Vowels Flashcards
How are vowel sounds produced?
With vocal fold vibration, and on expiratory air released through oral cavity (nasal cavity closed) – no constriction of airflow
Are vowel sounds voiced, or unvoiced?
Voiced
How does the tongue change vowel sounds?
Changing the position and shape of the tongue affects the size and shape of oral cavity
What articulators move to change vowel sounds?
Tongue, lower jaw, lips
Which articulator is primarily involved in changing the shape/size of the vocal tract to produce vowel sounds?
The tongue by changing advancement and height
What is tongue advancement?
It is where the majority of the energy/stiffness in the tongue is and where the tongue narrows the passageway
What does it mean when the tongue is front?
Highest point of tongue tension is anterior/toward front. Tongue stays inside of mouth though.
What does it mean when the tongue is central?
Body of tongue is in a neutral position, the tension is central or slightly toward back of hard palate
What does it mean when the tongue is back?
Highest point of the tongue is raised posteriorly toward soft palate – tension at back
What is tongue height?
Referring to how high the tongue is inside of mouth—changes acoustics because it alters the space in mouth – jaw moves slightly with tongue height too
What is meant when the tongue is high?
Tongue is close to palate
What is meant when the tongue is mid?
Tongue is in central/neutral position
What is meant when the tongue is low?
Tongue is lowered and resting at the bottom of oral cavity
What are the other terms that some use instead of high and low for tongue height?
Open (low), and closed (high)
Example of high, mid and low vowel:
Bead, bed, bad
What is the vowel quadrilateral?
Visual representation of vowels which echoes the shape of oral cavity. X-axis: tongue advancement, Y-axis: tongue height
Which vowels are round vowels?
/ ɔ, ɔɪ, oʊ, ʊ, u /
Which vowels are tense?
/ i, e, eɪ, aɪ, aʊ, ɑ, ɔɪ, oʊ, u /
What is a monophthong?
It is a vowel sound that can be produced without the tongue needing to move between positions – it is continuous
What is another name for monophthongs?
Pure vowels
How many monophthongs are there in standard Canadian English and what are they?
8: / i, ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, æ, ɑ, u, ʊ/
What is a lexical set?
It is a set of symbols and words that correspond to the speech sound the symbol represents. The word is used as the lexical representation.
What are the standard lexical set words for each vowel sound?
/i/ – fleece
/ɪ/ – kit “kit vowel”
/ɛ/ – dress
/ʌ/ – strut
/æ/ – trap
/ɑ/ – lot
/u/ – goose
/ʊ/ – foot
How do the formants relate to tongue position?
F1: tongue height inverse to formant height (High tongue = low F1). F2: tongue frontness direct relation to F2 height (Tongue is front = high F2)
Which two vowel sounds do not appear independently in North American English and one which does not appear independently in Canadian English (typically)?
/a/, /e/, /ɔ/ (Canadian English)
In Canadian English, what is /ɔ/ typically replaced by?
/a/
What is the cot-caught merger?
Discusses that some speakers of American English differentiate between /ɔ/ and /a/, but in Canadian English we do not
What is the schwa, where does it appear?
It is a vowel sound that only appears in weak, short syllables, it is neutral. Often called a reduced vowel
What are diphthongs?
They are dynamic vowels where your tongue glides from one position to another during the production of the vowel sound
Why are diphthongs one phoneme if the tongue is gliding between two positions?
Because they cannot be broken down into the two separate sounds without changing the meaning
What are the five North American Diphthongs and an example word for each?
/aɪ/ – “buy”
/aʊ/ – “cow”
/ ɔɪ/ – “toy”
/eɪ/ – “date”
/oʊ/ – “coat”
What are the two parts of a diphthong?
Onglide and offglide
What is an onglide?
The initial sound in a diphthong
What is an offglide?
The final sound in a diphthong
Which direction do all diphthongs of general American English go?
Up, they are all rising
Which two diphthongs can sometimes be “de-diphthongized” (offglide dropped) in quick speech?
/eɪ/ – “date”
/oʊ/ – “coat”
What are /e/ and /o/ referred to, if the diphthong is dropped?
They are called allophonic monotones
What is a rhotic vowel?
Vowels with the “r” sound immediately after that alters the acoustics of the preceding vowel
What is the schwar and when is it used?
Unstressed rhotic vowel, would be used when vowel is in unstressed syllable position that is followed by an “r” sound
Ex: doctor has schwar at end
What is the nurse vowel and when is it used?
It is the stressed rhotic vowel, it would be used when a vowel is in a stressed syllable position
Ex: Nurse
What are the articulators and vocal tract doing during a rounded vowel?
Vocal tract lengthened which changes acoustic quality. Lips are puckered. In GAE, tongue moves posteriorly, lips rounded
What are the articulators doing during an unrounded vowel?
Lips are neutral or they are spread (smiling)
What are the articulators doing during a tense vowel?
Tongue muscles tense. Tense vowels tend to be longer in duration
What are the articulators doing during a lax vowel?
Tongue relaxed. Tongue more central. Lax vowels usually shorter duration
What is the tip to test if a vowel is tense or not?
“can the vowel exist at the end of a single syllable word?”
Ex: /bi/ “bee” YES, /bɪ/ “bih” NO, /bɪd/ “bid” YES
Vowels that can exist at the end of monosyllabic words are TENSE
