Phonetics - Basic Concepts

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

The organization of sound patterns within a language. One of the functions of this organization is to arrange sounds into contrastive units.

Phonological patterns occur to make articulatory transitions more natural

Question 1

Phonetics

Answer 1

The classification and description of speech sounds according to their production, transmission and perceptual characteristics

Question 2

Phone

Answer 2

A concrete physical entity of sound that can be perceived and is not language specific

Question 3

Phoneme

Answer 3

the smallest linguistic unit that establishes word meaning and distinguishes meaning between words

Question 4

Allophone

Answer 4

A phonetic variation of a phoneme that doesn’t change its meaning

Two types: free variation and complementary distribution

Question 5

Free Variation

Answer 5

allophones of the same phone that can occur in the same environment and therefore can be interchangeable and unpredictable

Question 6

Complementary Distribution

Answer 6

Allophones of a phoneme that occur in mutually exclusive contexts. As they cannot occur in the same place they should be predictable

Question 7

Bilabial Consonants

Answer 7

lower lip to upper lip

/b, p, m/

Question 8

Labiodental

Answer 8

lower lip to upper teeth

/f,v/

Question 9

Dental/Interdental

Answer 9

tongue tip to teeth

/ð, θ/

Question 10

Alveolar

Answer 10

tongue tip to alveolar ridge

/s, z, t, d, n, ɹ /

Question 11

Post alevolar

Answer 11

tongue tip to behind alveolar ridge

/ /ʃ, ʒ/

Question 12

Velar

Answer 12

Tongue body to velum (soft palate)

/k, g, ŋ/

Question 13

Palatal

Answer 13

Tongue body to palate (hard palate)

/j/

Question 14

Glottal

Answer 14

vocal folds come together

/ʔ, h/

Question 15

Plosives

Answer 15

sounds produced with a complete closure of the vocal tract. Air temporarily builds up behind the closure and is released

/p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ/

Question 15

Fricatives

Answer 15

sounds produced when air passes through a narrowed constriction created by the articulators closely approximating each other and causing turbulence in the airflow

/f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/

Question 16

Affricates

Answer 16

sounds that are produced by an initial closure of the vocal tract (stop) followed by a release of air through a narrowed constriction (fricative). The plosive and fricative are produced in one fluid movement and considered to be one sound.

/t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/

Question 16

Nasals

Answer 16

Sounds that are produced with an open velopharyngeal port. The articulators block the flow of air in the oral cavity, redirecting it through the nasal cavity.

/m, n, ŋ/

Question 16

liquids

Answer 16

vowel-like sounds that are produced when the articulators come close to one another but do not create a complete closure

/ɹ, l/

Question 16

Obstruents

Answer 16

consonant sounds in which the main sound source is due to turbulence that is created by a complete or narrow constriction of the articulators

plosives, fricatives and affricates

Question 17

glides

Answer 17

sounds that are characterized by a gliding motion of the articulators from a partly constricted position into a more open position

/w, j/

Question 17

Sonorants

Answer 17

sounds produced with a relatively open vocal tract and with little turbulence in the air stream as it passes through the oral cavity

nasals, liquids and glides

Question 18

Stridents

Answer 18

Sounds that are produced with an intense noise

/f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/

Question 19

Sibilants

Answer 19

A subset of fricatives that are characterize by greater acoustic energy in the higher frequencies

/ s, z, ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/

Question 20

Approximants

Answer 20

sounds that are produced when the articulators are brought together but not closed; the constriction is less than that associated with obstruents

/l, r, w, j/

Question 21

Early 8 sounds

Answer 21

My Big Yacht Never Waits During Peak Hours

/m, b, j, n, w, d, p, h/

Question 22

Middle 8 Sounds

Answer 22

Tims KiNG Gave Funny Very Cheap Jam

/t, k, ŋ, g, v, f, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/

Question 23

Late 8 Sounds

Answer 23

She Thinks They meaSured a Lazy Silly Red Zebra

/ʃ, θ, ð, ʒ, l, s, ɹ, z/