Phonetics

Question 1

What are ‘Phonetics’?

Answer 1

It’s the study of sounds used in speech and the way the sounds are produced

Question 2

What is a ‘Phoneme’?

Answer 2

It’s the smallest, meaningful unit of sound, such as a vowel or a consonant

Question 3

What are the ‘Phonological Devices’?

Answer 3

They are:

• Assonance
• Consonance
• Sibilance
• Rhyme
• Onomatopoeia
• Alliteration

Question 4

What is ‘Assonance’?

Answer 4

Occurs when words share the same vowel sound

Question 5

What is ‘Consonance’?

Answer 5

Occurs when words share the same consonant sound

Question 6

What is ‘Sibilance’?

Answer 6

Occurs when sounds share a / s / sound

Question 7

What is ‘Rhyme’?

Answer 7

Occurs when words end with the same sound

Question 8

What is ‘Onomatopoeia’?

Answer 8

Occurs when a word mimics a sound

Question 9

What is ‘Alliteration’?

Answer 9

Occurs when words start with the same sound

Question 10

What is ‘Prosody’?

Answer 10

The study of rhythm and intonation in speech

Question 11

What does ‘Prosody’ allow us to do?

Answer 11

It allows us to:

• Deduce the attitude or the emotional state of the speaker
• Decode intentional implied meanings, (sarcasm) and infer unintentional meanings like sexuality

Question 12

What are the aspects of ‘Prosody’?

Answer 12

Aspects Include:

• ‘Pitch’ refers to whether the voice is low or high
• ‘Stress’ refers to the emphasis of specific words or parts of words
• ‘Intonation’ refers to the rise and fall of pitch in speech
• ‘Tempo’ refers to the speed of which something is said
• ‘Volume’ refers to how loudly or quietly something is said

Question 13

What are ‘Non-Fluency Features’ in Spontaneous Speech?

Answer 13

These Include:

• False Starts
• Fillers
• Pauses
• Voiced Pauses
• Interruption
• Overlap

Question 14

What are ‘False Starts’?

Answer 14

A result of a mispronunciation or misspeak

Question 15

What are ‘Fillers’?

Answer 15

Allows speakers to stall while thinking, e.g. “You know”

Question 16

What are ‘Pauses’?

Answer 16

An absence of sound allowing interlocutors to think

Question 17

What are ‘Voiced Pauses’?

Answer 17

Allow speakers to stall while thinking, e.g. “um”

Question 18

What are ‘Interruptions’?

Answer 18

A speaker hijacks the previous speaker’s turn

Question 19

What is ‘Overlap’?

Answer 19

Two speakers speak at the same time

Question 20

What are ‘Connected Speech Processes’?

Answer 20

Refers to phonological change that occur during speech

Question 21

What are the aspects of ‘Connected Speech Processes’?

Answer 21

• Assimilation
• Elision
• Epenthesis
• Coalescence
• Metathesis
• Consonant Cluster Reduction
• Nasalisation

Question 22

What is ‘Assimilation’?

Answer 22

A sound is influenced by a nearby sound e.g. [hav to] > [haf to]

Question 23

What is ‘Elision’?

Answer 23

A sound is deleted

Question 24

What is ‘Epenthesis’?

Answer 24

A sound is introduced

Question 25

What is ‘Coalescence’?

Answer 25

Two sounds are blended together

Question 26

What is ‘Metathesis’?

Answer 26

Sounds change position

Question 27

What is ‘Consonant Cluster Reduction’?

Answer 27

Groups of consonants are reduced

Question 28

What is ‘Nasalisation’?

Answer 28

Vowels in proximity to nasals take on nasal qualities

Question 29

What is a ‘Monophthong’?

Answer 29

A vowel sound that doesn’t change throughout it production. As in, the tongue doesn’t move its position

Question 30

What is a ‘Dipthong’?

Answer 30

A vowel sound that does change throughout its production. As in the tongue moves its position

Question 31

What is ‘Accent Levelling’?

Answer 31

Accents become more alike and lose distinctive features due to contact with other accents

Question 32

What is ‘Accommodation’?

Answer 32

Speakers can change their accent, converging with or diverging from other speakers