Vocab List - 9/27/2020

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

the study of abstract categories that organise the sound system of language

Question 2

Spectrogram

Answer 2

graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds

Question 3

Distribution

Answer 3

the different positions in which a speech sound can occur or cannot occur in the words of a language

Question 4

Minimal pairs

Answer 4

a pair of words which differ in only one sound, but differ in meaning

Question 5

Neutralisation

Answer 5

the idea that in a particular context, a contrast between phonemes becomes visible

Question 6

Rhotic

Answer 6

varieties of English in which the r-sounds can occur in word-final position

Question 7

Constituents

Answer 7

the elements that make up a syllable

Question 8

Syllabic consonants

Answer 8

consonants which occupy the central part of the syllable

Question 9

Nucleus

Answer 9

this is the slot for the vowel in a syllable

Question 10

Vowel epenthesis

Answer 10

the technical term for the insertion of vowels into syllables

Question 11

Syllabification

Answer 11

assigning syllable structure to words

Question 12

Maximal Onset Principle

Answer 12

a principle determining underlying syllable division. It states that intervocalic consonants are maximally assigned to the onsets of syllables in conformity with universal and language-specific conditions

Question 13

Sonority

Answer 13

the technical term for the category that captures our acoustic impression of clear audibility

Question 14

Sonority Sequencing Principle

Answer 14

a phonotactic principle that aims to outline the structure of a syllable in terms of sonority

Question 15

Phoneme

Answer 15

a phoneme is a unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another in a particular language

Question 16

Phone

Answer 16

a physical realisation of a speech sound like the voiceless or the voiced alveolar approximant

Question 17

Narrow transcription

Answer 17

this captures as many aspects of a specific pronunciation as possible and ignores as few details as possible

Question 18

Complementary distribution

Answer 18

two sounds which are distributed in such a way that one can only occur where the other cannot occur

Question 19

Free variation

Answer 19

the concept where speakers can choose which allophones they use

Question 20

Final devoicing

Answer 20

a voiced phoneme has a voiceless allophone in word-final position

Question 21

Velarised

Answer 21

pronounce (a speech sound) with the back of the tongue near the soft palate.

Question 22

Aspiration

Answer 22

a strong burst of breath that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents

Question 23

Flapping

Answer 23

a way of pronouncing a consonant that involves the tongue lightly touching, the roof of the mouth

Question 24

Onset

Answer 24

the part of the syllable that precedes the vowel of the syllable

Question 25

Coda

Answer 25

comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus