Phonetics Flashcards
Phonetics
the study of the physical sounds of human speech
Articulatory
what the body parts involved are doing
Acoustic
what the colliding bits of air are doing
Auditory
what the ear and brain hear/perceive
Syllabic Consonants
consonants that form syllables on their own, acting as the nucleus of the syllable
Monopthongs
one quality in one vowel space
Diphthongs
two qualities in one vowel space
- [eɪ] in eight
- [oʊ] in tote
- [ɔɪ] in boy
- [aɪ] in island
- [aʊ] in outside
front vowels
Produced with the middle/back of the tongue pushed closer to the front of the mouth
- [i] in queen
- [ɪ] in wig
- [ɛ] in bet
- [æ] in bag
central vowels
Produced with the tongue in the middle of the mouth
- [ə] in about
- [ʌ] in cup
- Schwa ([ə]) appears in unstressed syllables
- Wedge ([ʌ]) appears in stressed syllables
back vowels
Produced with the tongue closer to the back of the mouth
- [u] in food
- [ʊ] in book
- [ɔ] in all
- [ɑ] in father
high/close vowels
Produced with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth
- [i] in queen
- [ɪ] in wig
- [u] in food
- [ʊ] in book
mid vowels
Produced with the tongue neither very close nor very far from the roof of the mouth
- [ʌ] in cup
- [ɔ] in all
- [ə] in about
- [ɛ] in bet
low/open vowels
Produced with the tongue far from the roof of the mouth
- [ɑ] in father
- [æ] in dad
rounded vowels
Produced with lips rounded (vs. unrounded)
- [ɔ] in all
- [u] in food
- [ʊ] in book
- Only back vowels in English are rounded except [ɑ]
- All other vowels are unrounded
tense or lax vowels
Produced as a combination of features: length, where the
tongue root is, height, etc.
- Lax: [ɑ], [æ], [ʊ], [ɪ], [ɛ], [ʌ], [ɔ], [ə]
- Easy way to remember: all vowels represented by a
symbol not used in typeface English
- Tense: [u], [i]
suprasegmental features
features that exist above the segment level
- length, tone, intonation, pitch, stress
- segments are the same, but intonation changes to
change expressive value
segments
vowels and consonants
length
duration of the sounds
- in english, length distinctions do not change the meaning
- other languages do have length distinctions
pitch
measures the fundamental frequency (fO) of your voice
- in hertz (Hz)
tone
a change in pitch that changes the meaning of a single word
- not contrastive in english for determining meaning
intonation
changes in pitch that change the expressive value of a phrase
- “what” vs. “what?”
stress
combination of length, loudness, and pitch
- one syllable has primary stress [ ‘ ]
