phonology

for exam

What is phonetics?

The study of speech sounds — how we make and hear them.

What is phonology?

The study of sound systems — how sounds work in a language.

What are the three parts of the airway system?

Supralaryngeal system, larynx (glottis), subglottal system.

What does the larynx do?

Controls vocal fold vibration (voicing and pitch).

What does the supralaryngeal system do?

Shapes speech sounds using articulators.

What is a phoneme?

A sound unit that can change meaning (e.g. pat vs bat).

What is an allophone?

A different way to say a phoneme without changing meaning.

What are the 3 features of consonants?

Voicing, place of articulation, manner of articulation.

What does "voiced" mean?

Vocal folds vibrate (e.g. b, d, g, v, z).

What does "voiceless" mean?

Vocal folds don't vibrate (e.g. p, t, k, f, s).

What are bilabial sounds?

Made with both lips (e.g. b, p, m).

What are labiodental sounds?

Made with upper teeth and lower lip (e.g. f, v).

What are interdental sounds?

Made with tongue between teeth (e.g. "th" in think/this).

What are alveolar sounds?

Made with tongue near alveolar ridge (e.g. t, d, s, z).

What are palatal sounds?

Made at the hard palate (e.g. "y").

What are velar sounds?

Made at soft palate/velum (e.g. k, g, ng).

What are glottal sounds?

Made at the glottis (e.g. h).

What are nasal sounds?

Air goes through the nose (e.g. m, n, ng).

What are stops/plosives?

Complete blockage of airflow, then release (e.g. p, b, t, d).

What are fricatives?

Air flows through narrow space, making noise (e.g. f, v, s, z).

What are affricates?

A stop followed by a fricative (e.g. ch, j).

What are liquids?

Tongue moves, air flows around it (e.g. l, r).

What are glides?

Almost like vowels, with tongue shifting (e.g. w, y).

What are obstruents?

Consonants with blocked airflow (stops, fricatives, affricates).

What are sonorants?

Sounds with smooth airflow (nasals, liquids, glides, all vowels).

What are vowels?

Sounds made with open vocal tract.

What articulators make vowels?

Tongue, lips, jaw (main = tongue).

What vowel features are important?

Tongue height, tongue position, lip rounding.

What is a diphthong?

A vowel sound where the tongue moves during the sound (one phoneme, two targets).

What is a triphthong?

A rapid blend of three vowel sounds in one syllable (diphthong + /ə/).

What is phonotactics?

Rules for sound combinations in a language.

What is syllable structure?

The pattern of consonants (C) and vowels (V) in a word.

syllable structure: example: what is the structure of “cat”?

CVC.

What is a syllable nucleus?

The core of a syllable — usually a vowel.

What is lexical stress?

Emphasis placed on one syllable in a word.

What is primary stress?

The most emphasized syllable (marked with ').

What is secondary stress?

Less emphasized but still stressed (marked with ,).

What is a phone?

A spoken sound (actual speech).

What is an allophone?

A version of a phoneme that doesn’t change meaning.

What is a phoneme?

A sound unit that can change word meaning (e.g. hat vs cat).