Phonetics and Phonology Flashcards
What does the IPA stand for?
International Phonetic Alphabet
What is the subsystem of phonetics and phonology chiefly concerned with?
sounds
Why is the IPA useful?
- accurately record accent
- accurately record sounds not in the recorder’s native language
- true representation of how a language sounds / captures all known human sounds
What is a phoneme?
a distinct unit of sound
True or false? There are the same number of phonemes in a word as there are letters.
False - when breaking into phonemes, you need to think about the actual sounds created in the mouth
True or false? Everyone who speaks English will pronounce words the same way.
False - there can be accents which are judged as more ‘prestigious’ but we all have an accent!
manner of articulation
the way air travels through the vocal tract
place of articulation
where in the mouth the sound is produced / how articulators interact to produce a sound
voicing
whether or not the vocal cords vibrate
voiced sound
the vocal cords vibrate
voiceless sound
the vocal cords do not vibrate
True or false? All English consonant sounds come in voiced pairs.
false - when we do not have a pair, the sound is voiced
True or false? All English vowels are voiced.
True
What are the connected speech processes?
as listed in the SD: assimilation, vowel reduction, elision, insertion
(taught but not in SD: substitution)
assimilation
- when sounds change due to influence from neighbouring sounds
- e.g. handbag > hambag
vowel reduction
- when an unstressed vowel is reduced to a schwa
- e.g. you > ya
elision
- removing a sound
- can be a vowel, consonant or whole syllable
- e.g. strawberry > strawbry
insertion
- adding in a sound to ease production
- e.g. filUm
substitution
- swapping a sound for a different one
(there are different types of this and it is not listed in the SD)
What are the types of phonological patterning?
as listed in the SD: alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme
What is patterning?
repetition, links
alliteration
repetition of an initial consonant SOUND
assonance
repetition of a vowel SOUND
consonance
repetition of a consonant SOUND (anywhere in the word)
onomatopoeia
using a word which imitates a sound
True or false? Phonological patterning can only be found in spoken texts because it is about sounds.
False - we often read aloud (or sort of read aloud in our heads). When we do, we imagine the sounds so we can find these features in written texts.
True or false? When looking at phonological patterning, the letters will tell you if there is a feature.
False - spelling in English rarely matches sound!
The prosodic features
SPVIT
stress, pitch, volume, intonation, tempo
True or false? When writing about prosodic features, you must use the exact words stress, pitch, volume, tempo or intonation (even if the transcription key uses a different term).
True!
True or false? When writing about prosodic features, you must use the symbol from the given transcription key.
True
stress
- placing emphasis on a word or sound
- sometimes written as primary accent in texts - this means the initial sound of the word is stressed
volume
how loudly or softly someone is speaking
pitch
the high, medium or low sound of someone’s voice waves
tempo
the pace of someone’s utterance
intonation
- the pattern of changes in pitch
- often written as falling or rising intonation
- some texts refer to questioning intonation; this is basically the same as rising intonation
- some texts may refer to continuing intonation
True or false? Prosodic features are always used for the same reason. For example, low pitch always signals someone is angry.
False - we always need to look in context!
