Phonetics

Question 1

phonetics

Answer 1

subdiscipline of linguistics which deals with
these and other characteristics of speech sounds.

Question 2

Articulatory phonetics

Answer 2

aims at describing the process of articulation. How do we create speech sounds? In what way does the production of one sound differ from that of another? Which articulation-related criteria can
we use to distinguish and classify different speech sounds?

Question 3

Acoustic phonetics

Answer 3

concentrates on the physical properties of the speech sounds
themselves. What is the physical reality of a speech sound and how can we mea-
sure acoustic differences between speech sounds? Which physical properties are
characteristic of particular sounds?

Question 4

auditory phonetics

Answer 4

investigates how
speech sounds are perceived and processed by the listener.

Question 5

sound inventory

Answer 5

pool of sounds which speakers use to construct the words
of their language

Question 6

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Answer 6

phoneticians have established transcription systems which have a separate symbol
for each sound. The most well-known and most standardized transcription system

Question 7

phonetic symbols

Answer 7

directly represent sounds in a one-to-one fashion.

Question 8

‘Received Pronunciation’ (RP)

Answer 8

IPA symbols and sample words for all sounds that
occur in the standard accent of British English

Question 9

General American

Answer 9

the standard reference accent of North American English, for which the symbols are typically used.

Question 10

frequency

Answer 10

cycles of variation in air pressure

Question 11

vocal tract

Answer 11

the entire passage above the larynx. This is where speech sounds are shaped.

Question 12

vocal organs’,

Answer 12

term that refers to all parts of the body
involved in speech production, including also the parts up to the larynx such as
lungs and trachea (windpipe).

Question 13

articulators

Answer 13

all parts of the vocal apparatus which
are involved in speech production

active’ and ‘passive’

The former include all those articula-
tors which can be moved (i.e. the tongue, the lips, and the lower jaw), while the
latter term describes those articulators which cannot change their position (e.g.
the upper teeth, the hard palate, etc.).

Question 14

place of articulation.

Answer 14

Since the position of the articulators varies for different
sounds, also the point of obstruction varies accordingly. Linguists therefore use
the point of closest constriction in the vocal tract as a criterion for the description
and classification of consonants.

Question 15

bilabial sounds

Answer 15

involving both lips

Question 16

alveolar

Answer 16

(with obstruction at the alveolar ridge).

Question 17

Labio-dentals

Answer 17

involve only the lower lip and addition-
ally the upper teeth. An example of a labio-dental sound is [f]

Question 18

dental place of articulation

Answer 18

lips do not play a role in production.
These sounds are produced with the tongue immediately behind the upper front
teeth or even protruding between upper and lower front teeth, as in [θ].

Question 19

palato-alveolar sounds,

Answer 19

such as [ ʃ ], the constriction is between the hard palate
and the alveolar ridge,

Question 20

palatal sound

Answer 20

such as [j], the tongue is raised toward the hard
palate.

Question 21

velar sound,

Answer 21

An obstruction at the velum as in [k]

Question 22

glottal place
of articulation.

Answer 22

if the airstream is obstructed at the glottis, as in [h],

Question 23

manner of articulation

Answer 23

The various production methods of consonants are referred to as their
respective
We can use this specification as a criterion
for classifying consonants and for assigning them to different groups or classes.

Question 24

stops

Answer 24

complete stop of the airflow followed by a
release.
because the airflow is stopped completely)
include all of the following: [p, b, t, d, k, ɡ]

Question 25

plosives

Answer 25

because of the burst of
air at the moment of release, which sounds like a small explosion)

Question 26

fricatives

Answer 26

When the air passes through this slight opening, the result is audible friction,
a characteristic noise after which this class of consonants is named
Among the English sounds, [f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h]