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
