Phonetics: the Sounds of Language Flashcards
Phonetics
The study of the inventory and structure of the sounds of language.
Phones
Any sounds used in human language (also called speech sounds).
Articulatory phonetics
An approach to phonetics that studies the physiological mechanisms of speech production.
Acoustic phonetics
An approach to phonetics that is concerned with measuring and analyzing the physical properties of sound waves produced when we speak.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
A system for transcribing the sounds of
speech that attempts to represent each sound
of human speech with a single symbol.
Segments
Individual speech sounds
Syllable
A unit of linguistic structure that
consists of a syllabic element and any seg-
ments that are associated with it. (See also
Onset, Nucleus, Coda.)
Broad transcription
Phonetic transcrip-
tion that uses a relatively simple set of symbols
to represent contrasting segments. (Compare
narrow transcription.)
Diacritics
Marks added to a phonetic sym-
bol to alter its value in some way (e.g., a circle
under a symbol to indicate voicelessness).
Narrow transcription
Phonetic transcrip-
tion that uses a fairly elaborate set of symbols
and diacritics to show phonetic detail.
Larynx
The box-like structure located in the throat through which air passes during speech production; commonly known as the voice box (гркљан).
Vocal folds
A set of muscles inside the larynx that may be positioned in various ways to produce different glottal states (also called vocal cords).
Pharynx
The area of the throat between the uvula and the larynx (ждрело)
Vocal tract
The oral cavity, nasal cavity, and pharynx.
Glottis
The space between the vocal folds.
Voiceless
The glottal state in which the vocal folds are pulled apart, allowing air to pass directly through the glottis (e.g., [t], [s],
[f] are voiceless).
Voiced
The glottal state in which the vocal folds are brought close together but not tightly closed, causing air passing through them to vibrate (e.g., [?], [z], [m] are voiced).
Class (sound)
A group of sounds that shares certain phonetic properties (e.g., all voiced sounds).
Vowels
Resonant, syllabic sounds produced with less obstruction in the vocal tract than that required for glides.
Consonants
Sounds that are produced with a narrow or complete closure in the vocal tract.
Glides
Sounds that are produced with an articulation like that of a vowel, but move quickly to another articulation (e.g., [j], [w]).
Nonsyllabic (sounds)
Sounds that do not act as syllable peaks, as distinguished from syllabic sounds.
Syllabic (sounds)
Sounds that could be peaks of syllables (e.g., vowels in English).
Sonorous
Characterized by a relatively open vocal tract with relatively little obstruction of airflow as a sound is made (e.g., vowels are sonorous sounds).
Nucleus (N)
A vocalic element that forms the core of a syllable (e.g., the vowel [?] is the nucleus of the first syllable of Patrick).
Places of articulation
The points at which the airstream is modified in the vocal tract to produce phones (also called points of articulation).
Tip (of the tongue)
The narrow area at the front of the tongue.
Blade (of the tongue)
The area of the tongue just behind the tip.
Body (of the tongue)
The main mass of the tongue.
Back (of the tongue)
The part of the tongue that is hindmost but still lies in the mouth.
Dorsum (of the tongue)
The body and back of the tongue.
Labials
Sounds made with closure or near closure of the lips (e.g., the initial sounds of win and forget).
Bilabial
Involving both lips (e.g., p, b, and m are all bilabial consonants).
Labiodentals
Sounds involving the lower lip and upper teeth (e.g., the initial sounds of freedom and vintage).
Dentals
Sounds made with the tongue placed against or near the teeth. e.g. temps, sept and zizi
Interdentals
Sounds made with the tongue placed between the teeth (e.g., [θ], [ð]). this, thing
Alveolar ridge
The small ridge just behind the upper front teeth.
Alveolar sounds
Sounds that are articulated at the small ridge just behind the upper front teeth. eg. top, deer, soap, zip, lip and neck
Alveopalatal (area)
The area just behind the alveolar ridge where the roof of the mouth rises sharply (also called palatoalveolar). e. r. show, chip and judge
Palate
The highest part of the roof of the mouth (непце).
Palatals
Sounds produced with the tongue on or near the palate (e.g., [j]).
Velum
The soft area toward the rear of the roof of the mouth.
Velars
Sounds made with the tongue touching or near the velum (e.g., [ŋ], [k]). eg. call and gay.
Labiovelars
Sounds made with the tongue raised near the velum and the lips rounded at the same time (e.g., the initial sound of wound). eg. wet.
Uvula
The small fleshy flap of tissue that hangs down from the velum (ресица).
Uvulars
Sounds made with the tongue near or touching the uvula. No sounds in English.
Pharyngeals
Sounds made through the modification of airflow in the pharynx by retracting the tongue or constricting the pharynx. No sounds in English.
Glottals
Sounds produced by using the vocal folds as the primary articulators (e.g., [h], [ʔ]). eg. heave and hog.
Manners of articulation
The various configurations produced by positioning the lips, tongue, velum, and glottis in different ways (e.g., nasal, fricative, liquid).
Oral phones
Sounds produced with the velum raised and the airflow through the nasal passage cut off.
Nasal phones
Sounds produced by lowering the velum, allowing air to pass through the nasal passages.
Stops
Sounds made with a complete and momentary closure of airflow through the vocal tract (e.g., [p], [t], [k]).
Nasal
A manner feature that characterizes any sound made with the velum lowered.
Fricatives
Consonants produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth, accompanied by a continuous audible noise (e.g., [f], [ʃ]).
Continuants
Sounds that are produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth.
Affricates
Noncontinuant consonants that show a slow release of the closure (e.g., [tʃ, d?]).
Affrication
A process in which stops become affricates.
Aspiration
The lag in the onset of vocalic voicing —accompanied by the release of air — that is heard after the release of certain stops in English (e.g., the first sound of top is aspirated).
Unreleased stop
At the end of a stop, the articulator remains at the place of articulation (e.g., the tongue stays at the alveolar
ridge at the end of [t]).
Lateral (sound)
A sound made with the sides of the tongue lowered (e.g., varieties of [l]).
Diacritics
Marks added to a phonetic sym bol to alter its value in some way (e.g., a circle under a symbol to indicate voicelessness).
Retroflex
Sounds produced by curling the tongue tip back into the mouth (e.g., American English [ɹ]).
Flap
A sound commonly identified with r and produced when the tongue tip strikes the
alveolar ridge as it passes across it (e.g., in
North American English, the medial conso-
nant in bitter and bidder).
Syllabic liquids
Liquids that function as syllabic nuclei (e.g., the l in bottle).
Syllabic nasals
Nasals that function as syllabic nuclei (e.g., the n in button).
Simple vowels
Vowels that do not show a noticeable change in quality during their production (also called monophthongs) (e.g., the vowel sounds of cab and get).
Diphthongs
Vowels that show a noticeable change in quality within a single syllable (e.g., the vowel sounds in house and ride).
Major diphthongs
Diphthongs in which there is extreme tongue movement from the initial vowel to the glide (e.g., [aj], [ɔj], and [aw]).
Minor diphthongs
Diphthongs in which there is not a great change in articula tor position from the initial vowel to the glide (e.g., [ej] and [ow]).
Low (sound)
A sound made with the tongue lowered (e.g., [a], [ɑ], [æ]).
Low vowel
A vowel that is made with the tongue lowered (e.g., the vowel sounds made in the words cat and top).
High vowel
A vowel that is made with the tongue raised (e.g., the vowel sounds in beat and lose).
Front vowel
A vowel that is made with the
tongue positioned in the front of the oral cav-
ity (e.g., the vowel sounds in seal and bat).
Back vowel
A vowel that is made with
the tongue positioned in the back of the
mouth (e.g., the vowel sounds in hoot and
board).
Rounding
The act of protruding the lips to make rounded sounds.
Round
A place feature that characterizes sounds made by protruding the lips (e.g., [ɔ], [w]).
Mid vowels
Vowels that are made with the tongue neither raised nor lowered (e.g., the vowel sounds in set and Coke).
Tense vowels
Vowels that are made with a relatively tense tongue and greater vocal tract constriction than a lax vowel (e.g., the vowel sounds in heat and boat).
Lax vowels
Vowels that are made with a placement of the tongue that results in relatively less vocal tract constriction (e.g., the vowel sounds in hit and but).
Schwa
The mid lax unrounded vowel that is characterized by briefer duration than any of the other vowels (also called a reduced vowel) (e.g., the underlined vowels in Canada, suppose).
Suprasegmental
Above the individual speech sound. (Syllables are suprasegmental.)
Suprasegmental properties
Those properties of sounds that form part of their makeup no matter what their place or manner of articulation: pitch, loudness, and
length (also called prosodic properties).
Pitch
The auditory property of a sound that enables us to place it on a scale that ranges from low to high.
Loudness
The subjective impression of a speech sound’s volume relative to the sounds around it.
Length
The subjective impression of time occupied by the duration of a phone.
Tone
Pitch differences that signal differences in meaning.
Tone language
A language in which differences in word meaning are signaled by differences in pitch.
Intonation
Pitch movement in spoken utterances that is not related to differences in word meaning.
Contour tones
Tones that change pitch on a single syllable.
Register tones
Tones that have a stable pitch over a single syllable.
Terminal (intonation) contour
Falling intonation at the end of an utterance, signaling that the utterance is complete.
Nonterminal (intonation) contour
Rising or level intonation at the end of an utterance, often signaling that the utterance is incomplete.
Downdrift
The maintenance of a distinction among the pitch registers of an utterance even as the overall pitch of the utterance falls.
Long vowels
Vowels that are articulated for a longer period of time than corresponding short vowels.
Geminates
Double consonants (e.g., [tt]) that are articulated for a longer period of time than the corresponding single consonant (e.g., [t]).
Stressed vowels
Vowels that are perceived as relatively more prominent due to the combined effects of pitch, loudness, and length.
Primary stress
The most prominent stress of a word.
Secondary stress
The second most prominent stress in a word.
Coarticulation
An articulation in which phonemes overlap to a certain extent.
Articulatory processes
Adjustments in articulation that can occur during the production of speech (e.g., deletion,
epenthesis, assimilation).
Assimilation
The influence of one segment on another, resulting in a sound
Nasalization
The nasalizing effect that a nasal consonant can have on an adjacent vowel.
Voicing assimilation
The process in which one sound becomes more like another sound in terms of whether it is voiced or voiceless.
Voicing
(1) A kind of assimilation in which a sound becomes voiced because of a nearby voiced sound.
(2) A historical process of consonant weakening in which voiceless stops or fricatives become voiced.
Devoicing
Voicing assimilation in which a sound becomes voiceless because of a nearby voiceless sound (e.g., the l in place is devoiced because of the voiceless stop preceding it).
Place or manner assimilation
The process by which one segment becomes more like another in either the place at which it is articulated or the manner by which it is
articulated.
Flapping
A sound commonly identified with r and produced when the tongue tip strikes the alveolar ridge as it passes across it (e.g., in North American English, the medial consonant in bitter and bidder).
Dissimilation
A process whereby one segment becomes less like another segment in its environment (e.g., anma ‘soul’ in a form of Latin became alma in Spanish).
Deletion
A process that removes a segment from certain phonetic contexts (e.g., the pronunciation of fifths as [fifs]).
Epenthesis
A process that inserts a segment into a particular environment (e.g., the insertion of a schwa in the pronunciation of athlete as [?θəlit]).
Metathesis
A process that reorders a sequence of segments (e.g., in child language, pronouncing spaghetti as [pəskεɾi]).
Vowel reduction
A process that converts a full vowel, typically unstressed, to the short, lax schwa.
