Key Terms in Phonetics and Syllable Structure

Coarticulation

The result of speech sounds overlapping with each other during production.

Phonotactic Constraints

The allowable combinations of sounds in a particular language.

Complex Syllable

A syllable that contains at least one consonant sequence.

Phonogram

The written representation of a rime.

Phonetics

The study of how speech sounds are perceived and produced.

Digraph

Two letters that represent a single phoneme.

Singleton

One consonant sound by a vowel in a word.

Rime

Nucleus + coda.

Closed Syllable

A type of syllable that ends with a consonant.

Open Syllable

A type of syllable that does not have a coda.

Syllable

A unit of pronunciation consisting of a vowel sound alone or a vowel sound with the consonants that precede or follow it.

Nucleus

The term that refers to the vowel sound in a syllable.

Consonants

Sounds produced by obstructing the vocal tract.

Accent

The impact of one's first language on the sounds of one's second language.

Simple Syllable

A type of syllable that consists only of a vowel or a vowel with singleton consonants.

Phoneme

A speech sound used to differentiate meaning in words.

Allograph

All the different spellings for each sound.

Orthography

The writing system of a language.

Grapheme

A letter or group of letters used to represent one sound.

Homonyms

Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., here, hear).

Sequence

Two or more consonant sounds next to a vowel in a word.

Coda

Consonants that follow the vowel in a syllable.

Vowels

Sounds that contain the most acoustic energy because they are produced with a relatively open vocal tract.

Intervocalic

Consonants that are between vowels in a word with two or more syllables.

Allophones

All the different ways a given sound can be produced.

Phonology

The sound system of a language; includes all sounds and their variations as well as rules for combining them.

Minimal Pair

Two words that differ by one sound (e.g., boat/coast, cap/cat, rip/rap).

Idiolect

The unique way an individual speaks.

Articulators

Oral structures that assist in changing the vocal tract in order to form sounds.

Onset

The consonants that precede the vowel in a word/syllable; also termed prevocalic.

Assimilation

The change that a sound undergoes when influenced by its sound environment.

Prevocalic

Consonants that come before the vowel sound in a syllable.

Dialect

Any variety of language that is shared by a group of speakers; may include differences in sound preferences, vocabulary, and grammar.

Postvocalic

Consonants that come after the vowel in a syllable