Introduction to Phonetic Science - Key Concepts (Flashcards)

A comprehensive set of practice questions covering core concepts from phonetics, phonology, IPA notation, phonotactics, syllabification, stress, and speech registers as presented in the lecture notes.

What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?

Phonetics studies the production, acoustic properties, perception, and use of speech sounds; phonology studies how sounds are mentally represented in a language and the rules that govern how they combine (phonological grammar).

Define phoneme, phone, and allophone.

Phoneme: a mental sound unit that can change meaning; phone: a concrete spoken sound; allophone: a phoneme variant that does not change meaning.

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) used for, and how are phonemic vs phonetic transcriptions written?

IPA provides symbols for speech sounds; phonemic transcription uses slashes / / to indicate phonemes, while phonetic transcription uses brackets [ ] for actual spoken phones.

What is the difference between orthographic and phonetic symbols, and what are homographs and homophones?

Orthographic symbols are letters used in writing; phonetic symbols capture pronunciation. Homographs are words spelled the same with possibly different meanings or pronunciations; homophones are words that sound the same but may be spelled differently.

Name the five branches of phonetics mentioned.

Articulatory, acoustic, auditory, linguistic, and clinical phonetics.

What is articulatory phonetics focused on?

The actual movements needed to produce speech sounds.

What is acoustic phonetics focused on?

The actual auditory signal generated when speech sounds are produced.

What is auditory phonetics focused on?

How humans hear, perceive, and categorize speech sounds.

What is linguistic phonetics focused on?

Understanding the articulatory, acoustic, and auditory characteristics of speech sounds across languages and how these influence use.

What is clinical phonetics focused on?

The practical application of phonetics to diagnosing and treating speech sound disorders.

What is the 'invariance problem' in phonetics?

The phenomenon that phoneme articulation varies across contexts, speakers, and registers, making a single sound not truly invariant.

What is coarticulation?

Overlap of speech movements where sounds influence each other as they are produced, causing articulatory gestures to continue from one sound to the next.

What is ambisyllabic consonants?

Consonants that appear to belong to two syllables (due to overlapping articulation across a syllable boundary), typically in multisyllabic words with an unstressed following vowel.

What is the maximal onset principle?

Assign as many consonants as possible to the onset of the following syllable, while respecting the phonology of the language.

What is syllabification and how is it notated?

Dividing words into syllables; typically notated with a period between syllables (e.g., CV.CVC). Every syllable contains one vowel.

What is phonotactics?

The set of rules governing permissible sound sequences in a language and the structure of syllables.

Give the phonotactic structures for the words: in (VC), fin (CVC), skin (CCVC).

in = VC; fin = CVC; skin = CCVC.

What is the difference between word position and syllable position for consonants?

Word position classifies consonants as initial, medial, or final in the whole word; syllable position classifies consonants as syllable-initiating (onset) or syllable-arresting (coda).

What is a consonant cluster?

Two or more consonants that occur together in a single syllable position, often treated as a unit in transcription (e.g., 'sk' in skip, 'nd' in hand).

What is a syllable and how many vowels does each contain?

A syllable is a unit with one nucleus, typically a vowel; every syllable contains exactly one vowel.

What is the difference between syllable position and word position in terms of 'onset' and 'coda'?

Onset (syllable-initiating) vs coda (syllable-arresting) are defined by syllable structure; word-medial consonants can be in onset or coda depending on syllabification rules.

What is the concept of dictionaries’ syllabification versus spoken syllabification?

Dictionaries provide syllabification for printing (often not reflecting spoken syllables). Spoken syllabification follows phonetic principles like the maximal onset principle.

What is 'phonemic transcription' vs 'phonetic transcription' in IPA notation?

Phonemic transcription uses virgules / / to denote phonemes; phonetic transcription uses brackets [ ] to denote actual spoken phones.

Define 'speech registers' and list the continuum from frozen to intimate.

Registers reflect how formally or informally we speak: frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate.

What is 'citation-form speech'?

Overarticulated speech based on a word’s dictionary pronunciation form, typically slower and more precise.

What is 'casual speech'?

Everyday speech that is generally intelligible but not overarticulated, often with reductions, contractions, or omissions.

What are hyper-speech and hypo-speech?

Hyper-speech: overarticulated speech; hypo-speech: underarticulated speech; extremes described by Lindblom as adaptations to context.

How does stress affect vowels in stressed vs unstressed syllables?

Vowels in stressed syllables are usually fully articulated; vowels in unstressed syllables are often reduced or weaker.

Differentiate lexical stress from grammatical stress with an example.

Lexical stress is the underlying stress pattern of a word (e.g., laughter STRONG-weak). Grammatical stress changes with syntactic category (e.g., content as CONtent vs conTENT as adjective).

What is primary stress and how is it labeled in two-syllable words?

Primary stress is the syllable with the strongest emphasis; often the first syllable in two-syllable nouns/adjectives/adverbs (e.g., LAughter).

Give an example of a word where changing stress changes syntactic category (grammatical stress).

Content can be CONtent (noun) or conTENT (adjective); the stress pattern signals the syntactic category.

Why is IPA important in clinical practice?

It provides a universal, unambiguous way to write how words are actually pronounced, enabling precise transcription of phonemes, phones, and allophones.

What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?

Phonetics studies the production, acoustic properties, perception, and use of speech sounds (e.g., how the [p] sound is made); phonology studies how sounds are mentally represented in a language and the rules that govern how they combine (phonological grammar) (e.g., the rule that [ŋ] can't start a word in English).

Define phoneme, phone, and allophone.

Phoneme: a mental sound unit that can change meaning (/p/ vs /b/ in 'pat' vs 'bat'); phone: a concrete spoken sound (the slightly different [p] sounds in 'pat' vs 'spat'); allophone: a phoneme variant that does not change meaning (the aspirated [pʰ] in 'pat' vs the unaspirated [p] in 'spat').

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) used for, and how are phonemic vs phonetic transcriptions written?

IPA provides symbols for speech sounds; phonemic transcription uses slashes / / to indicate phonemes (e.g., /bæt/ for 'bat'), while phonetic transcription uses brackets [ ] for actual spoken phones (e.g., [bæʔt] for a glottal stop before the t in 'bat').

What is the difference between orthographic and phonetic symbols, and what are homographs and homophones?

Orthographic symbols are letters used in writing; phonetic symbols capture pronunciation. Homographs are words spelled the same with possibly different meanings or pronunciations (e.g., 'read' can be /riːd/ or /rɛd/); homophones are words that sound the same but may be spelled differently (e.g., 'there,' 'their,' and 'they're').

Name the five branches of phonetics mentioned.

Articulatory, acoustic, auditory, linguistic, and clinical phonetics.

What is articulatory phonetics focused on?

The actual movements needed to produce speech sounds (e.g., the tongue movements to pronounce the /l/ sound).

What is acoustic phonetics focused on?

The actual auditory signal generated when speech sounds are produced (e.g., the sound waves produced when saying the /ʃ/ sound).

What is auditory phonetics focused on?

How humans hear, perceive, and categorize speech sounds (e.g., distinguishing between /b/ and /p/).

What is linguistic phonetics focused on?

Understanding the articulatory, acoustic, and auditory characteristics of speech sounds across languages and how these influence use (e.g., how different languages use different types of /r/ sounds).

What is clinical phonetics focused on?

The practical application of phonetics to diagnosing and treating speech sound disorders (e.g., helping someone pronounce /r/ correctly).

What is the 'invariance problem' in phonetics?

The phenomenon that phoneme articulation varies across contexts, speakers, and registers, making a single sound not truly invariant (e.g., the /k/ sound is different different in 'kit', 'coop', and 'cat').

What is coarticulation?

Overlap of speech movements where sounds influence each other as they are produced, causing articulatory gestures to continue from one sound to the next (e.g., the /n/ in 'tenth' is dentalized because of the following dental /θ/).

What is ambisyllabic consonants?

Consonants that appear to belong to two syllables (due to overlapping articulation across a syllable boundary), typically in multisyllabic words with an unstressed following vowel (e.g., 'silly' as sil.li, where /l/ might be considered part of both syllables).

What is the maximal onset principle?

Assign as many consonants as possible to the onset of the following syllable, while respecting the phonology of the language (e.g., 'radiate' is ra.di.ate, not rad.i.ate).

What is syllabification and how is it notated?

Dividing words into syllables; typically notated with a period between syllables (e.g., CV.CVC). Every syllable contains one vowel (e.g., 'water' as wa.ter).

What is phonotactics?

The set of rules governing permissible sound sequences in a language and the structure of syllables (e.g., in English, /ŋ/ cannot begin a word).

Give the phonotactic structures for the words: in (VC), fin (CVC), skin (CCVC).

in = VC; fin = CVC; skin = CCVC.

What is the difference between word position and syllable position for consonants?

Word position classifies consonants as initial, medial, or final in the whole word; syllable position classifies consonants as syllable-initiating (onset) or syllable-arresting (coda) (e.g., in the word 'butter', /t/ is medial in word position but is a coda in the first syllable and an onset in the second syllable).

What is a consonant cluster?

Two or more consonants that occur together in a single syllable position, often treated as a unit in transcription (e.g., 'sk' in skip, 'nd' in hand).

What is a syllable and how many vowels does each contain?

A syllable is a unit with one nucleus, typically a vowel; every syllable contains exactly one vowel (e.g., the word 'dog' has one syllable).

What is the difference between syllable position and word position in terms of 'onset' and 'coda'?

Onset (syllable-initiating) vs coda (syllable-arresting) are defined by syllable structure; word-medial consonants can be in onset or coda depending on syllabification rules (e.g., In 'happy,' /p/ is the coda of the first syllable and the onset of the second).

What is the concept of dictionaries’ syllabification versus spoken syllabification?

Dictionaries provide syllabification for printing (often not reflecting spoken syllables). Spoken syllabification follows phonetic principles like the maximal onset principle (e.g., dictionary might list 'hotel' as ho.tel, but spoken form is often ho.tel).

What is 'phonemic transcription' vs 'phonetic transcription' in IPA notation?

Phonemic transcription uses virgules / / to denote phonemes; phonetic transcription uses brackets [ ] to denote actual spoken phones (e.g., /tip/ vs. [tʰip]).

Define 'speech registers' and list the continuum from frozen to intimate.

Registers reflect how formally or informally we speak: frozen (e.g., the Pledge of Allegiance), formal (e.g., a lecture), consultative (e.g., doctor-patient), casual (e.g., chats with friends), and intimate (e.g., private conversations).

What is 'citation-form speech'?

Overarticulated speech based on a word’s dictionary pronunciation form, typically slower and more precise (e.g., pronouncing every sound in 'going to' very distinctly).

What is 'casual speech'?

Everyday speech that is generally intelligible but not overarticulated, often with reductions, contractions, or omissions (e.g., saying 'gonna' instead of 'going to').

What are hyper-speech and hypo-speech?

Hyper-speech: overarticulated speech; hypo-speech: underarticulated speech; extremes described by Lindblom as adaptations to context (e.g. hyper-speech might occur when loud noises are around, while hypo-speech might occur with close friends who understand you well).

How does stress affect vowels in stressed vs unstressed syllables?

Vowels in stressed syllables are usually fully articulated; vowels in unstressed syllables are often reduced or weaker (e.g., the first vowel in 'above' is reduced, while the second vowel is stressed).

Differentiate lexical stress from grammatical stress with an example.

Lexical stress is the underlying stress pattern of a word (e.g., water STRONG-weak). Grammatical stress changes with syntactic category (e.g., record as REcord (noun) vs reCORD (verb)).

What is primary stress and how is it labeled in two-syllable words?

Primary stress is the syllable with the strongest emphasis; often the first syllable in two-syllable nouns/adjectives/adverbs (e.g., TAble).

Give an example of a word where changing stress changes syntactic category (grammatical stress).

Content can be CONtent (noun) or conTENT (adjective); the stress pattern signals the syntactic category.

Why is IPA important in clinical practice?

It provides a universal, unambiguous way to write how words are actually pronounced, enabling precise transcription of phonemes, phones, and allophones (e.g., documenting a client’s mispronunciation of 'ship' as 'thip').