Linguistic Phonetics

Question 1

Describe the difference between Speech and Language

Answer 1

Speech: is equal to articulation, motor control, and physical movement

Language: is a system of symbols; phonology is specific to sound production

Question 2

Bottom line of speech…

Answer 2

A pattern of movements

A pattern of acoustic vibrations

The conversion of language to sound; speech is the motor production of the language system

Studied by observing the movements and by recording the acoustic signal

Question 3

What are graphemes?

Give some examples.

Answer 3

Graphemes: also known as Orthography are printed letters

One letter often represents more than one speech sound

Examples: “c” in cent and car

OR

“o” in bone, cod, dough, through

Question 4

Define Allographs

Give some examples…

Answer 4

Allographs are: different letter sequences or patterns that represent the same sound

Example: the sound “ooo” or /u/ can be spelled orthographically as, “loop” “through” “threw”“canoe” “fruit”

Question 5

What are silent letters?

Answer 5

Silent letters are: written letters or graphemes that represent no sound

Example: know, bite, khaki

Question 6

Define Digraphs

Give some examples

Answer 6

Digraphs are: pairs of letters representing one sound

Examples: “shoes” “steak” “tissue”

Question 7

What are the SIX systems of Language?

Answer 7

1. Phonology
2. Morphology
3. Semantics
4. Syntax
5. Pragmatics
6. Prosody

Question 8

Define the study of phonetics.

Answer 8

Phonetics is the study of the production of speech sounds; their form (articulations), substance (acoustic properties), and perception

Application of this study leads to a better understanding and improvement of linguistic expression

Question 9

Describe what Language Learning Disabilities affect and what difficulties are experienced with Specific Language Impairment

Give some examples

Answer 9

Language Learning Disabilities affect usually all aspects of language are affected- spoken and written

Might experience difficulty with academics; many of the systems of language may be affected

Specific Language Impairment does not exhibit the academic difficulties of LLD; perhaps only one of the systems of language is affected

Dyslexia or specific reading disability, phonology may be affected

Social pragmatics disorder

Question 10

What is a morpheme?

Describe the difference between a bound and a free morpheme.

Answer 10

A morpheme is the smallest unit of language which carries meaning

A suffix or prefix

Irregular past tense and irregular plurals are considered to be only one morpheme

A free morpheme can stand alone and carries meaning (Ex. book, car, run)

A bound morpheme carries no meaning and cannot stand alone (Ex. books, belated, creating)

Question 11

Define minimal pairs

Answer 11

Minimal Pairs are words that vary by only one phoneme

A change in a phoneme that changes a morpheme

Ex. cake and bake

Question 12

An Allophone is…

Answer 12

A sound change that does not signal a change in meaning

It is a member of the phoneme family

Aspirated and Unaspirated phoneme

Phonetic differences between words are constrained by the other sounds around the phoneme; this is the phonemic environment and it can create a phonemic difference

Ex. “pop” can be said with an aspirated “puh” or unaspirated “p” sound

Question 13

Describe the complimentary distribution of an allophone

Answer 13

Allophones that must be produced in a certain way due to other sounds in the word; not interchangeable

Ex. get vs got (compare /g/)

Ex2. ball vs. lip (compare /l/)

Question 14

Explain the free variation of an allophone

Answer 14

Allophones that are not linked to phonetic context and are interchangeable

Ex. the “t” in “hit” can be either aspirated or unaspirated; you can do whatever you want and will not affect meaning

Question 15

List the Levels of Linguistic Analysis

Answer 15

1. Graphemes
2. Words
3. Syllables
4. Morphemes
5. Phonemes
6. Allophones