Phonetics & Phonology I (Phonetics vs Phonology, Consonants, Vowels)

Question 1

Phonetics

Answer 1

• speech sounds as such
• substance of sounds (articulatory, acoustic, auditory aspects)
• not language-specific
• concrete, physical
• [phone] = the smallest discrete segment of sound in human speech

Question 2

Phonology

Answer 2

• speech sounds as part of the sound system of a given language
• function of sounds (meaning differentiation)
• language-specific
• abstract, mental
• /phoneme/ = the smallest unit of a language that distinguishes meaning

Question 3

Phonetics transcription

Answer 3

• representation of the sounds of oral language by a fixed set of symbols
• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• languages may show considerable discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation
• English orthography reflects origin of a word and its pronunciation towards the end of the Middle Ages closer than its present-day pronunciation e.g. knight [naɪt]
• narrow (phonetic) transcription, broad (phonemic) transcription, broad (phonetic) transcription

Question 4

Minimal Pair

Answer 4

a pair of words that differ in meaning and only one sound (kid – kit)

Question 5

Allophone

Answer 5

• one variant in a set of phones realising the same phone
• conditioned by and predictable from phonetic context

Question 6

Allophones in complementary distribution

Answer 6

allophones that cannot replace each other because their occurrence is conditioned by surrounding sounds - e.g. cool and look

Question 7

Allophones in free variation

Answer 7

allophones that can replace each other in the same environment - e.g. Britain, bottle: the phoneme /t/ can be realised by the phones [t] or [ʔ]

Question 8

Classifying (English) Consonants

Answer 8

a) Place of Articulation (Where is the airflow obstructed? Which articulators are involved?)
b) Manner of Articulation (How is the airstream modified?)
c) Intensity of Articulation (breath force, muscular tension: lenis/fortis)

Question 8

Bilabial

Answer 8

sounds produced with both lips
/p/, /b/, /m/

Question 9

Labiodental

Answer 9

sounds produced by moving the lower lip against the upper teeth
/f/, /v/

Question 10

(Inter)dental sounds

Answer 10

(Inter)dental sounds produced with the tongue tip and rims between the upper and lower teeth
/θ/, /ð/

Question 11

Alveolar

Answer 11

sounds produced with the tongue tip coming near or touching the alveolar ridge
/t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /l/

Question 12

Postalveolar

Answer 12

sounds produced with the tongue tip approaching or touching the rear of the alveolar ridge or the area just behind it
/r/

Question 13

Palatoalveolar

Answer 13

sounds produced with the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge and with a simultaneous raising of the blade towards the hard palate
/tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/

Question 14

Velar

Answer 14

sounds produced by placing the back of the tongue against or near the velum
/k/, /g/, /ŋ/, /w/

Question 15

Palatal

Answer 15

sounds produced with the body of the tongue coming near or touching the (hard) palate
/j/

Question 16

Glottal

Answer 16

sounds produced in the larynx when air passes through the glottis
/h/

Question 17

Plosives

Answer 17

“stops”; sounds produced with a momentary complete closure at some point in the vocal tract, - building up air pressure which is then released explosively
/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

Question 18

Affricates

Answer 18

consist of two elements: a plosive released slowly enough to be followed by a fricative
/tʃ/, /dʒ/

Question 19

Nasals

Answer 19

sounds produced with a complete closure in the vocal tract, but the lowering of the velum allows the air to escape through the nose
/m/, /n/, /ŋ/

Question 19

Fricatives

Answer 19

sounds produced by forcing air through a narrow gap between two articulators, leading to audible - friction
/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/

Question 20

Laterals

Answer 20

sounds produced with air escaping along the lowered sides of the tongue, around a partial closure in the middle of the mouth
/l/

Question 21

Approximants

Answer 21

sounds produced with articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough to create friction
/r/, /j/, /w/

Question 22

Vowels - Manner of Articulation

Answer 22

closeness/openness: How wide is the gap between the tongue and the palate?
frontness/backness: Which part of the tongue is raised highest? (shape of lips: spread, neutral, rounded)

Question 23

Monophthongs - Lax and Tense

Answer 23

• vowels differ in their intensity of articulation → breath force
• /ɪ, e, ə, æ, ʌ, ɒ, ʊ/ are produced with less energy → lax = short
• /iː, ɜː, ɑː, ɔː, uː/ are produced with more energy → tense = long

Question 24

Monophthongs ./ə/ schwa (Hebrew ‘emptiness’)

Answer 24

• a short mid central vowel, occurs solely in unstressed syllables e.g. support /səˈpɔːt/ occur /əˈkɜː/
• the most frequent sound in English

Question 25

Diphthongs

Answer 25

• change their quality towards another vowel
• the tongue (and the lower jaw and the lips) move(s) during articulation
• 8 diphthongs in RP
• treated as single phonemes
• centring diphthongs (move towards schwa)
• closing diphthongs (move towards a closer vowel)

Question 26

Triphthongs as vowel sequences

Answer 26

• sequences of vowels that are usually treated as diphthongs followed by a schwa → not as distinct phonemes
• 5 triphthongs in RP (all with closing diphthongs)
• e.g. /eɪə/ as in player

Question 27

articulatory phonetics

Answer 27

physiological mechanism of sound production by means of speech organs

Question 28

acoustic phonetics

Answer 28

physical properties of speech sounds (e.g. how air vibrates as sounds are transmitted from speaker to listener)

Question 29

auditory phonetics

Answer 29

perception and processing of speech sounds by the listener (from ear to brain)

Question 30

segmental phonology

Answer 30

pronunciation system of a language at the level of individual sounds, their functions and constraints on their combination

Question 31

suprasegmental phonology

Answer 31

features of a given sound system that cannot be segmented because they extend over multiple sounds (e.g. stress, intonation)

Question 32

Articulation

Answer 32

sounds can be made with lesser or greater breath force and muscular tension:
lenis ‘soft’
fortis ‘strong’

Question 33

Semi Vowls

Answer 33

/j/ /w/
- little obstruction of aire; always occur at the margins of syllables

Question 34

Classifying (English) Vowels

Answer 34

• manner of articulation:
  closeness/openess
  frontness/backness
• intensity & duration of articulation
  lax & short - tense & long
• pitch