Phonetics & Phonology

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

Phonology is the study of the sound system of a lang

Question 2

affricate

Answer 2

A phonetic segment which consists of a stop followed immediately by a fricative. Affricates act as units phonologically and are synchronically indivisible, e.g. /tʃ/ in church /tʃɜ:tʃ/ or judge /dʒʌdʒ/.

Question 3

allophone

Answer 3

The realisation of a phoneme. Each segment has different realisations which are only partly distinguishable for speakers. A phoneme can have different allophones, frequently depending on position in the word or on a preceding vowel, e.g. [l] and [ɫ] in English (at the beginning and end of a word respectively) or [ç] and [x] in German (depending on whether the preceding vowel is front or not). Allophones are written in square brackets.

Question 4

alphabet

Answer 4

A system of letters intended to represent the sounds of a language in writing. For all west European languages the Latin alphabet has been the outset for their writing systems. However, because each language has a different sound system different combinations of letters have arisen and letters have come to be written with additional symbols attached to them.

Question 5

alveolar

Answer 5

A classification of sounds which are formed at the alveolar ridge (the bone plate behind the upper teeth). Alveolar sounds are formed with the tip or the blade of the tongue. Examples are /t,d,s,z,l,n/ in English or German.

Question 6

alveolo-palatal

Answer 6

A classification of sounds which are formed with the hard palate as passive articulator and the blade of the tongue as active articulator. Examples are the two English fricatives [ʃ] and [ʒ].

Question 7

ambi-dental

Answer 7

A description of the manner of articulation of the Modern English fricatives /θ/ and /ð/. It is preferred to inter-dental as the tongue is not usually positioned between the teeth for these sounds.

Question 8

articulatory phonetics

Answer 8

One of three standard divisions of phonetics which concerns itself with the production of sounds (compare acoustic and auditive phonetics).

Question 9

auditory phonetics

Answer 9

One of the three standard divisions of phonetics which is concerned with the perception of sounds.

Question 10

bilabial

Answer 10

Any sound produced using both lips, e.g. [p] oder [m].

Question 11

cardinal vowels

Answer 11

A system of 8 rounded and 8 unrounded vowels which was originally developed by the English phonetician Daniel Jones and which is intended as a system of reference for the unambiguous classification of vowel values in a language. The cardinal vowels are represented in a quadrangle with vowels at each corner and two closed mid and open mid vowels, a pair in the front and a pair in the back of the quadrangle.

Question 12

consonant

Answer 12

One of the two main classes of sound. Consonants are formed by a constriction in the supra-glottal tract (or occasionally at the vocal folds as with the glottal stop [ʔ]). They divide into the chief types stops — /p,t,k/ for instance, fricatives — /f, θ, s/ — and approximants — /j, w/. Consonants contrast with vowels in their relatively low sonority and are hence found typically in the margins of syllables, i.e. in onsets and codas as in stopped /stɒpt/.

Question 13

contrastive

Answer 13

Refers to any elements which are in opposition to each other. A phonetic distinction is contrastive if it has significance on the phonological level, i.e. if it distinguishes meaning.

Question 14

dental

Answer 14

A place of articulation characterised by the tip of the tongue being held against the back of the upper teeth, for instance in the pronunciation of /t,d/ in Italian, Swedish, etc. Indicated by a subscript diacritic representing a tooth, i.e. [ṯ, ḏ]. The initial sounds in English this and think are sometime referred to as dental fricatives but the description ambi-dental is more appropriate as the tip of the tongue need only be in the region of the teeth.

Question 15

diphthong

Answer 15

A vowel which is articulated with a change in tongue position between the beginning and end, e.g. /ai/ in English or German. Not all diphthongs have phonological status in a language. Historically, diphthongs tend to develop from long vowels.

Question 16

discrete

Answer 16

A characteristic of human language where there is no continuous transition from one unit to another, e.g. /p/ and /b/ are separate, discrete sounds and speakers pronounce one or the other but not something intermediary between the two.

Question 17

ease of articulation

Answer 17

A putative reason for sound change. It may play a role in allegro speech and possibly effect the sound system over time but cannot be assumed to be a generally valid principle on the phonological level.

Question 18

fricative

Answer 18

A type of sound which is characterised by air passing a constriction somewhere between the glottis and the lips, e.g. [x, s, ʃ, f]. Turbulence arises when air flows through a narrow gap and it is this which causes the noise typical of fricatives. Fricatives can be voiced or voiceless. The equivalent term spirant is sometimes found.

Question 19

glide

Answer 19

A sound which from the point of view of phonological classification lies between a vowel and a consonant, e.g. /j/ and /w/ in English. It is formed with little friction and has a high degree of sonority which accounts for why glides are found near the nucleus of syllables. Sometimes called a semi-vowel.

Question 20

glottal

Answer 20

A term referring to sounds produced at the gap in the vocal folds. Such sounds can either be stops [ʔ] or fricatives [h, ɦ] — voiceless and voiced respectively.

Question 21

homophone

Answer 21

Any set of words pronounced the same way, e.g. English poor and pour /pɔ:/ (Received Pronunciation) and German Ferse and Verse.

Question 22

homorganic

Answer 22

Any set of sounds which are articulated at the same point in the vocal tract, e.g. the sounds in the syllable-coda of mind /maind/ both of which are alveolar.

Question 23

intonation

Answer 23

That part of the sound system of a language which involves the use of pitch to convey information. It consists of both accent (concerns individual words) and sentence melody (concerns word groups).

Question 24

IPA

Answer 24

A system of transcribing the sounds of languages which consists of some Latin and Greek letters and a variety of additional symbols and diacritics. The goal is to represent each recognisable sound in a unique fashion. The IPA was developed at the end of the last century; the acronym stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

Question 25

labial

Answer 25

A reference to a sound which is formed at the lips; this encompasses both bilabials like /p, m/ and labio-dentals like /f, v/.

Question 26

labio-dental

Answer 26

Describes a consonant which is formed by the lower lip making contact with the upper teeth as in English and German [f] and [v].

Question 27

labio-velar

Answer 27

Describes a consonant which is articulated by a constriction at the velum with rounding of the lips at the same time, e.g. with [w] in English.

Question 28

levelling

Answer 28

The disappearance of contrasts — usually phonological or morphological — in the course of a language’s development.

Question 29

manner of articulation

Answer 29

One of the three conventional parameters (the others are place of articulation and voice) which are used to specific how a sound is produced. Common types are plosives, fricatives and affricates.

Question 30

minimal pair

Answer 30

Any two words which are only distinguished by different sounds in a single position. Such word pairs are used in traditional phonology to determine the status of sounds as phonemes, e.g. German Kunst # Gunst and English railing # sailing which show that the initial sounds in all these words are phonemes in the respective languages. Note that the spelling of minimal pairs is irrelevant.

Question 31

monophthong

Answer 31

A vowel which is articulated with the tongue in a constant position, e.g. /o:/ in German Boot. Most long vowels in German are monophthongs while those in English are diphthongs, e.g. [bəʊt] for boat.

Question 32

nasal

Answer 32

A sound, vowel or consonant, which is produced by opening the nasal cavity (through lowering of the velum).

Question 33

natural class

Answer 33

A group of sounds which behave similarly. An example would be the group of obstruents (stops and fricatives) as only these are affected by final devoicing in German.

Question 34

onomatopoeia

Answer 34

The putative imitation of a natural phenomenon (for instance bird song) by phonetic means. Contrary to the opinion of many speakers, onomatopoeia is not a major principle in historical phonology.

Question 35

optional

Answer 35

A term which refers to allophonic processes which do not necessarily have to be carried out, cf. the shortening of high vowels before nasals as in Received Pronunciation room /ru:m/ > /rum/ or been /bi:n/ > /bɪn/; in general terms any process which is not obligatory.

Question 36

oral

Answer 36

Articulated in the mouth. The term usually implies that the nasal cavity is not involved, e.g. in French there are distinct oral and nasal vowels.

Question 37

organs of speech

Answer 37

Parts of the human anatomy which are used in speech production, e.g the glottis, velum, palate, alveolar ridge, lips and the tongue of course. From an evolutionary point of view one can see that these functions are secondary adaptations and specialisations of organs which have some other primary function.

Question 38

palatal

Answer 38

A place of articulation at the hard palate in the centre of the roof of the mouth.

Question 39

phone

Answer 39

Any human sound which has not been classified in the phonology of a language.

Question 40

phoneme

Answer 40

In traditional phonology the smallest unit in language which disinguishes meaning, e.g /k/ and /g/ as seen in coat and goat. Each phoneme has one or more realisations, called allophones.

Question 41

phonemics

Answer 41

The study of phonemes in language, their distribution, status and interrelationships.

Question 42

phonetic

Answer 42

A reference to a phenomenon in the area of phonetics (often as opposed to phonology).

Question 43

phonetics

Answer 43

The study of human sounds without immediate regard to their systematic status for a certain language.

Question 44

phonological

Answer 44

A reference to the phonology of a language, i.e. to the deeper and more abstract organisation of the sounds of a language. A language’s phonology is its inventory of phonemes and the rules for their combination, distribution, etc.; in short all the ‘grammatical’ or structural aspects of the sound level. In a wider sense, phonology could be said to subsume phonetics as its ‘surface’ aspect.

Question 45

phonology

Answer 45

The study of the sound system of one or more languages. Phonology involves the classification of sounds and a description of the interrelationship of the elements on a systematic level.

Question 46

place of articulation

Answer 46

The point in the vocal tract at which a sound is produced. This can be anywhere from the lips at the front to the glottis (the gap between the vocal folds) at the back. The most common place of articulation is the alveolar ridge just behind the upper teeth.

Question 47

plosive

Answer 47

A sound which is produced with a complete blockage of the pulmonic airstream. Also called a stop, examples are /p,t,k/.

Question 48

pronunciation

Answer 48

A collective reference to the manner in which sounds are articulated in a particular language. Given its concrete nature pronunciation is a matter of phonetics rather than phonology.

Question 49

prosody

Answer 49

A term which refers to all the suprasegmental properties of language such as pitch, loudness, tempo and rhythym.

Question 50

Received Pronunciation

Answer 50

The standard pronunciation of British English. This stems originally from the speech of the middle and upper classes in London. In the course of the 19th century it developed into a sociolect, particularly when adopted by the public schools, and attained a wide distribution in Wales and Scotland as well. The term was coined by the English phonetician Daniel Jones.

Question 51

redundancy

Answer 51

Superfluous information in language. Multiple marking of grammatical categories is the most common case of redundancy and is often found in German, e.g. the plural Dörfer which takes both an ending -er and a shift in stem vowel from back to front (umlaut).

Question 52

rhotic

Answer 52

A reference to a variety of a language in which a syllable-final /r/ is pronounced, for instance (generally) in American English as opposed to Received Pronunciation in England.

Question 53

rhythm

Answer 53

All the patterns of strong and weak syllables in a language. The rhythym of English (and German) is characterised by the foot which consists of a stressed syllable and all unstressed syllables up to the next stressed one.

Question 54

segment

Answer 54

A unit of speech which is identifiable and separate from others. It contrasts with the term suprasegmental which refers to those aspects of phonetic structure above the level of individual sounds.

Question 55

sibilant

Answer 55

A sound which is pronounced with clear, hissing friction which is reminiscent of either /s/ or /ʃ/.

Question 56

speech

Answer 56

The production of sounds using the organs of speech; contrasts directly with writing which is a secondary medium for communication via language.

Question 57

stop

Answer 57

A consonant which is formed by blocking off the airstream completely, e.g. /p, t, k/. It contrasts directly with a fricative which does not involve an interruption of the airstream.

Question 58

stress

Answer 58

The acoustic prominence of a syllable in a word. The physical correlates of stress can vary. Typically it involves the raising of the basic frequency and/or of volume matched by a prolongation of the syllable involved.

Question 59

structure

Answer 59

A network of connections between elements of a system, for instance syllable structure is the set of relations which exist between parts of a syllable.

Question 60

suprasegmental

Answer 60

A reference to phenomena which do not belong to the sound segments of language but which typically are spread over several segments, e.g. intonation, stress, tempo, etc.

Question 61

syllable

Answer 61

The most important structural unit in phonology. A syllable consists of a series of sounds which are grouped around a nucleus of acoustic prominence (usually a vowel). A closed syllable is one which has a coda, an open syllable has a codaless rhyme: got /gɒt/ versus go /gəʊ/.

Question 62

syntagmatic

Answer 62

A reference to the linear (or temporal) sequence of elements which contrasts directly with the vertical axis — the paradigmatic axis.

Question 63

tongue

Answer 63

The most frequently used active articulator in all languages. The tongue can be divided into the following areas: the tip (Latin apex), blade (Latin lamina), back (Latin dorsum). The distinction between tip and blade is important for the production of dental and alveolar sounds. The tongue may also show a groove, for instance with palato-alveolar fricatives such as /ʃ, ʒ/. The tip can be made to roll in the escaping air-stream as is the case with the apical rolled /r/ of many Romance languages and in many southern varieties of German. The root of the tongue can be retracted in order to achieve a constriction of the larynx as with the so-called ‘emphatic’ sounds of Arabic.

Question 64

transcription

Answer 64

A system of representing sounds in writing unambiguously. For phonological purposes a broad transcription is sufficient as long as the systemic distinctions in the particular language can be recognised. A narrow transcription is more typical of phonetics and may also be necessary in phonology where a feature relies on a phonetic basis which has to be specified. In English it is sufficient to transcribe /r/ as [r], although a narrow transcription would demand [ɻ] as strictly speaking [r] refers to an apical trill as in Spanish perro [pero] ‘dog”.

Question 65

voiced

Answer 65

Spoken with simultaneous vibration of the vocal folds.

Question 66

voiceless

Answer 66

Spoken without the vocal folds vibrating; the folds can either be open (the normal state) or closed with the compression of air between them and the supra-glottal stop position producing sounds which are called ejectives.

Question 67

Phonetics

Answer 67

Phonetics is the study of human sounds.