Pitanja (FiF)- CAT1 flashcards

What is the difference between the prescriptive and descriptive approach to pronunciation phenomena?

The prescriptive approach dictates how pronunciation should be according to established norms and rules. The descriptive approach observes and records how pronunciation is actually used by speakers in real-life situations.

Explain the difference between phonetics and phonology with reference to the distinction between language and speech.

Phonology deals with speech sounds as abstract units functioning as 'building blocks' of language, phonetics looks at them in terms of their physical reality, which can be observed in speech. Essentially, phonetics deals with speech (the actual sounds), while phonology deals with language (the rules and patterns governing those sounds).

What are the three branches of phonetics and what does each of them deal with?

Articulatory Phonetics: How speech sounds are produced.

Acoustic Phonetics: The physical properties of speech sounds.

Auditory Phonetics: How speech sounds are perceived.

Why is it not correct to say that phonology deals with language in general, while phonetics deals with one particular language?

Phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sounds universally, while phonology examines the rules and patterns of sounds within specific languages. Both fields apply to all languages, not just one particular language.

What does it mean that phonology is abstract and discrete?

Abstractness of phonology means it deals with mental representations of sounds and language rules rather than their physical production. It's discrete because it categorizes sounds into distinct units (phonemes) that can change word meanings.

Explain the notion of double articulation introduced by the French linguist Andre Martinet.

Double articulation refers to the concept that language operates on two levels: meaningful units (morphemes) are composed of smaller, meaningless units (phonemes).

Think of a possible, but non-existent word of English.

Huvi

Try to think of some phonological rule of English which you learned to formulate

explicitly at school

When the plural "-s" is added to a word ending in a voiceless consonant sound (such as /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, etc.), the "-s" is pronounced as [s], as in "cats" /kæts/. When added to a word ending in a voiced consonant sound (like /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, etc.), the "-s" is pronounced as [z], as in "dogs" /dɔɡz/.

What is the difference between the use of slanted and square brackets in transcription?

When we refer to the physical reality of the sounds of a word such as 'bet', we enclose the transcription symbols into square brackets, [bet], whereas in the phonological analysis of the word, we employ slants, /bet/. The former type of transcription is referred to as 'narrow transcription' while the latter type is 'broad'.

Name a few areas of practical application of phonetics and/or phonology.

Applications of phonetics and phonology include speech pathology (dealing with the treatment of speech defects), clinical phonology (dealing with language disorders such as aphasia, for instance), forensic phonetics (most commonly employing the knowledge of acoustic phonetics by police or court experts).

 Define English standards of pronunciation.

There are two major types of Inner-Circle English standards (British & American) and three reference accents (RP & SSB for the British standard, GenAm for the American standard).

 Why is standard English not equal to pronunciation standard?

Because an Irish person for example may speak standard English but not speak it with standard pronunciation. That is why there are reference accents or standard types of pronunciation like RP, SSB and GenAm.

  Define speech chain.

The speech chain refers to the sequence of events involved in the production, transmission, and reception of speech. It includes processes such as speech production by the speaker (psychological stage), transmission through the air as sound waves (physical stage), and perception and interpretation by the listener (psychological stage).

The airstream mechanism normally used to produce English speech

sounds is commonly referred to as pulmonic and egressive. Explain the meaning of these terms.

These two terms commonly employed in this context in articulatory phonetics are Latinate words referring to the lungs (as the source of the airstream) and exhalation (the direction of the airflow), respectively. In contrast, other airstream mechanisms exist, such as: Glottalic egressive (ejectives), Glottalic ingressive (implosives), Velaric (clicks).

Explain the mechanism of phonation. What is the linguistic function of phonation?

Phonation involves the vibration of the vocal cords in the larynx as air is expelled from the lungs, creating sound waves that are shaped into speech sounds by the articulators (tongue, lips, palate, etc.). The linguistic function of phonation is the production of voice.

 Why do men usually have deeper voices than women?

The length of vocal folds is related to the height of the pitch. This difference is the reason why women generally speak on a higher pitch than men.

What is the linguistic function of the soft palate (velum)?

There are 4 linguistic functions of the velum. It directs airstream making nasal or not nasal sounds. POA for the English velars /k/ /g/ /ŋ/. Place of secondary articulation for [ɫ] in milk – velarisation. Last function is velaric airstream mechanism (velaric suction) used for clicks.

1What is the linguistic function of the glottis?

The production of voice (phonation) happens in the glottis. Intonation is another function of the glottis, and every language has specific intonation patterns. Glottalic airstream is used for production of implosives and ejectives. Laryngeal features of the glottis are used in aspiration and glottalization. Glottal POA in English is with /h/ and /Ɂ/. Finally, non-modal phonation in breathy voice or creaky voice.

Why do we need phonation in all natural languages?

Phonation produces voiced sounds, which are essential for distinguishing between different phonemes in a language (voiced vs voiceless).

 What are the functions of outer, middle and inner ear?

1.      Outer Ear: Collects and funnels sound to the eardrum.

Middle Ear: Transmits and amplifies sound via the ossicles.

Inner Ear: Converts sound vibrations into electrical signals for the brain and aids in balance.

What is the basic articulatory difference between consonants and vowels?

Articulatorily speaking, in the production of consonants, as opposed to vowels, there is always a radical obstruction to the stream of air at some point in the speech tract.

  What are the criteria employed by traditional articulatory phonetics to classify consonants?

Place of Articulation: Where in the vocal tract the sound is made.

Manner of Articulation: How the airflow is restricted.
Voicing: Whether the vocal cords vibrate.

Name the marked consonant sounds in the following words: Red, Ship, Church, Jump, Yes, Sing, Ham, Love

1.      Red - Voiced post-alveolar glide /ɹ/

Ship - Voiceless palate-alveolar fricative /ʃ/

Church - Voiceless palate-alveolar affricate /tʃ/

Jump - Voiced palate-alveolar affricate /dʒ/

Yes - Voiced palatal glide /j/
Sing - Voiced velar nasal /ŋ/

Ham - Voiceless glottal fricative /h/

Love - Voiced alveolar lateral /l/

 What are the differences between RP and SSB consonants?

They are mostly similar, but a general process of strengthening (fortition) has been noticed in SSB: stronger aspiration and friction, realisation of plosives /p/ /t/ /k/ as ejectives /p’/ /t’/ /k’/, more glottalization.

 What are the differences in phonological patterns between SSB and GenAm?

SSB is non-rhotic which means that the r’s are pronounced only pre-vocalically, within syllable onset, phonetically [ɹ]. GenAm is rhotic so the /r/ is pronounced in all syllable positions, phonetically [ɻ]. In SSB there is affrication/glottalization of /t/ intervocalically in unstressed syllables. In GenAm there is t-voicing or tapping/flapping of /t/ which becomes voiced alveolar flap. In SSB there is yod-coalescence/palatalization while in GenAm there is yod-dropping. In SSB lenition of /l/ is possible in syllable rhyme while in GenAm /l/ can be dark in all contexts.

 What are the phonological similarities between SSB and GenAm in contrast to RP?

The following phonological similarities refer to SSB and GenAm, RP does not have the following features: g-dropping (-ing /ɪŋ/ -> /ɪn/), /tr/, /dr/ -> /tʃr/, /dʒr/ (retraction/backing), epenthetic/intrusive stops.

 What are the three parameters involved in the cardinal vowel diagram? How many theoretical degrees of opening are recognised in the cardinal vowel scale?

The cardinal vowel diagram classifies vowel sounds based on three parameters: height (vertical tongue position), backness (horizontal tongue position), and roundedness (lip shape). It recognizes eight theoretical degrees of opening (height): close, half-close, half-open, open

How many cardinal vowels are there all together? What is the difference between primary and secondary cardinal vowels?

There are 18 cardinal vowels, divided into 8 primary (1 [i], 2 [e], 3 [ɛ], 4 [a], 5 [ɑ], 6 [ɔ], 7 [o], and 8 [u]) and 10 secondary vowels. Primary cardinal vowels serve as reference points for extreme tongue positions, while secondary cardinal vowels have the same tongue positions but opposite lip roundedness.

Name some differences between RP and GenAm concerning the system of pure vowels.

RP has 12 pure vowels, while GenAm has 15. RP has the back unrounded open vowel /ɑː/ in many words where GenAm has a front open unrounded vowel /æ/ (like in the word pass). In GenAm, the quality of any vowel followed by /r/ is affected by the /r/ (the vowel is r-coloured). In GenAm tenseness is more variable than in RP.

How are diphthongs described articulatorily? What are the two constituent parts of diphthongs?

As opposed to monophthongs or 'pure vowels', diphthongs consist of two functionally related vocalic elements. The two constituent parts which make up any diphthong are the starting point and the endpoint.

 What is the difference between closing and centring diphthongs? Do you know of any varieties of English which do not have the category of centring diphthongs?

The closing diphthongs have a close vowel (I or ʊ) as the end point. The centring diphthongs are glided toward a central endpoint.  General American has closing diphthongs only.

Compare the centring diphthongs in SSB and GenAm.

In SSB diphthongs are closing and centring, while due to the rhotic nature of GenAm they are only closing. There is a decline in centring diphthongs in SSB.

Define the tendency of opening of the SSB FLEECE/i:/ according to the anti-clockwise vowel shift.

In recent decades, Standard Southern British (SSB) has undergone an “anti-clockwise” vowel shift. Vowels are also starting to be more open. Fleece /i:/->/e/