Phonetics- Consonants Flashcards
What causes constriction?
Two articulators being brought close together to impede airflow
How are consonants identified?
Voicing or phonation
Place of articulation
Manner of articulation/ degree of stricture
[p]
Voiceless bilabial plosive
[b]
Voiced bilabial plosive
[t]
Voiceless alveolar plosive
[d]
Voiced alveolar plosive
[k]
Voiceless velar plosive
[g]
Voiced velar plosive
[p][b], [t][d], [k][g], [f][v], [θ][ð], [s][z], [ʃ][ʒ], [tʃ][dʒ] - What are these pairs of sounds known as?
Voiced/ voiceless pairs
What is the voiceless pair of [b]?
[p]
What is the voiced pair of [t]?
[d]
What is the voiceless version of [g]?
[k]
[ʔ]
Glottal stop
What is a glottal stop a variant pronunciation of?
[t]
Where is a glottal stop most common in a word?
At the end
Can a glottal stop, in theory, be used anywhere in a word?
Yes
When does aspiration occur?
When a voiceless plosive is followed by a voiced sound
What is aspiration?
When a brief puff of air follows a voiceless plosive, meaning that there is a delay in the onset of voice after the closure has been released.
Are nasals a type of plosive?
Yes
What distinguishes a nasal from a normal plosive?
Air flows through the nasal cavity, not through the mouth
Air doesn’t build up behind the closure, as the velum is lowered
[m]
Voiced bilabial nasal
[n]
Voiced alveolar nasal
[ŋ]
Voiced velar nasal
What happens in the articulation of fricatives?
The air is pushed through the small space between the articulators
[f]
Voiceless labiodental fricative
[v]
Voiced labiodental fricative
[θ]
Voiceless dental fricative
[ð]
Voiced dental fricative
[s]
Voiceless alveolar fricative
[z]
Voiced alveolar fricative
[ʃ]
Voiceless post-alveolar fricative
[ʒ]
Voiced post-alveolar fricative
[h]
Voiceless glottal fricative
What is the sub-group of fricatives that [s], [z], [ʃ] and [ʒ] belong to called?
Sibilants
How are sibilants articulated?
They use the tongue to force air through a small channel directed at the alveolar ridge.
Glottal sounds are technically what?
A type of phonation (voicing), not a place of articulation
In the articulation of [h], what are spread?
The vocal folds
What does the vocal folds being spread in the sound [h] do to the following vowel?
Gives it a ‘breathy’, voiceless quality
What do affricates consist of?
A plosive released into a fricative
What does homorganic mean?
That the two sounds in a fricative share roughly the same place of articulation
What do the two sounds in an affricate share?
Same phonation and roughly the same place of articulation
[tʃ]
Voiceless post-alveolar affricate
[dʒ]
Voiced post-alveolar affricate
What happens in the articulation of an approximant?
The articulators come close together, but not close enough to cause turbulent airflow.
What type of phonation do approximants have?
They are all voiced
[r]
Voiced alveolar approximant
[l]
Voiced alveolar lateral approximant
[j]
Voiced palatal approximant
[w]
Voiced labial-velar approximant
What does the lateral approximant articulation of [l] involve?
The sides of the tongue coming into proximity with the roof of the mouth, with the tongue blade on the alveolar ridge
What is a normal [l] sound known as?
Clear l
What is a velarised [l] sound known as?
Dark l
What is the secondary articulation in dark l?
The back of the tongue is raised towards the velum
When is dark l used?
When it is the final sound in a word
Before another consonant
What is the symbol for dark l?
[ɫ]
What is another name for semivowels?
Glides
What are semivowels a subgroup of?
Approximants
How are semivowels close to vowels?
They have an articulation close to that of a high vowel
How are semivowels like consonants?
They don’t create a syllable, unlike a vowel
Which vowel corresponds to the semivowel [j]?
The high front unrounded vowel [i]
Which vowel corresponds to the semivowel [w]?
The high back rounded vowel [u]
What is unusual about [w]?
It is labial-velar, as there are approximant articulations at both the lips and the velum
