Phonetics & Phonology Midterm

Phonetics

the scientific study of speech sounds, their form, substance, and perception; and the application of this study to a better understanding and improvement of linguistic expression

What does IPA stand for?

International Phonetic Alphabet/Association

Linguistics

area of study concerned with nature of language and communication and the rules that govern a particular language

Phone

ANY sound that can be produced by the human vocal tract wether it has meaning or not

Phoneme

a speech sound in a particular language, the smallest unit of meaning and distinguishes one word from another

Allophone

variant of a phoneme, variation of pronunciation of phonemes used by different speakers but the meaning DOESN’T change

Phonology

study of the structure and systematic organization/patterning of sounds along with their permissible combinations in a language

Orthography

study of the spelling and writing systems of a language; system of rules for written and printed representation of sounds of a language including spelling and punctuation

Morpheme

smallest meaningful unit in grammar of language which we usually identify as words

Free Morpheme

can stand alone with units of meaning ex) “cat” “walk”

Bound Morpheme

must be connected to a free morpheme to have meaning ex) “ed” in “walked”

What’s the difference in letters versus phonemes?

letters are the WRITTEN symbols whereas phonemes are the smallest units of SOUNDS

Pre-Vocalic

consonants that are before the vowel

Post-Vocalic

consonants that are after the vowel

Inter-Vocalic

consonants that are between vowels and crosses both syllables

Onset

the consonants the precede the vowel in a syllable

Coda

consonants that follow the vowel in a syllable

Rime

the part of a syllable that includes the vowel (nucleus) and the consonants that follow it ex) “-at” in “cat”

What is the difference in an open versus closed syllable?

an open syllable is any syllable that ends with a vowel sound whereas a closed syllable is any syllable that ends with consonant sound ex) “he” versus “heat”

Digraph

two letters together that are produced as one sound ex) sh

Consonant Clusters

two or more consonant sounds produced together in a word ex) /bl/ as in “blue”

Broad versus Narrow Transcription

Broad transcription uses slash marks and narrow transcription uses brackets; () versus [ ]

Language

a system of communication whereby speakers and hearers can relate sound and meaning using unconscious rules

Speech

a physical act, oral communication system that relates meaning within sound, primary channel in which human language is conveyed

Dialect

rule-governed, mutually intelligible forms of a language characterized by social, ethnic & geographical differences in its speakers; variation of a language, can result from isolation

Can you put someone in therapy due to dialect?

NO, it’s a difference, NOT a disorder

Style Shifting

refers to the changes in which we speak in different communication settings

What’s an example of style shifting?

Talking with your boss versus talking with friends

Register

refers to formal and informal speaking styles, within the same language and depends on context involves changes in intonation, loudness, level of vocabulary

What’s an example of a register?

The pastor at church giving a sermon

Code-switching

when a person shifts speaking style from one dialect to another or from one language to another

What’s an example of code-switching?

A bilingual speaker switching from spanish to english; A southern dialect switching to american standard english to be accepted by their work peers

Idiolect

the speech form characteristic of a single individual or the speech history of an individual

Vowels

produced with a more open vocal tract, ALL VOICED

How are vowels categorized?

tongue position and height, tongue tension, lip rounding

What are the three characteristics of consonants?

place, manner, voicing

What are the articulators for English Phonemes?

tongue, teeth, lips, hard palate, alveolar ridge, soft palate/velum

What are the parts of the tongue?

tip, blade, dorsum, root

Place

the point of contact for articulators to produce a speech sound, where it is anatomically produced

Where are all the places of articulation at?

bilabials, labiodentals, interdentals, alveolars, palatals, velars, glottal

Manner

refers to HOW sounds are produced, how the airflow is obstructed

What are all the manners of articulation?

stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals, glides, liquids

Voicing

if vocal cords vibrate together it is voiced, if there is no vibration then it is classified as voiceless

Bilabial

when both lips are used in production of the sound /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/

Labiodental

when lower lip and teeth is used in production /f/, /v/

Interdental

when tongue is placed between teeth or contacts upper lip /θ/, /ð/

Alveolar

tongue makes contact with alveolar ridge /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/

Palatal

tongue makes contact with the hard palate /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /j/, /r/

Velar

back of the tongue makes contact to the soft palate or velum /k/, /g/, /ŋ/

Glottal

sound is produced at the level of the vocal folds /h/

Stops

air pressure is built up in the oral cavity and suddenly released /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

Fricatives

air is forced through a narrow opening in the mouth, creates friction /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/

Affricates

combination of a stop and a fricative /tʃ/, /dʒ/

Nasals

formed by closing the oral cavity, allowing air to pass through the nasal cavity or nose /m/, /n/, /ŋ/

Glides

possess vowel-like qualities, sound is made when there is an opening between tongue and hard palate /w/, /j/

Liquids

sound is made with large opening between tongue and hard palate /l/, /r/

Cognates

a pair of consonants that are produced in the same place AND manner and only differ in voicing

How many pairs of cognates is there?

8

What are the cognate pairs?

/p, b/; /θ, ð/; /f, v/; /t, d/; /s, z/; /tʃ, j/; /ʃ, ʒ/; /k, g/

Syllabics

a consonant with a vowel-like quality ex)letter, pickle, button, beetle

Stridents

a subset of affricates and fricatives where the sound is the result of airflow against a surface; more friction; include ALL affricates and fricatives EXCEPT: /”th”/ /“eth”/ and /h/

Continuants

speech sounds that can be prolonged as long as the breath lasts, with no significant change in the quality of the sound /s/; /f/

Obstruents

consonants that are produced with a considerable amount of obstruction to the laryngeal airstream (half voiced, half unvoiced)

What manner groups make up obstruents?

stops, fricatives, affricates

Sonorants

minimal obstruction of the laryngeal airflow in the vocal tract (ALL VOICED)

Tap or Flap

very quick stop usually between two vowels, rapid tongue tip movement against alveolar ridge ex) better, riddle, stutter

Diacritics

indicates an alternative way of producing a sound, specialized symbol written above, below, or next to a phoneme (used in narrow transcription)

Distinctive Features

a system for analyzing all the sounds in a language into units even smaller than the phoneme

Omissions

a complete deletion of a speech sound that should be present in a word’s standard pronunciation

Substitutions

speech sound error when a speaker replaces one phoneme with another unintentionally while speaking

Distortions

a change or alteration in the quality of a sound, often making it unclear or different from its intended form

Phonological Processes

simplifications of adult patterns children use during phonological development, change in either whole class of sounds or sound sequences

Cluster reduction

deleting one (or more) consonant sounds in a cluster ex) /tɑp/ for /stɑp/

Velar Fronting

forward shift of a velar phoneme ex) /ti/ for /ki/

Final Consonant Deletion

deleting the last consonant sound in a word/syllable ex) /bʊ/ for /bʊk/

Stopping of Fricatives or Affricates

stopping airflow, stop sound is substituted in place of fricative or affricate ex) /tu/ for /tʃu/

Gliding of Liquids

a glide is substituted for a liquid ex) /wɑk/ for /rɑk/

What three categories does Sonorants include?

nasals, liquids, glides