Phonetics and phonology

Question 1

pitch

Answer 1

Pitch is the relative height, ranging between high and low, of auditory sound.
It is natural for the pitch of our voice to rise and become high when we are
excited or scared, and be lower when we wish to sound serious or authoritative.

Question 2

intonation

Answer 2

The prosodic feature of intonation relates to the patterns of pitch variation
across phrases, clauses and sentences.
You left directions.
You left directions?

Intonation can affect the syntax as well as the semantics of what we say.
Falling intonation can indicate surety, absoluteness and finality. Consider a
caregiver saying ‘that’s enough’ to a child with falling intonation; the child would
hopefully understand that the caregiver is being serious when asking them
to stop doing something and that there may be consequences if they don’t.
Contrastingly, if someone says ‘that’s enough’ with rising intonation while you
are pouring a drink for them, they are likely to be indicating Iightheartedly that
you should stop pouring.

Question 3

Stress

Answer 3

Stress is the intensity that is placed upon a syllable within a word. The speaker
may increase the length, volume or pitch of the syllable compared to its
surrounding syllables, to create emphasis.
I— think that’s my bag. (but you may disagree)
I think— that’s my bag. (but I’m not entirely sure)
I think that’s— my bag. (not this one)
I think that’s my— bag. (not someone else’s)

Question 4

tempo

Answer 4

Tempo relates to the pace (speed) with which an intonation unit is delivered. It is
often linked to the communication of emotion or intent within a conversational
exchange. For example, someone who speaks very quickly might be in a hurry,
or excited; whereas someone speaking slowly could be taking particular care to
ensure that listeners can hear or absorb what they’re saying.

Question 5

Volume

Answer 5

Volume is the relative increase or decrease in decibels across an intonation unit.
Increasing volume on a single syllable can create stress.

Question 6

Paralinguistic features vocal effects and non-verbal communication.

Answer 6

Paralinguistic features are features of speech that help to distinguish it from
writing. These are the elements of the spoken word that are hard to transcribe,
even using the IPA.
Vocal effects such as coughs, laughter and whispering can add meaning to a
conversation. Some speakers, for example, use coughing while speaking in order
to convey sarcasm.
Non-verbal communication, such as body language, gaze and gesture, can also
add to a conversation. For instance, shrugging the shoulders can indicate not
knowing the answer

Question 7

phoneme

Answer 7

A phoneme is a sound or a group of different sounds perceived to have the same function by speakers of the language or dialect in question. An example is the English phoneme /k/, which occurs in words such as cat

Question 8

place of articulation

Answer 8

The location of the constriction in airflow is called the place of articulation.

Question 9

bilabial

Answer 9

place of articulation: lip
articulator: lip
example: billy brought buttered biscuits

Question 10

dental

Answer 10

place of articulation: front teeth
articulator: tongue tip
example: thirty-three thieves

Question 11

labiodental

Answer 11

place of articulation: upper teeth
articulator: lower lip
example: freshly fried fish

Question 12

alveolar

Answer 12

place of articulation: alveolar ridge
articulator: tongue tip
example: do tongue twisters twist talkers tongues

Question 13

palato-alveolar

Answer 13

place of articulation: near alveolar ridge
articulator: blade of the tongue
example: sure ships shells

Question 14

velar

Answer 14

place of articulation: soft palate
articulator: back of the tongue
example: crisp crackle crunch

Question 15

glottal

Answer 15

place of articulation: glottis (opening)
articulator: vocal cords (closing)
example: hurricanes hurt happened hat

Question 16

palatal

Answer 16

example: yikes

Question 17

labial-velar

Answer 17

labial-velar: a sound is made by simultaneous articulation at the lips
(labial-) and the velum (soft part of the roof of the mouth, -velar), e.g. /w/

Question 18

plosive:

Answer 18

plosive: a complete stop or closure and then an explosion of air, e.g. /b/, /p/

Question 19

nasal

Answer 19

nasal: a complete closure at some point in the mouth and lower soft palate
so air escapes through the naval cavity, e.g. /m/, /n/

Question 20

fricative

Answer 20

fricative: a narrowing between articulators creates friction as air passes,
e.g. /f/, /z/

Question 21

affricate:

Answer 21

affricate: begins like a plosive but transitions into a fricative upon release,
e-g- /tj/, /dj/
ch and j or g

Question 22

lateral:

Answer 22

air passes round the side of the tongue, e.g. /I/

Question 23

approximant:

Answer 23

approximant: very little obstruction, sometimes referred to as semivowels,
e.g. /w/, /j/

Question 24

voicing

Answer 24

Voiced: air passes through vibrating vocal cords. Try it: hold your hand over your larynx (Adam’s apple) and say zzz.

Voiced phonemes are made when the vocal folds vibrate, e.g. /v/, /d/ and /b/

Voiceless: air passes through open vocal cords. Try it: hold your hand over your larynx and say sss.

Voiceless phonemes are made when there is no vibration in the vocal
folds, e.g. /t/, /s/ and /f/

Question 25

Monophthong

Answer 25

Monophthong
A simple vowel that has same sound throughout. The tongue does not move when making the sound.
E.g. bin ten

Question 26

Diphthong

Answer 26

Diphthong
A vowel sounds that occurs when the tongue starts in one place and moves to another.
E.g. buy coin

Question 27

tongue position

Answer 27

Vertical tongue position refers to how high or low the tongue is when a vowel
is produced.

Horizontal tongue position refers to where the tongue is positioned when a
vowel is produced. As it refers to the tongue’s position in relation to the back of
the mouth, this aspect is also referred to as backness.

Question 28

Schwa

Answer 28

A vowel that is very short or
reduced when articulated;

Say the first sound /a/ in ‘above’
and the first vowel in ‘balloon’.

Question 29

Assimilation

Answer 29

Assimilation is a connected speech process that occurs when speakers make one
sound segment sound similar to a neighbouring one. Consider how you would say
the following sentence, as naturally as possible: ‘I like a Vegemite sandwich’. Let’s
focus on what happens when you say the word ‘sandwich’. Firstly, you probably
drop the /d/ consonant sound, (‘sanwich’)

Question 30

Vowel reduction

Answer 30

Vowel reduction is a connected speech process in which vowel sounds change
and the quality is consequently reduced. Vowel reduction tends to make the
vowel sounds short, making some speech sound unclear or relaxed. Consider how
you say the word ‘banana’. If you pronounce the word naturally, it might sound
more like [baneina] (‘benaneh’)

Question 31

elision

Answer 31

When a speaker drops a sound segment, this is known as elision. It usually involves
the omission(leaving out) of an unstressed vowel, consonant or syllable. Consider how you say
the word ‘library’. Through the process of elision, the word is most likely pronounced
[laibj i] (‘lie-bri’)

Question 32

insertion

Answer 32

When a speaker adds a sound where there wouldn’t normally be one, this is
called insertion. It usually occurs when a word ending with a vowel is immediately
followed by a word that begins with a vowel, or when two consonants in a row
are difficult to articulate.
Consider how a speaker would naturally say ‘Anna ate a pancake’: ‘ate’ is likely
to be articulated as [jaeit] (‘rate’) as the speaker transitions between the words
‘Anna’ and ‘ate’.