Phonetics

Question 1

IPA

Answer 1

International Phonetic Alphabet

Question 2

How many phonemes in English?

Answer 2

44 phonemes

Question 3

What is a phoneme?

Answer 3

smallest unit of speech that distinguishes meaning in a given language

Question 4

phoneme examples

Answer 4

p/b in pop vs bob
z/s in zoo vs sue
s/sh in see vs she

Question 5

what is an allophone?

Answer 5

sublevels of phonemes

Question 6

allophone examples

Answer 6

“clear” vs “dark”
aspirated vs unaspirated stops

Question 7

voiced vs unvoiced sound

Answer 7

vocal folds vibrating vs not

Question 8

place of articulation

Answer 8

point at which the air stream is constricted (bilabial, interdental)

Question 9

manner

Answer 9

how the airstream is modified by the vocal tract to produce the sounds

Question 10

monophthong

Answer 10

one vowel sounds in syllable
ex: “u” in fun

Question 11

diphthong

Answer 11

combination of two vowel sounds in same syllable
ex: “ea” in ear

Question 12

cognates

Answer 12

two sounds produced in the same place or articulation with the same manner, but one is voiced, other is voiceless
ex: coat and goat

Question 13

what is a “vowel blend” or “two-vowel glide”?

Answer 13

diphthong

Question 14

prosody

Answer 14

melody of language (rate, rhythm, stress, intonation)

Question 15

bilabial definition and examples

Answer 15

both lips
p, b, m sounds

Question 16

labiodental definition and examples

Answer 16

bottom lip and top teeth
f, v sounds

Question 17

interdental definition and examples

Answer 17

tongue between front teeth
th sounds (voiced and voiceless)

Question 18

alveolar definition and examples

Answer 18

tongue tip to alveolar ridge
d, l, s, n, etc.

Question 19

palatal definition and examples

Answer 19

tongue (usually front or blade) to the hard palate
r, sh, ch, etc.

Question 20

velar definition and examples

Answer 20

back of tongue to back of soft palate (velum)
k and g (go) sounds

Question 21

glottal definition and examples

Answer 21

made between the two vocal folds. Glottal stop (uh-oh) and h sounds

Question 22

stop (aka ‘plosive’) definition and examples

Answer 22

completely obstruct the airstream then release at that specific place of articulation
ex: completely close the two lips for “p” and “b” then release

Question 23

fricative definition and examples

Answer 23

partially obstruct the airstream to create a precise flow of air/turbulence
“f”, “v”, “s”, “z”, “sh”, etc.

Question 24

affricate definition and examples

Answer 24

a stop + a fricative. completely obstruct the airstream (stop) then release it with turbulence (fricative)
“ch” and g in “Girraffe” sounds

Question 25

liquids examples

Answer 25

"r" and "l" sounds

Question 26

glides examples

Answer 26

y in "yes" and "w" sounds

Question 27

nasal examples

Answer 27

only sounds in English made with airflow through the nasal cavity (soft palate hangs down during these) "n", "m", "ng" sounds

Question 28

minimal pairs

Answer 28

words that only differ in a single phoneme ex: cat vs bat, boot vs beat, steep vs steel

Question 29

vowels are classified by the _______ of the tongue, _______ of production, _____ position, and _______ tension

Answer 29

height place lip