IPA Flashcards
What position is the vocal tract in when producing vowels
Open
What position is the vocal tract in when producing consonants
Obstruction OR constriction
How to classify consonants
- voicing
- place of articulation
- manner of articulation
How to classify vowels
- Height
- Articulation
- Roundness
- Tenseness
What are the two types of transcription
- Phonemic notation
- Phonetic Notation
What type of transcription uses square brackets?
Phonetic Notation
What type of transcription uses slashes?
Phonemic notation
Define phonemic notation
Note only the raw sounds without detail of pronounciation
Define phonetic notation
Notes the details of pronounciation
What does phonetic notation use to represent different factors of pronounciation?
Diacritics
T/F: Phonetic notation is broad transcription
False; it is narrow
T/F: Phonemic Notation is broad transcription
True
List the 6 common diacritic (phonological) processes in CDN English
- aspiration
- unreleased stops
- tap
- nasalisation
- syllabic liquids and nasals
- dark-l (velarized l)
What does the diacritic [ʰ] represent
Aspiration
What is missing from this phonetic transcription of the word “pie”: [paj]
An aspiration diacritic after the “p” [pʰaj]
What does the diacritic [ ̚] represent?
An unreleased stop
Define aspiration and when it occurs
When a puff of air follows a consonant such as after the “p” in pit
Define an unreleased stop and when it occurs
When a stop consonant does not have a puff of air to indicate its ending such as the “t” in “cat”
What is missing from this phonetic transcription of “wood” [wʊd]
An unreleased stop diacritic after the d: [wʊd ̚ ]
What is this diacritic called [ ̚]
Corner or clip
No audible release
What is this diacritic called [ʰ]
Superscript h
What does the IPA symbol [ɾ] represent
A tap
Define a tap and when it occurs
A sound that replaces [d] or [t] when it is between syllables and the second syllable is UNSTRESSED
What is wrong with the following phonetic transcription of the word “butter” [bʌttɹ̩]
The “tt” should be replaced by a tap [ɾ]
What is this diacritic called: [ɾ]
A tap
What does the following diacritic represent: [ ̃]
Nasalization
Define nasalization and when it occurs
Whenever the vowel is followed by a nasalized consonant
What is missing from the following transcription of the word “sink”: [sɪŋk]
A nasalization diacritic above the ɪ: [sɪ̃ŋk]
What is this diacritic called: [ ̃]
Tilde
Define syllabic liquids and nasals
Consonants that carry more sonorous properties than other consonants and are able to stand as the nucleus of syllables
Define the conditions under which an “l” becomes a dark/velarized “l”
When an [l] is followed by a consonant or at the end of a word
Define the conditions in which an [l] is light
When it is followed by a vowel
T/F: the syllable following a tap is always unstressed
True!
How is a syllabic consonant identified in phonetic transcription
With a line underneath ie [hɹ̩]
What does a line underneath a nasal or liquid represent?
A consonant that takes the place of a vowel
What can make up the nucleus of a syllable
A vowel (and following semi-vowel j/w) or sonorant
What is before the nucleus of a syllable?
Onset
What follows the nucleus of a syllable
A Coda
Describe the characteristics and functions of a nucleus
-the core of a syllable; cannot be a syllable without a nucleus
-mostly vowels
-can be liquids or nasals
Define the characteristics and functions of the onset of a syllable
-Precedes the nucleus to start the syllable
-can be empty (Ø)
-can be any consonant other than ŋ
-can be a single consonant or a cluster
Define the characteristics and functions of the coda of a syllable
-follows the nucleus to end the syllable
-can be empty (Ø)
-any consonant
-can be single consonant, a cluster, and include affixes
T/F: Any consonant can be an onset in Canadian English
False; ŋ is restricted from being an onset
T/F: syllable trees are first broken down by Onset, Nucleus and Coda
False; it is first broken into the onset (O) and the rhyme (R)
Define open syllables
Any syllable that does not have a coda
Define stress at a phonetic level
The relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a word
How is stress signaled?
By increased loudness and vowel length, full articulation of the vowel and changes in pitch
Define secondary stress
A syllable that is stressed more than unstressed but not stressed as strongly as a syllable with primary stress
Define minimal pair
Two words (with different meanings) whose pronounciation differ by exactly one sound
ie: [tʰim] (team) versus [tʰin] (teen)
Define distribution
A segment’s position relative to other sounds (ie one of the environments for [t] is [s]__[j] so it can be found between [s] and [j] in English)
Define complementary distribution
Sounds that cannot occur in the same phonetic environment
Sound A will never occur in the same environment as sound B
ie: [i] and [ĩ] or [p] and [pʰ]
Define phoneme
One of the most basic phonological units of which all words in every language is produced (letters)
Define allophone
Different pronounciations of the same phoneme, carrying the same meaning (ie /s/ in cats [z], cues [s] and churches [ez]
Define alternation
When a word turns up in two or more forms and there are systemic sound-differences between the forms (ie the way the /n/ is pronounced in fan vs fan club)
List the six most common phonological processes in English
- assimiliation
- dissimilation
- insertion
- deletion
- lenition
- fortition
Define what assimilation does
Causes a sound (or gesture) to become more like a neighbouring sound (or gesture) with some respect to phonetic property
Typically done to make sounds easier to articulate in conjunction with surrounding sounds
ie: “uNbelievable” becoming “uMbelievable”
Define dissimiliation
Two close or adjacent sounds to become less similar with some respect to some property by means of a change in one or both sounds
ie: “sixths” becoming [sɪ́ksts]
Define insertion
When a segment not present at the phonemic (written) level to be added to the phonetic form of a word
ie: “hamster” becoming [hæ̃mpstəɹ]
Define deletion
Eliminating a sound that was present at the phonemic level
ie: “police” becoming [ˈpʰl̥is]
Define fortition
When sounds become stronger
ie: voiceless stops become aspirated when they occur at the beginning of a stressed syllable ([tɑp] becoming [tʰɑp])
Define lenition
When sounds become weaker
ie: flapping in order to make a word easier to say
Define phonotactics
Permitted combinations of phonemes in the structure of a language
What is the maximum of consonants permitted in an onset in English?
3
What is the maximum of consonants permitted in a coda in English?
4
