CDI315

Height (in vowels)

Describes how high or low the tongue is in the mouth (e.g., high, mid, low).

Backness (in vowels)

Describes how far front or back the tongue is (e.g., front, central, back).

Rounding (in vowels)

Indicates whether the lips are rounded or unrounded.

Source-Filter Theory

Explains speech production as a combination of source (vocal fold vibration) and filter (vocal tract shape).

F1

The first formant, inversely related to tongue height; higher tongue position results in lower F1.

F2

The second formant, related to tongue backness; front vowels have higher F2 and back vowels have lower F2.

Narrow-band spectrograms

Show more harmonic structure, better for identifying pitch and harmonics.

Wide-band spectrograms

Show formants more clearly, better for vowel analysis.

Voice Onset Time (VOT)

The time between the release of a stop consonant and the onset of voicing.

Stops (Plosives)

Consonants with a silent gap followed by a burst of energy (e.g., /p, t, k/ vs. /b, d, g/).

Fricatives

Consonants that produce a continuous noise pattern (e.g., /s, z, f, v, ʃ, ʒ/).

Liquids (Approximants)

Consonants that are more vowel-like but have distinct formant transitions (e.g., /l, r/).

Consonants vs. Vowels

Vowels are produced with an open vocal tract and are always voiced, while consonants can be voiced or voiceless and involve constrictions.

Differentiating Stops, Fricatives, and Liquids

Stops have a closure gap and release burst, fricatives have continuous noise energy, and liquids have smooth formant transitions.