Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology Flashcards
1
Q
Who are the two main players in the act of communication?
A
source (speaker) & recipient (hearer/listener)
2
Q
What is the encoding process?
A
A mental and psychological process whereby cerebral commands of the speaker are sent to the vocal organs which are involved in speech transmission, and these organs, in turn, transmit speech in the form of sound waves through the air.
3
Q
What are the seven steps of communication?
A
- Sender
- Encoding
- Transmission
(Encoding)
4.Receiver
5. Reception
6. Decoding
7. Analysis & Interpretation
(Decoding)
4
Q
What is phonetics?
A
the scientific study of the way speech sounds are produced by our vocal organs, the way they are perceived by listeners, and the way different sounds are combined into syllables, words and sentences
5
Q
What is articulatory phonetics?
A
The branch of phonetics which deals with the articulation, i.e. the production of speech sounds
6
Q
What is acoustic phonetics?
A
The branch of phonetics which deals with the acoustics of sound waves used for communication, it studies various properties of speech signals like amplitude and frequency and their effects on the transmission and reception of sounds
7
Q
What is auditory phonetics?
A
The area of phonetics concerned with the reception and comprehension of phonetic sounds.
8
Q
Name the three branches of phonetics
A
Articulatory, acoustic & auditory
9
Q
What are speech organs?
A
Those used in the production of speech, i.e. lips, tongue, lungs
10
Q
Is speech the primary function of speech organs?
A
No. It is an overlaid secondary function. For example, the basic function of the lungs is respiration and the basic function of the larynx is to protect the breathing apparatus by preventing food from entering the lungs
11
Q
The evolution of speech organs
A
Speech organs have evolved structurally in a way that favours speech production, which Lieberman (1970) calls a modification of organs
12
Q
What percentage of the human body is involved in speech production?
A
Half (from head to abdomen)
13
Q
Name the three groups or systems of organs that play a vital role in speech production
A
the respiratory system, the phonatory system & the articulatory system
14
Q
What is the respiratory system comprised of?
A
the lungs, along with the trachea and bronchial tubes, the intercostal muscles of the ribs and the diaphragm
15
Q
What is an airstream?
A
The air we breathe which moves in and out of our lungs in the form of a current
16
Q
What is an egressive pulmonic airstream?
A
an airstream which is set in motion when the speaker exhales
17
Q
What is an ingressive pulmonic airstream?
A
an airstream set in motion when the speaker inhales
18
Q
How are egressive and ingressive pulmonic airstreams initiated?
A
by the contraction and expansion of the lungs in the chest cavity, causing the air to be pushed out and in
19
Q
What does the phonatory system consist of?
A
the larynx
20
Q
What is the name of a larynx which protrudes visibly in men?
A
the Adam’s apple
21
Q
What does the articulatory system consist of?
A
the articulators: the nose, lips, mouth, including the teeth and the tongue
22
Q
Source & Filter model
A
Airstream passes through larynx when we exhale, then is filtered in supra laryngeal tract & modified by the various shapes that the articulators assume before the sound is released. Each of these modifications affect the quality of the speech sounds produced
23
Q
What happens when we breathe in?
A
Air travels down the trachea, expanding the lungs, and once air is exhaled, the lungs come back to their normal size.
24
Q
What happens during inhalation?
A
The ribs are raised and the diaphragm is lowered, causing the lungs to expand
25
What happens during exhalation?
The muscles raising the ribs relax and the diaphragm also relaxes, causing the lungs to come back to their normal size
26
What happens when air is obstructed or forced to pass through a constricted space by manipulating the airstream?
audible sounds can be produced
27
Where is the larynx situated?
behind and below the prominence in the throat
28
What is the larynx made up of?
the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, attached to the top of the trachea, as well as the arytenoid cartilages
29
Where are the cricoid cartilages positioned?
Above thyroid cartilage and tracheal rings
30
Where are the thyroid cartilages positioned?
In between cricoid cartilage and tracheal rings
31
Where are the tracheal rings positioned?
Below cricoid and thyroid cartilages
32
Where is the arytenoid cartilage positioned?
mounted on the thyroid cartilage
33
What are the vocal folds?
two thick muscular flaps, resembling a pair of lips, housed in the larynx
34
What are these vocal folds attached to?
At the back- the arytenoid cartilage. If the arytenoid cartilage moves, the vocal folds move as well
35
Rotation of the arytenoid cartilages
the rotation of the arytenoid cartilages and their sliding apart along the thyroid cartilage, opens a three dimensional space between the inner edges of the vocal folds (the glottis)
36
What is the glottis?
A three-dimensional triangular space between the inner edges of the vocal folds
37
What is the primary biological function of the larynx?
to control the passage of air to and from the lungs while breathing, and to prevent food and liquids from accidentally entering the lungs
38
What is the secondary function of the larynx?
ability to produce different modes of phonation
39
What is phonation?
Phonation is the use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy with the help of an airstream provided by the respiratory system, which can be modified by articulatory action of the rest of the vocal apparatus.
40
Name the five different modes of phonation created by the larynx
1.Voicelessness/ nil phonation
2. Breathy phonation
3. Whisper phonation
4. Creaky phonation
5. Falsetto phonation
41
Open glottis
When the vocal folds are spread apart we say that the glottis is open
42
Closed glottis
When the vocal folds are pressed together we say that the glottis is closed
43
Name the four main states of the glottis
1. Wide open
2. Narrow glottis
3. Glottis in vibration
4. Closed glottis
44
What sounds are produced when the glottis is wide open as in normal breathing?
voiceless sounds like /p/ and /t/ in English
45
What sounds are produced when the glottis is narrow (i.e. the vocal folds are brought close together but not so close as to create vibration)?
Restricted airstream resulting in fricative sounds like /h/, a voiceless glottal fricative and in whispers
46
What does it mean to say that the glottis is in vibration?
the edges of the vocal folds are touching each other causing vibration in the glottis. During this process, the air passes between the vocal folds in a series of rapid, tiny puffs producing voiced sounds such as /b/, /d/ and /g/ and so on. This vibration in the vocal folds is what is commonly known as phonation
47
What does phonation refer to?
voicing created by vibration in the vocal folds
48
What does it mean to say that the glottis is closed?
the vocal folds are firmly pressed together so that air cannot pass between them
49
When is the glottis closed in speech?
during production of glottal stop
50
What two parts does the pharynx connect to each other?
the larynx to the oral cavity
51
What two cavities does the pharynx branch into?
the nasal and the oral cavities
52
How long is the pharynx in women?
approx 7cm long
53
How long is the pharynx in men?
approx 8cm long
54
Describe the tongue
The tongue is a fleshy muscular structure and is the most flexible of the articulators
55
Tongue divisions
1. tip
2. blade
3. front
4. back
5. root
56
Different articulations of bilabial sounds
partially closed as in the initial sound 'wet' or firmly closed as in the initial sounds 'pin' and 'bin'
Completely rounded as in 'fool' or partially rounded as in the vowel sound of 'got'.
57
Where are the teeth situated?
at the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips
58
Dental sounds
sounds made where the tongue touches the upper teeth, for instance, the initial consonant sound in 'three' and 'this'
59
Labiodental sounds
lips brought into contact with the upper teeth to produce sounds like the initial sounds in 'fit' and 'van'
60
What is the alveolar ridge?
the ridge behind the upper teeth and the hard palate
61
Alveolar sounds
Sounds made with the tongue making firm contact with the alveolar ridge are called alveolar sounds, e.g. the initial sounds in 'tin' and 'din'.
62
What is the hard palate?
the hard concave area immediately behind the teeth ridge and before the velum in the oral cavity, often called the 'roof of the mouth'
63
What is the velum?
the soft, muscular portion behind the hard palate
64
What happens when the velum is raised?
the only escape for the air is through the mouth, resulting in the production of oral sounds only
65
what happens when the velum is lowered?
air can escape through mouth and nose
66
what happens when the velum is lowered and the oral passage is closed?
air escapes through the nasal cavity and consequently nasal sounds are produced like /m/ /n/ and /ŋ/
67
Give an example of a language where nasalized sounds are produced when the velum is lowered and the oral passage is not closed?
In Hindi- nasalized sounds such as /ha:/
68
What is there said to be in speech when the velum is raised?
a velic closure, and during a velic closure, velar sounds are articulated
69
What are velar sounds?
sounds articulated when the velum is raised, for instance, the final sound in 'tick' and the initial sounds in 'kin' and 'good'
70
What is the uvula?
the small hanging protuberance dangling at the back of the mouth, see if we open the mouth wide and keep the body of the tongue low in the mouth
71
When does the uvula vibrate?
during the articulation of 'r' sound in many French dialects
72
Task Question 1a: In the production and transmission of speech sounds, WHAT encodes the speech signal and WHAT decodes it?
In the production and transmission of speech sounds, the source encodes the speech signal and the recipient decodes it
73
Task Question 1b: The muscular wall which separates the thoracic cavity from the abdomen is called the WHAT?
The muscular wall which separates the thoracic cavity from the abdomen is called the diaphragm
74
Task Question 1c: WHAT pulmonic airstream is caused when the air is exhaled?
An egressive pulmonic airstream is caused when the air is exhaled.
75
Task Question 1d: WHAT pulmonic airstream is set in motion when the air is inhaled?
An ingressive pulmonic airstream is set in motion when the air is inhaled.
76
Task Question 1e: 'Adam's Apple' is the more common name for WHAT?
'Adam's Apple' is the more common name for the larynx (in men).
77
Task Question 1f: When air is exhaled, the diaphragm becomes more WHAT?
When air is exhaled, the diaphragm becomes more relaxed.
78
Task Question 1g: The space between the vocal folds is called the WHAT?
The space between the vocal folds is called the glottis.
79
Task Question 1h: The small hanging protuberance at the back of the mouth is called the WHAT?
The small hanging protuberance at the back of the mouth is called the uvula.
80
Task Question 1i: What is commonly called the soft palate?
The velum is commonly called the soft palate.
81
Task Question 2. What role does the glottis play in the production of speech?
The open, closed and intermediary states of the glottis play a vital role in the production of speech as these allow the production of different sounds. When the glottis is open (i.e. the vocal folds are spread far apart) as in normal breathing, voiceless sounds are produced (nil phonation). When the glottis is closed, the glottal stop can be produced. When the glottis is narrow, i.e. the vocal folds are pulled close together, but not so close as to create vibration, fricatives such as the glottal fricative /h/ are produced as well as whispers. When the glottis is in vibration, i.e. when the vocal folds are held together tightly, at the right tension so that the vocal folds are touching each other, the vocal folds are set in vibration, opening and closing rapidly as rapid tiny puffs of air push through the glottis. When the glottis is in vibration, voiced sounds are produced, e.g. /b/ and /g/.
82
What is the difference between voice and speech?
voice does not always equate to speech, for example an infant crying is not speech, it is a vocalisation. Specifically, speech is the oral expression of thoughts and ideas which alter the basic tone of voice into specific identifiable sounds
83
What happens to the diaphragm when we inhale?
the diaphragm contracts and expands vertically, lifting ribcage and allowing the lungs to fill with air
84
What happens to the diaphragm when we exhale?
the diaphragm and ribcage relax again , causing the lungs to remove C02 by breathing out (after inhalation)
85
Describe the vocal folds
white ligaments of tissue that position opposite to each other in the larynx
86
Where is the larynx located between?
the base of the tongue and the top of the passageway to the lungs, known as the trachea
87
When are the vocal folds always open?
during speech so that we can breathe
88
What is voice generated by?
airflow from the lungs (airstream)
89
The Bernoulli effect
When it is time to speak, the pressure below the larynx increases, until it blows the vocal folds apart.
The vocal folds are first forced apart at the bottom, followed by the top
The pressure forces the air through the vocal folds, creating suction as we exhale
This suction pulls the vocal folds together at the bottom, followed by the top
When the air from the lungs blows past the vocal folds at a high speed, the vocal folds vibrate
In order to produce typical loud speech, the vocal folds and larynx must vibrate normally
90
How is speech produced?
through coordinated muscle action in the head, throat, chest, mouth, nasal cavity and abdomen
91
How long does speech development require?
years of practise
92
What does a child learn to do during speech development?
regulate muscle action in the head, throat, chest, mouth, nasal cavity and abdomen to produce understandable speech
93
What do we position in reference to permanent parts of our vocal tract such as the roof of our mouth?
the tongue, jaw, velum and lips- active articulators
94
Is speech simple or complex?
complex
95
Why is speech important?
plays a fundamental role in our everyday lives
96
What is the fundamental difference between language and speech?
language is an abstract theoretical form of communication, which is not limited to spoken language, containing languages which use gestures for example. Contrastively, speech is a specific manifestation of language which is produced with the vocal tract. Language is something only humans have, but many animals use their vocal tracts to communicate.
97
What distinguishes the field of phonetics from the field of phonology?
meaning, sounds themselves do not carry meaning, but the study of abstract categories of sound (i.e. in phonology) can carry meaning, and are not necessarily arbitrary
98
What makes speech interactive?
1. Supplemented with facial expressions, bodily expressions and movements
2. We are hearing, seeing & producing speech, and we take turns & interrupt each other
3. The encoder has an idea in mind and articulates it with their vocal tract
4. The decoder (i.e. the recipient) hears the speech stream and analyses it into smaller parts
99
What are sounds?
pressure waves that propagate through the air to our ears
100
What causes sounds?
perturbation of air particles
101
What do waves move through?
compression and rarefaction of air particles
102
What is compression?
increase in an item's density
103
What is rarefaction?
decrease in an item's density
104
How do sound waves travel through the ears?
1. Moving air hits ears, gets channelled through ears and subsequently hits eardrum
2. This moving air then gets amplified in eardrum
3. The little bones inside the ear get moved by the sound
4. the bones stimulate the inner ear (the cochlea) that is full of fluid and little hairs
5. The bones move the fluid which stimulates the hairs
6. These hairs when they move trigger a neural impulse to our brain, and that is what we experience as sound
105
Name the two acoustic characteristics that sound waves possess
an amplitude (loudness) & frequency (pitch)
106
Why are sounds described as complex?
they often include bunch of waves on top of each other with lots of different frequencies and amplitudes of these different frequencies.
This complexity gives the voice a rich character
107
What other group of species make sounds ("vocalisations") with their vocal tracts?
vertebrates (animals with backbones) i.e., frogs, birds, etc
108
Is speech most often ingressive or egressive?
egressive
109
Give an example of an ingressive sound we make?
when sucking in air
110
Explain the source & filter model of speech production
1. Air pushed from lungs through the vocal folds housed in the larynx, the source of voice
2. Air is filtered through the supra laryngeal vocal tract
3. Out through mouth and nose
111
Differences in pitch between men and women
Men tend to have lower pitch voices, women tend to have higher pitch voices
112
What is the frequency of a lower pitch voice?
approx. 80-120 hz
113
What is the frequency of a higher pitch voice?
approx 160-180 to 250 hz
114
What does frequency refer to?
the number of opening and closings of vocal folds per second
115
How do we control our pitch?
by controlling the tension of our vocal folds
116
What cartilage controls pitch?
the arytenoid cartilage- we open and close the arytenoid cartilage to control pitch
117
Where are the arytenoid cartilages placed?
at the back, mounted on the thyroid cartilage, slide along the thyroid cartilage, creating a gap between vocal folds (glottis)
118
What does a bilabial sound mean?
the sound is produced with both lips
119
What does a labiodental sound mean?
the sound is produced with the teeth on the lips
120
What does a dental sound mean?
the sound is produced with the tongue on the teeth
121
What does an alveolar sound mean?
produced with ridge right behind teeth
122
What does a postalveolar sound mean?
produced a little bit further back from the teeth ridge towards the mouth
123
What does a retroflex sound mean?
produced with the tip of the tongue a bit further back from the alveolar ridge
124
What does a palatal sound mean?
the sound is produced at the hard palate, i.e. the roof of the mouth
125
what does a velar sound mean?
the velum is closed and a sound is produced by the tongue touching the soft palate
126
What does a uvular sound mean?
produced with the uvula, piece of flesh at the back of the throat that you gargle with
127
What does a pharyngeal sound mean?
produced with the tube that is in the throat, above the larynx, i.e. the pharynx
128
What does a glottal sound mean?
sound articulated at the glottis, i.e. the hole between the vocal folds
129
Name two example of stop consonants
plosives and taps
130
What is the three letter phrase that refers to how a sound is filtered?
manner of articulation
131
What is the difference between a plosive and a tap?
plosives tap the air for a second but taps are like a stop, but quicker, much more rapid tap of the tongue
132
When are nasal sounds produced?
when the velum is raised and the oral passage is closed
133
What does it mean to say that a sound is nasal?
produced through nose
134
What do trills and fricatives have in common?
they do not make a complete closure, they let a restricted amount of air through a small gap which creates turbulence
135
Give two examples of resonant articulations
open approximation (approximants) and vowels
136
How are resonant articulations filtered?
by moving the tongue and lips around in different ways and not impeding the air much in doing so, just changing the shape of oral cavity and throat
137
What is a key problem with representing speech?
it is an ephemeral and time-bound phenomenon (Ogden, 2017) so it lacks permanency and difficult to transcribe
138
Name two keys ways of representing speech?
phonetic transcription (IPA) and acoustic representation (oscillograms & spectrograms)
139
What does it mean to transcribe phonetically?
transcribe sounds into written symbols
140
What principle is used to create phonetic transcriptions?
alphabetic principle- one-to-one mapping of letter to sound
141
What assumption is made with phonetic transcription and how do we get around this limitation?
that speech can be described by one sound (phoneme) at a time, like beads on a string
Resolve this by accepting that phonetic transcription is an idealisation or a "convenient fiction" ('cat', 'kit', 'coot')
142
Give three reasons for why we cannot just transcribe into the English alphabet
1. Goal is to represent the sounds in a stable unambiguous alphabet
2. English is not spelt phonetically, e.g. 26 symbols for about 45 sounds, 'plough', 'cough', 'although'
3. We want a system that is consistent across different spoken languages
143
What are the three main principles of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) ?
1. to transcribe only "linguistically significant" information, e.g. not people's different voices caused by physical differences
2. each symbol corresponds to a distinct segment or speech sound
3. Devised to cover all speech sounds of spoken languages
144
Name three segments included in the IPA
consonants- produced with constriction in the vocal tract
vowels- produced without constriction in the vocal tract
suprasegmentals- aspects of speech that persist over multiple segments, duration, loudness, tempo, etc.
145
Name the full list of sections included in the IPA
1. Consonants (pulmonic)
2. Vowels
3. Consonants (non-pulmonic)
4. Other symbols
5. Diacritics
6. Suprasegmentals
146
How can you visualise the sounds of speech?
turn on microphone to generate sounds into an electrical signal, and then save these sounds onto your computer, save onto an uncompressed .wav file
147
What does an oscillogram display?
sound pressure (y-axis) over time (x-axis)
148
What does a spectrogram display?
frequency (y-axis) over time (y-axis), and amplitude represented by darkness
149
Name two ways of acoustically representing speech
oscillograms (waveforms) and spectrograms
150
What does a periodic noise refer to?
repeated vocal fold vibration
151
What does an aperiodic noise refer to?
irregular vocal fold vibration
152
What does a transient sound mean?
inconsistent noise, i.e. random burst spike
153
What does a continuous sound mean?
consistency in acoustic representation of sound
154
What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?
phonetics is the study of the production of speech sounds whereas phonology is the study of the abstract categories of speech sounds and their meaning, sounds themselves do not carry meaning so phonetics does not study sound meaning at all
155
Explain the process of speaking. Refer to the source and filter model.
A pulmonic airstream travels from lungs through to the larynx, the source of voice when we exhale before speech production, this air then is filtered in the supra laryngeal tract and is released through the mouth and nose where sound is articulated
156
What are two different modes of phonation? Describe the positioning of the vocal folds in each.
One mode of phonation is voicing. Voicing occurs when the vocal folds are so close together that they touch each other, causing a suction when we exhale, so that the vocal folds open and close consecutively at a very past pace due to the build up and decrease of the air pressure behind the larynx (the Bernoulli effect). Another mode of phonation is whisper, occurring when the vocal folds are close together, but not so close together as to cause phonation. The air passes through a narrow constriction, causing a release of turbulent air.
