Phonetics

Question 1

Phonetics

Answer 1

the study of the physical sounds of human speech

Question 2

Articulatory

Answer 2

what the body parts involved are doing

Question 3

Acoustic

Answer 3

what the colliding bits of air are doing

Question 4

Auditory

Answer 4

what the ear and brain hear/perceive

Question 5

Syllabic Consonants

Answer 5

consonants that form syllables on their own, acting as the nucleus of the syllable

Question 6

Monopthongs

Answer 6

one quality in one vowel space

Question 7

Diphthongs

Answer 7

two qualities in one vowel space

• [eɪ] in eight
• [oʊ] in tote
• [ɔɪ] in boy
• [aɪ] in island
• [aʊ] in outside

Question 8

front vowels

Answer 8

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

Question 9

central vowels

Answer 9

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

Question 10

back vowels

Answer 10

Produced with the tongue closer to the back of the mouth

• [u] in food
• [ʊ] in book
• [ɔ] in all
• [ɑ] in father

Question 11

high/close vowels

Answer 11

Produced with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth

• [i] in queen
• [ɪ] in wig
• [u] in food
• [ʊ] in book

Question 12

mid vowels

Answer 12

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

Question 13

low/open vowels

Answer 13

Produced with the tongue far from the roof of the mouth

• [ɑ] in father
• [æ] in dad

Question 14

rounded vowels

Answer 14

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

Question 15

tense or lax vowels

Answer 15

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]

Question 16

suprasegmental features

Answer 16

features that exist above the segment level
- length, tone, intonation, pitch, stress
- segments are the same, but intonation changes to
change expressive value

Question 17

segments

Answer 17

vowels and consonants

Question 18

length

Answer 18

duration of the sounds

• in english, length distinctions do not change the meaning
• other languages do have length distinctions

Question 19

pitch

Answer 19

measures the fundamental frequency (fO) of your voice

- in hertz (Hz)

Question 20

tone

Answer 20

a change in pitch that changes the meaning of a single word

- not contrastive in english for determining meaning

Question 21

intonation

Answer 21

changes in pitch that change the expressive value of a phrase
- “what” vs. “what?”

Question 22

stress

Answer 22

combination of length, loudness, and pitch

- one syllable has primary stress [ ‘ ]