Linguistics and Articulatory Phonetics Flashcards

Flashcards reviewing key concepts in linguistics branches, articulatory phonetics, consonant criteria, places and manners of articulation, and vowel classifications.

What is the definition of linguistics?

The scientific study of language.

What is the primary goal of linguists when working on specific languages?

To understand the nature of language in general by asking questions about communication systems, common features, modes of communication, and how language relates to human behavior.

What does phonology study?

The patterns of sounds and the rules about how sounds work together in a particular language and across languages.

What does phonetics examine?

How speech sounds are made, heard, and produced without prior knowledge of the specific language being spoken.

What is morphology and what are morphemes?

Morphology is the study of how words are formed from smaller meaningful parts called morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning.

What is the focus of syntax?

Syntax studies how words are arranged to build correct sentences.

What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics?

Semantics studies the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, whereas pragmatics studies meaning in context and how language meaning changes depending on the situation.

What is a consonant sound?

A speech sound produced by the partial or complete obstruction of air by the lips, teeth, tongue, or throat.

What are the three criteria used to describe consonants?

1. Voicing, 2. Place of articulation, 3. Manner of articulation.

What is the difference between voiced and voiceless consonant sounds?

Voiced sounds involve vocal fold vibrations (e.g., b, d, v, m), while voiceless sounds are produced with no vocal fold vibration (e.g., s, p, t).

How is a bilabial sound produced?

By bringing both lips into contact (e.g., p, b, m).

How is a labio-dental sound produced?

By bringing the lower lip and upper teeth into contact (e.g., f, v).

How is a dental sound produced?

By having the tip of the tongue mildly touch the teeth (e.g., thigh, they).

How is an alveolar sound produced?

By having the tip or blade of the tongue touch the alveolar ridge (e.g., t, d, s).

How is a palato-alveolar sound produced?

By having the blade/tip of the tongue touch the alveolar ridge while the body of the tongue approaches the hard palate.

How is a palatal sound produced?

By bringing the body of the tongue into contact with the hard palate.

How is a velar sound produced?

By bringing the body of the tongue into contact with the soft palate or velum (e.g., k, g).

How is a glottal sound produced?

By bringing the vocal folds into contact to produce friction (e.g., h).

How are plosive (stop) sounds produced?

By stopping the airflow and then releasing it with little restriction, creating explosive sounds (e.g., pit, kid, b, d, g).

How are fricative sounds produced?

By clearing air through a narrow passageway so that a little friction is created (e.g., v, z, shh).

What is an affricative sound?

A sound produced by a combination of a stop and a fricative sound.

How are nasal sounds produced?

By directing air through the nasal cavity (e.g., m, n).

How are liquid sounds produced?

By generating partial restriction with the tongue and palate.

What defines a vowel sound in terms of airflow?

Vowels are speech sounds that do not involve constriction of airflow.

How many vowel letters and vowel sounds are in English?

English has 5 vowel letters and 20 vowel sounds.

What is a monophthong?

A single, unchanging vowel sound pronounced without significant change in quality or length, where the mouth stays in one position and there is only one vowel sound in a syllable.

How many monophthongs are there in English?

There are 12 monophthongs in English.

What is a diphthong?

A single vowel sound made by combining two vowel sounds inside one syllable, during which the mouth moves from one position to another.