Phonetics & Dynamics of Speech Production

Phone

Any sound that can be produced by the human vocal tract; may or may not be a speech sound.

Phoneme

A family of phones or sounds, perceived to belong to the same category by the listener.

Allophone

Variations of a phoneme that do not signal a difference in meaning; direct result of the phonetic contexts that surround the phoneme (example: "t" He has tea. vs. I loathe tea.).

Morpheme

The smallest unit of language carrying semantic interpretation, and it can be sounds or words (example: "cats" has two morphemes: cat and -s).

Bound Morpheme

Suffixes or prefixes that attach to a free morpheme to alter the meaning (example: unhappy, preapprove).

Free Morpheme

A whole word that cannot be broken down (linguistically) into smaller units (example: hit, cat, knife, stick).

Minimal Pairs

Morphemes that are similar except for one phoneme (example: hit, bit, lit, sit).

What are written symbols that represent sounds?

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)?

It is used to represent the many sounds phonemes of the English language.

Phonemic Transcription

The ideal description of a sound.

Phonetic Transcription

What is actually produced by the speaker.

What are the four main processes of speech production?

Respiration, phonation, resonation, and articulation.

Aerodynamic aspects of speech production: Respiration

When we speak, a system of physiological valves effect change in the volume and pressure of air flowing out of the lungs.

Aerodynamic aspects of speech production: Phonation

The vibration of the vocal folds.

Aerodynamic aspects of speech production: Resonation

Opening and closing of the lips to modify sound stream.

Aerodynamic aspects of speech production: Articulation

Producing different types of speech sounds with the help of respiration, phonation, resonation, and the coupling/uncoupling of the nasal and oral cavities by the velopharyngeal mechanism.

True or False: Speech sounds are acoustic signals, with the physical properties of frequency, amplitude, and duration.

True.

Frequency

The rate at which vocal folds vibrate, causing the sensation of vocal pitch.

Amplitude (intensity)

The magnitude of vibration, causing the sensation of loudness.

Duration

A measure of time during which vibrations are sustained.

Segmentals

Consonants and vowels.

Suprasegmentals

Includes such prosodic features as pitch, stress, rate of speech, and juncture (pause).

What is rising and falling pitch and variable stress on certain syllables signaling?

Differences in meaning.

What can faster and slower rates of speech affect?

Prosody and intelligibility.

Juncture (pause)

Helps to make semantic or grammatical distinctions in speech; within each pause group, words are linked so that they sound like one word.

When do pauses occur?

Before punctuation marks, before conjunctions, and between grammatical units (phrases, clauses, and sentences).

Level

It sounds unnatural (monotone).

Fall

It starts at a higher pitch and descends to a lower pitch.

Neutral

Used when answering a question with a yes/no reply, or when it's understood that the question was answered and nothing more needs to be said.

Rise

Movement from a low to a high pitch, it can give the impression that something more is to follow: question, choice.

Fall-Rise

The pitch descends, then rises again; used when the speaker is unsure or in parentheticals ("really").

Rise-Fall

The pitch rises, and then it descends; it conveys strong feelings of approval, disapproval, or surprise.

Citation Form

Sounds are more distinct in the isolated and deliberate production of a word.

Coarticulation

The slight or significant change in sounds due to the influence of surrounding sounds in an utterance.

Connected Speech

Sounds may be less distinct or may even change their form due to the effects of coarticulation.