Phonology Key Terms Flashcards
Phonology
The study of the abstract categories that organize the sound system of a language
Spectrogram
A graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds
Phone
A physical realisation of a speech sound like the voiceless or the voiced alveolar approximate
Allophones of the phoneme
Phonemes which function as alternate realisations of the same phoneme
Distribution
The different positions in which a speech sound can occur or cannot occur in the words of a language
Complementary Distribution
Two sounds which are distributed in such a way that one can only occur where the other cannot occur
Minimal Pairs
A pair of words which differ in only one sound, but differ in meaning
Neutralization
Refers to the fact that in a particular context a contrast between phonemes becomes invisible
Aspiration
The process of aspirating stops
Constituents
The elements that make up a syllable
Syllabus Consonants
Consonants which occupy the central part of the syllable
Nucleus
The nucleus of the syllable is our ‘slot for vowel’
Onset
The term for the prevocalic slot among our ‘slots for consonants’
Coda
The postvocalic slot
Vowel Epenthesis
The technical term for the insertion of vowels into syllables
Syllabification
Assigning syllable structure to words
Sonority
The technical term for the category that captures out acoustic impression of “clear audibility “
Non-rhotic
R-sounds do not seem to occur in word final position
Rhotic
Varieties in English in which R-sounds can occur in word final position
Final devoicing
The fact that a voiced phoneme has a voiceless allophone in word final position
Narrow Transcription
A transcription that includes additional articulatory details
Released
After the building- up phase, a release of the air that has been built up
Un-released
After the building-up phase, the air that has been built up is not released
Free Variation
Speakers can choose which allophone they use
Monosyllabic
consisting of one syllable
Disyllabic
consisting of two syllables
