Linguistics Midterm

Language and Race course

Phonetics

The study of the sounds of human languages.

Articulatory Phonetics

The branch of phonetics that studies the production of sounds.

Acoustic Phonetics

The branch of phonetics that studies the properties of sound waves.

Auditory Phonetics

The branch of phonetics that studies the perception of sounds.

Graphemes

Units of writing corresponding to a single sound.

Place of Articulation

Refers to where in the vocal tract the airflow is constricted to produce a sound.

Voiced Sounds

Sounds produced with vibration of the vocal cords.

Voiceless Sounds

Sounds produced without vibration of the vocal cords.

Bilabial Sounds

Sounds articulated by the two lips, such as /b/ and /m/.

Labiodental Sounds

Sounds produced with the bottom lip against the upper teeth, such as /f/ and /v/.

Dental Sounds

Sounds produced with the tip of the tongue making contact with the teeth, such as /θ/ in 'think'.

Alveolar Sounds

Sounds produced with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, such as /l/ and /s/.

Palatal Sounds

Sounds produced with the body of the tongue raised toward the palate, such as /j/ in 'young'.

Retroflex Sounds

Sounds produced with the tongue curled up and back, such as /r/ in 'robert'.

Velar Sounds

Sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum, such as /k/ in 'car'.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

A standardized system for transcribing the sounds of spoken language.

Manner of Articulation

Refers to how airflow is restricted during the production of a sound.