Study Guide Quiz 2

What are the three ways vowels are described?

Height (high, mid, low), backness (front, central, back), and rounding (rounded, unrounded).

What is the source-filter theory?

It describes how the vocal tract shapes sound; the source produces sound, and the filter modifies it.

What are formants?

Resonant frequencies of the vocal tract that characterize vowels, appearing as dark bands on a spectrogram.

How does raising your tongue affect formant frequencies?

Raising the tongue lowers F1, while fronting the tongue raises F2.

What is the difference between a narrowband and a wideband spectrogram?

Narrowband shows better frequency resolution, while wideband shows better time resolution.

How can you determine vowels from a spectrogram when F1 is labeled?

Low vowels have a high F1, high vowels have a low F1, front vowels have a high F2, and back vowels have a low F2.

How do consonants differ from vowels in speech production?

Vowels are voiced and provide syllabic nuclei; consonants can be voiced or voiceless and modify vowel sounds.

How do stops appear on a spectrogram?

Stops have a silent gap followed by a burst.

How do fricatives appear on a spectrogram?

Fricatives show continuous high-frequency noise.

How do liquids appear on a spectrogram?

Liquids have a formant-like structure but are more dynamic than vowels.

How can you differentiate a stop, fricative, and liquid on a spectrogram?

Stops have a closure period and a burst; fricatives have high-frequency noise without a gap; liquids have smoother transitions.