Module 3 Flashcards
Phonetics
-The study of speech sounds
Three main branches of phonetics which address different aspects of sound
- Articulatory phonetics
- Acoustic phonetics
- Auditory phonetics
Articulatory phonetics
-The study of how speech sounds are made (articulated)
Acoustic phonetics
-The study of the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air
Auditory phonetics
-The study of the perception of speech sounds (also called perceptual phonetics)
What is sound
-Auditory perceptions of air pressure fluctuations
Vibration
- The source of any sound
Sound waves
- Something vibrates and disturbs the air molecules surrounding it
~A sound wave is fluctuation of air pressure
Air pressure
- How close together air molecules are
~Air is elastic; it gaves in, then pushes back
*When something vibrates, air molecules get pushed together, then pulled apart
Pressure wave
-Alternation of higher and lower pressure
Sound
-An air pressure fluctuation traveling through the air that hits the eardrum (or other apparatus designed to receive sound, like a microphone)
~A sound id the thing we hear when there is an air pressure fluctuation
Acoustic medium
- Sound can travel through mediums other than air (water, walls, other gases, etc)
~ Only not in a vacuum-> like in space
Vocal folds
-Create vibrations which produce sound waves that can be perceived as sound
Vocal tract
- Specialized for making speech sounds (Think of it like a woodwind instrument)` ~Air flow *Lungs ~Vibration *Vocal folds (glottis) ~Shape of instrument *Upper vocal tract
How it works
-Start with air pushed out by lungs through the trachea to the larynx
- Larynx contains the glottis (vocal folds); if vocal folds are:
~Open: Air from lungs passes through; vocal folds do not vibrate
~Closed: Air from lungs repeatedly pushed the folds apart as it passes through, resulting in vibration
-Finally, the air is shaped by the upper vocal tract
~Tongue, lips, etc
Glottis
-The opening between the vocal folds
~We ca open and close the glottis. During normal breathing, it is open. If the vocal folds are held loosely together while exhaling, we create voicing
Voicing
-The buzzing sound of the glottis rapidly opening and closing, and the vocal folds vibrating
~Voicing happens iv voiced sounds like{z}
* Say “sssssssszzzzzzzssssssszzzzzz” and touch your larynx with a finger (feel the vibration)
Voiced sounds
-Vocal folds are closed, vibrating
Voiceless sounds
-Vocal folds are open, not vibrating
The Bernoulli effect
-Lung are is pushed out. The vocal folds are pushed apart. Air flows out through the narrow gap
-The vocal folds are pushed apart again and the cycle repeats itself
-The vocal folds are sucked back together by the Bernoulli effect(by the low pressure that created between the vocal folds)
-Voicing is not the result of very fast muscle movement
~No human muscle can move as quickly as the vocal folds vibrate
- The Bernoulli Effect is an aerodynamic effect- a side effect of air flow at the glottis
~All we have to do is exhale air when the vocal folds are held closely together at the right tension, and it happens automatically
Producing speech sounds
-Once air has been pushed through the vocal folds, we can use parts of out upper vocal tracts to shape different sounds ~Lips ~Teeth ~Tongue ~Alveolar ridge ~Palate ~Uvula ~Velum ~Nasal cavity
Two main types of speech sounds produced by humans
- Consonants
- Vowels
Consonants
- The airflow is constricted in some way
- Can be voiced to voiceless
Vowels
- The airflow is not constricted
- Usually voiced
How many different sounds are in the English language?
-In “Standard American” English, there are about 40
~About 15 vowels
~About 25 consonants
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
-Each symbol represents a sound used in language
~Not to be confused with orthography
-About 80 consonant symbols
-About 30 vowel symbols
-Diacritics for more precise transcription
-Different languages use different sets of sounds
Using the IPA
-Generally, each symbol represents one sound
~Symbols in brackets[] indicate IPA
~Pay close attention to the symbols
*Symbols may look similar, but represent different sounds
**[n] and [ŋ]
**[r] and [ɾ]
- There are some symbols which don’t represent actual sounds
~Diacritics
-The IPA chart is designed to correspond with the articulatory parameters of consonants and vowels
~Consonants are arranged based on
*Place of articulation, manner of articulation, voicing
~Vowels are arranged based on
*Tongue height, tongue backness, lip rounding
Diacritics
-For more precise transcription, such as ~[.] *syllable boundary ~[:] *lengthening
Place of articulation
-Refers to where in the vocal tract the air is constricted ~Bilabial ~Labiodental ~Dental (or interdental) ~Alveolar ~Post-alveolar/ Alveopalatal ~Palatal ~Velar ~Glottal
Bilabial
-Both Lips ~In SAE *[p] (voiceless) **Pat *[b], [m], [w] (voiced) **Bat, Mat, Wet
Labiodental
-Upper teeth and lower lip ~In SAE *[f] (voiceless) **Fat *[v] (voiced) **Vat
Dental (or interdental)
-Tongue tip right behind the upper teeth, or between the teeth ~In SAE *[θ] (voiceless) **THin *[ð] (voiced) **THen
Alveolar
-Tongue tip on alveolar ridge ~In SAE *[t], [s] (voiceless) **top, sit *[d], [n], [z], [l], [ɹ], [r] (voiced) **Dog, Nut, Zoo, Lap, Rap, buTTer
Post-alveolar/Alveopalatal
-Tongue hits between the alveolar ridge and palate ~In SAE *[ʃ], [tʃ] (voiceless) **SHoe, CHoose *[ʒ], [dʒ] (voiced) **meaSure, Jeans
Palatal
-The tongue and the hard palate
~In SAE
*[j] (voiced)
**Yet
Velar
-Back of the tongue and the velum ~In SAE *[k] (voiceless) **Cat *[g]; [ŋ] (voiced) **Gun, baNG
Glottal
-Using the glottis ~The open space between the vocal folds ~In SAE *[h], [ʔ] (voiceless) **Hat, uh-oh/whaT
Manner of articulation
-We can manipulate the airflow in different ways when we make consonants sounds
-The was a consonant sounds is produced
~Place of articulation tells you where in the vocal tract a sound is made
~Manner of articulation tells you how it sound is made
Stops/plosives
-block the airflow completely, then let it go abruptly ~In SAE *[p], [t], [k], [ʔ] (voiceless) **Pat, Tall, Cat, whaT *[b], [d], [g] (voiced) **Bed, Dad, Good
Fricatives
-Almost block the airflow completely, and force it through a narrow gap, creating friction ~In SAE *[f], [θ], [ʃ], [h], [s] (voiceless) **Fat, THick, SHoe, Hat, Soil *[v], [ð], [ʒ], [z] (voiced) **Vat, THat, leiSure, Zap
Affricates
-Combine a stop with a fricative (a brief stopping of airflow, released through narrow gap) ~In SAE *[tʃ] (voiceless) **CHoose *[dʒ] (voiced) **juDGE
Nasals
-Most sounds are produced orally, when velum raised, preventing airflow from entering nasal cavity
-When velum is lowered, air is blocked from going through the mouth and flows through the nose instead
~In SAE
*[m], [n], [ŋ] (voiced)
**Mat, Name, wiNG
Liquids
-Let the air flow around the sides of the tongue as the tongue tip goes near the alveolar ridge
~In SAE
*[l], [ɹ] (voiced)
Like, Red
[l] is called a ‘lateral approximant/liquid’
[ɹ] is called a ‘retroflex approximant/liquid’
Glides
-Produce with the tongue moving to or from a vowel position
~In SAE
*[j], [w] (voiced)
Yellow, Wish
Approximants
-Liquids and glides
~Articulators approach each other but there is not a complete closure, or enough closure to cause friction
~They fall somewhere between vowels and consonants in terms of ‘obstruction of airflow)
Tap/Flap
-Briefly tapping the tongue tip to the alveolar ridge (rather than a full stop)
~In SAE
*[r] (voiced
**buTTer, waiTer
Different varieties of English that may use different sounds
-Consider
~[w] and [ʍ]
~[ʒ] and [dʒ]
Vowels
-Produce with relatively free flow of air
~but air flow is still shaped by tongue and lips
- but they are articulated differently, vowels and consonants are described differently
-Usually voiced, so voicing is not a meaningful distinction for vowels
-Airflow is not constricted with vowels, so place and manner of articulation are not meaningful distinction of vowels either
~Instead we describe vowels based on
*Tongue height
*Tongue backness
*Lip rounding
Tongue height
-Space inside the mouth has a high vs. low area
High vowels
-Sound is made with tongue in raised position (towards roof of mouth)
~In SAE
*[i], [I], [u], [ʊ]
**mEEt, mItt, sOOn, pUt
Low vowels
-Sound is made with tongue lowered (towards bottom of mouth)
~In SAE
*[æ], [a]
**mAt, pOt
Middle vowels
-Sounds made with tongue in mid-height position
~In SAE
*[ɛ], [ə], [ʌ], [ɔ]
** sEnd, Above, abOve, cAUGHt
*The difference between [ə] and [ʌ] is stress
**[ə] only occurs in unstressed syllables
**[ʌ] only occurs in stressed syllables
Tongue backness
-Refers to which part of the tongue is being moved to make the sound
Front vowels
-Front part of tongue moves to make sound
~In SAE
*[i], [I], [ɛ], [æ]
**hEAt, hIt, hEn, hAt
Back vowels
-Back part of tongue moves to make sound
~In SAE
*[u], [ʊ], [ɔ], [a]
**bOOt, pUt, fOUGHt, hOt
Central vowels
-Tongue position is centralized
~In SAE
*[ʌ], [ə]
**hUt, Amok
Lip rounding
-Some vowels sounds involve rounding of the lips
~In SAE
*[u], [ɔ], [ʊ]
**sUE, bOUGHt, pUt
Diphthings
-Consists of two vowels sounds combined ~Start in one vocalic position and moved to another *In SAE **[aI], [aʊ]. [eI], [oʊ], [ɔI] bIte, hOW, wEIGH, bOne, bOY
Practice
-What is the IPA symbol for the bolded sound and how is it described in terms of articulation
~mEEt
*[i] high vowel, front vowel, unrounded
~puSH
*[ʃ] voiceless, Post-alveolar/Alveopalatal, and fricatives
Assignment/Quiz
- Look at a word transcribe in IPA, and say what word it is in English
- See a word written in English, and transcribe it into IPA
- Look at a group of sounds and state what articulatory parameters they have in common, or how they are different
Using IPA
- Sometimes the IPA symbols correspond with English writing
~[s], [t], [p], [k], [m], [n], [z], [h]
-Other times they don’t correspond with English writing
~[r], [x], [c], [I], [j]
-Sometimes IPA symbols look nothing like English writing
~[ʃ], [θ], [ʔ], [ʒ], [ɹ]
Additionally, in English
- More than one spelling may be used for the same sound (or combination of sounds)
~Ate, bAIt, grEAt, wEIGHt [eI]
~miX, kiCKS, reeKS, eXCept, aCCept [ks]
~bIte, bYte, mIGHt, pIE, rYe, AISle [aI]
~Sell, Cell, SCintillate [s]
-More than one sound may be represented by the same spelling
~THis, THin [ð]/[θ]
~miX, XYlophone, eXaggerate [ks]/[z]/[gz]
~rEAd, rEAd, grEAt, rEAct [i],[ɛ]/[eI]/[i.æ]
-More than one orthographic letter may be used to represent a single sound
~SHeet, THick, CHicken, mOOn [ʃ]/[θ]/[tʃ]/[u]
-One orthographic letter may be used to represent multiple sounds
~eXactly, miX [gz]/[ks]
