounds are used to represent meaning
What are phonotactics?
Rules that describe how these sounds may be combined within a given language
The rules of what sound combinations are allowable in what order in a certain language
For example:
tsunami
Gdansk
Bahrain
What is a phonologist?
Studies the mental representation of speech sounds and how they carry meaning in a language
The study of phonetics is: (3)
Comprehensive, systematic, and objective,
but -
Based on subjective impressions of the listener,
What does IPA stand for?
International Phonetic Alphabet
What are the five branches of phonetics?
Articulatory phonetics
Acoustic phonetics
Auditory phonetics
Linguistic phonetics
Clinical phonetics
Articulatory phonetics relates to
anatomy and physiology
Acoustic Phonetics relates to
physics
Auditory phonetics relates to
perception
Linguistic phonetics relates to
cross-language/dialect comparison
Clinical phonetics relates to
diagnostics and therapy
How are “base” and “face” different?
Phonetically, the main difference is one phoneme.
What is a phoneme?
The smallest meaningful unit of sound.
How do we know that a sound is a phoneme?
We know it’s the smallest because when we change it, the meaning of the word changes.
What does it mean when a sound is phonemic?
By changing that sound it changes the meaning of the whole word (base/face) or to something meaningless (base/gase)
What does it mean when a sound is phonemic?
By changing that sound it changes the meaning of the whole word (base/face) or to something meaningless (base/gase)
What is a minimal contrast?
The smallest distinction between which two words* can differ.
Why are minimal contrasts useful to linguists?
Minimal contrasts are useful to linguists trying to identify individual phonemes of a language. They can ask themselves: if I change or remove this smallest unit of sound, does the meaning of the word* change?
Two words that are minimally contrasted are called
minimal pairs
Minimal pairs differ
by one sound in the same position.
Ex: Poor and Door
What is an allophone?
When we change from one allophone to another, it doesn’t change the meaning of the word
How could the /t/ sound be an allophone?
For example:
It has multiple allophones.
While they are different,
we perceive them both as /t/.
“aspirated /t/” where /t/ = [tʰ]
“tap” or “flap” where /t/ = [ɾ]
What is Orthography?
the spelling system of a language
What are orthographic symbols?
Symbols used for written communication and literacy
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg
What are graphemes?
Alphabetic letters and the sounds they represent
-We usually just call them “letters”
-English does not have a one-to-one correspondence
between graphemes and speech sounds
-English spelling is not consistent
What are IPA symbols?
A set of symbols which represent all the known sounds of the world’s languages.
What are IPA symbols?
A set of symbols which represent all the known sounds of the world’s languages.
IPA is really important for solving:
Consistency and how to describe sounds, including disordered sounds.
What are phonetic symbols?
symbols that represent speech sounds
-one-to-one correspondence: one symbol = one sound
-phonetic symbols are different from orthographic symbols
- they are not flexible
“shoe” and “shoo”are transcribed as /ʃu/
Define
articulation, articulate, articulators:
articulation: production of speech sounds
articulate: to produce a speech sound
articulators: the parts of our speech apparatus that create speech sounds (i.e., the teeth, lips, jaw, velum, tongue)
Define Misarticulations and Coarticulation:
misarticulations: error productions and mispronunciations, not necessarily associated with a speech sounds disorder
coarticulation: some overlap of speech gestures. When the articulators are simultaneously completing one sound while preparing the next sound
What is speech?
A mode of language expression based on sounds emitted through mouth and nose. It includes:
-patterns of movement of speech organs
-patterns of acoustic vibrations
What are other non-speech forms of communication? (4)
-Writing
-Sign language
-Tadoma
-lip reading
What is a dialect?
A variation of speech or language based on geographical area, native-language background, and social and/or ethnic group membership.
What is the Received Pronunciation (RP)?
The typical South British accent (upper and middle class)
What is General American (GA)?
Two-thirds of American population
This is the dialect largely taught to ESL learners
What is an idiolect?
As compared to a dialect, a broad general term for
a lot of people, an idiolect is an individual speaker’s
personal pattern of language use.
What are registers?
Continuum of speaking styles from formal to informal.
Registers vary depending on the social situation.
Registers can change:
pronunciation. The more formal the register, the more precise the articulatory patterns tend to get.
Informal <—> Formal
Casual Speech <—> Citation Form
Yo <—> How do you do?
Dontcha <—> don’t you
friends/family <—> bosses/officials/professionals/elders etc
What is the invariance problem? (3)
-Articulation of phonemes varies across speakers and also within individual speakers
-We say things differently depending on context (listener, environment, register, etc.)
-Lack of consistency in speech production
What are word shapes?
The structural combinations of consonants and vowels within a word
C = consonant
Consonants can be described initial, medial, or final in a word
V = vowel
What are consonant clusters?
two or more consonants in a row
“stop” =/stɑp/ = CCVC
What are the five anatomical processes for speech production?
Respiratory (Airflow)
Phonatory (Vocal fold vibration)
Resonatory (Shaping the sound)
Oro-nasal (Mouth or nose airflow)
Articulatory (Movement of the articulators)
Describe Respiration:
Airflow system for breathing that
brings in oxygen and removes
carbon dioxide
Describe inhalation:
The diaphragm contracts, which increases thoracic space (chest area) and causes rib cage to expand
As the rib cage expands, lungs, which are lightly connected to rib cage, expand and air pressure in lungs decreases
Outside air moves from high pressure area (atmosphere) to low pressure area (into lungs)
Describe exhalation:
Exhalation is a passive process where diaphragm relaxes and moves upward to reduce thoracic (chest) space, forcing air out of the lungs.
English speech is produced on the exhale (expiratory air).
Some languages produce some sounds on the inhale (inspiratory air)
Gaelic gasp? Mummers?
Speech requires controlling and metering out the release of airflow, and some disorders cause poor coordination of this.
Time speaking is usually about 10% inhale and 90% exhale.
Describe the larynx in phonatory:
Complex structure of bone, cartilage, and muscle
above the trachea (windpipe) that contains the vocal folds.
Describe the vocal folds in phonatory:
Pair of elastic muscle fibers that can be opened, closed tightly, or approximate (come close)
each other.
Describe phonation:
The vocal folds take advantage of the Bernoulli principle, an aerodynamic effect where airstream from the lungs (pulmonic) opens vocal folds and decreased air pressure in trachea closes vocal folds in a rapid open/close vibratory cycle. It creates a buzzing noise.
Phonation for voiced sounds comes from vocal fold vibration.
Speech sounds may be voiceless or voiced depending on the presence/absence of vocal fold vibration.
What does abducted VF mean?
open vocal folds
Breathing and voiceless sounds
What occurs during approximated VF?
come close to each other and
vibrate, or “buzz” to create a sound
What occurs during adducted VF?
tightly closed vocal folds, for swallowing or lifting
heavy objects
What is resonance?
Shaping the sound
When we change the shape of the vocal tract we alter the shape of passageway for airflow.
What is amplifying?
strengthening certain frequencies or reinforcing parts of the sound
What is attenuation?
weakening certain frequencies or dampening parts of the sound
What is Oro-nasal sounds?
(mouth/nose) Sounds which escape through the mouth or nose
What changes the airflow between oral and nasal?
Velum
What is the velum?
The velum (soft palate) raises and lowers to direct airflow. It’s like a valve.
How are oral sounds produced?
Airflow only travels through the mouth because the velum is raised to prevent airflow through the nose (see image, next slide)
How are nasal sounds produced?
Airflow travels through the nose because the velum is lowered, which allows access to the nasal passages
What is the difference between these two images?
On the left, velum is a raise state with airflow blocked from entering nasal cavity
On the right, velum is a relax state with air flowing into nasal cavity
When does nasality occur and does not occur?
Occurs with a lowered velum, so those muscles in a relaxed state or cannot fully articulate with walls of nasopharynx.
With a raised velum, the velum touches back and side walls of pharynx and blocks air from entering the nasal cavity. Breathing can only be done through mouth.
Most sounds in General North American English are oral or nasal?
oral
/m, n, ŋ/ are:
m, n, ŋ/ are nasal consonants, technically “nasal stops”
What is hypernasality?
Too much airflow through the nose
What is hyponasality?
not enough airflow through the nose
What are the 4 main anatomical structures used to produce speech sounds?
Lips: Active articulators that spread, round (pucker), and tense
Upper teeth: Passive articulator
Lower teeth: Active articulator
Tongue: The primary active articulator for finely coordinated movement. A highly muscular organ
Describe the alveolar ridge?
Passive articulator consisting of bony ridge behind upper incisors
Describe the hard palate:
Passive articulator
Describe velum:
Active articulator that directs airflow
Describe the Uvula:
Back portion of velum
Describe the Pharynx:
Passageway between larynx and oral/nasal cavities
Describe the Epiglottis:
Cartilage that protects the airway
