Ling 1 UCLA Midterm

the scientific study of language

linguistics

structures that work together to create the sound

vocal tract

alveolar

(#1 on image)

hard palate

(#2 on image)

soft palate/velum

(#3 on image)

uvula

(#4 on image)

pharynx

(#5 on image)

glottis

(#6 on image)

three features that determine consonants

1) place of articulation
2) manner of articulation
3) voicing

sounds produced by bringing both lips together (i.e. [b], [p], [m])

bilabials

sounds produced by touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth (i.e. [f], [v])

labiodentals

sounds produced by inserting the tip of the tongue between the upper teeth and the lower teeth (i.e. [θ], [đ])

interdentals

sounds produced by raising the tip of the tongue to the alveolar ridge (part of the hard palate directly behind the upper front teeth) (i.e. [t], [d], [n], [s], [z], [l], [r])

alveolars

sounds produced by raising the front part of the tongue to the hard palate (bony section of the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge) (i.e. [ʃ], [ʒ], [tʃ], [dʒ], [j])

palatals

sounds produced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate or velum (i.e. [k], [g], [ŋ])

velars

[h] produced with the flow of air through the open glottis.
[Ɂ] produced if the air is stopped completely at the glottis by tightly closed vocal chords: glottal stop

glottals

bilabial and velar

labio-velar

vocal cords apart, air flows freely through glottis (no vibration)

voiceless

vocal cords together, airstream forces way through, causing vibration

voiced

there is a complete obstruction of airflow somewhere in the vocal tract

stops

the velum is raised to block the nasal cavity so that when the stop is released, the air flows out through the mouth (i.e. [p, b, t, d, k, g, Ɂ ])

oral stops

the velum is lowered to
open the nasal cavity (i.e. [m] [n] [ŋ])

nasal stops

there is a major, but not complete, obstruction in the vocal tract (i.e. f, v, ɵ as in thick, ð as in thy, s, z, ʃ as in issue, ʒ as in leisure, h as in house)

fricatives

briefly stopping the air flow completely, then slightly releasing the closure so that a fricative‐like noise is produced (i.e. [tʃ] as in cheap, [dʒ] as in Joe)

affricates

some minor obstruction of the vocal tract w/ tongue, but air still passes through (i.e. [l, r])

liquids

[l] - If you inhale sharply you should feel air passing along the sides of your tongue

lateral Liquid

[r] - articulated in the alveolar region and for most, the tip of the tongue is curled back behind the alveolar ridge

retroflex liquid

1)tongue position (frontness/backness)
2)tongue height (high/mid/low)
3)lip rounding
4)tenseness

four features to determine vowels

[i] beet, [ɪ] bit, [e] bait, [ɛ] bet, [æ] bat

front vowels

[ә] about, [ʌ] but, [a] cot

central vowels

[u] boot, [ʊ] book, [o] boat, [ɔ] caught

back vowels

[i] beet, [ɪ] bit, [u] boot, [ʊ] book

high vowels

[e] bait, [ɛ] bet, [ә] about, [ʌ] but, [o] boat, [ɔ] bought

mid vowels

[æ] bat , [ɑ] cot

low vowels

muscles tensed/tighter [i] [e] [u] [o] [a]

tense vowels

muscles a bit more relaxed [ɪ] [ɛ] [æ] [ʌ] [ә] [ʊ] [ɔ]

lax vowels

[ә] about, [ʌ] but, [a] cot, [i] beet, [ɪ] bit, [e] bait, [ɛ] bet, [æ] bat

unrounded vowels

[u], [ʊ], [o], [ɔ]

rounded vowels

these vowel sounds are different than the sounds in beet or bet; they combine two vowels (i.e. [ɑʊ] (house), [ɔɪ] (boy), [ɑɪ] eye)

dipthong vowels

groups of sounds can be identified by sharing distinctive features

natural classes

the inventory of sounds in your language

phonetics

the sound patterns in your language, what sequences are possible

phonology

How to build good PHRASES and SENTENCES

syntax

-what you know in your mind (what you think)
-what you CAN do
-systematic

linguistic competence

-what actually comes out of your mouth
-what you DO do
-subject to physical limitations such as breath, fatigue, nerves, etc.

linguistic performance

-linguist's description or model of the mental grammar
-what speaker's rules actually are
-speaker's grammar
-linguist's grammar

descriptive grammar

-rules of grammar (often based on Latin) used by teachers
-what speaker's rules should be
-can you think of some of these rules?
-can you understand people when they break these rules?

prescriptive grammar

-the capability of language to communicate about things that are not immediately present (spatially or temporally); i.e., things that are either not here or are not here now.
- a universal property of language

displacement

the set of universal properties, possessed by all languages

universal grammar

the structure of a language influences how its speakers perceive the world around them

sapir-whorf hypothesis

speech is broken and halted (telegraphic speech),
Words make some sense, but the structure is incorrect
(aggrammatical)

broca's aphasia

speech is fluent, but doesn't make much sense
newly created word
(semantic)

wernicke's aphasia

patients have difficulty finding words during speech and when asked to name things, but can describe exactly what an object is for

anomia

there is a limited developmental time period during which it is possible to acquire a language to native- like levels.

critical period hypothesis

- affects about 7-8% of kindergarten age children
- very specific types of difficulty with language: children often omit "function" or grammatical words like 'of, the, is,' etc.

specific language impairment (SLI)

- limited spatial and motor skills (may not be able to tie shoes or cut with a knife)
• extremely social and friendly
• high level of vocabulary and grammar; sometimes slightly "off" semantics
• better-than-average in facial recognition
-birth defect

williams syndrome

Bilabial, Oral Stop, Voiceless, Consonant
EX. PIE

[p]

Bilabial, Oral Stop, Voiced, Consonant
EX. BUY

[b]

Bilabial, Nasal Stop, Voiced, Consonant
EX. MY

[m]

Labiodentals, Fricative, Consonant
EX. FERRY

[f]

Labiodentals, Fricative, Voiced, Consonant
EX. VERY

[v]

Alveolar, Voiceless, Oral Stop, Consonant
EX. TIE

[t]

Alveolar, Voiced, Oral Stops, Consonant
EX. DIE

[d]

Alveolar, Voiced, Nasal Stop, Consonant
EX. NIP

[n]

Alveolar, Voiceless, Fricative
EX. SIP

[s]

Alveolar, Fricative, Voiced, Consonants
EX. ZIP

[z]

Alveolar, Lateral Liquids, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. LIP

[l]

Alveolar, Retroflex Liquids, Voiced, Consonants
EX. RIP

[r]

Palatals, Fricative, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. SHIP

[ʃ]

Palatals, Fricative, Voiced, Consonants
EX. SEIZURE

[ʒ]

Palatals, Affricates, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. CHEAP

[ʧ]

Palatals, Affricates, Voiced, Consonants
EX. YELLOW

[ʤ]

Palatals, Voiced, Consonants
EX. JEEP

[j]

Velars, Oral stops, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. KICK

[k]

Velars, Oral stops, Voiced, Consonants
EX. GALLOP

[g]

Velars, Nasal stops, Voiced, Consonants
EX. RING (ng sound)

[ŋ]

Glottals, Fricative, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. HOUSE

[h]

Glottals, Oral stops, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. KITTEN

[Ɂ]

Bilbial Velar, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. WIPE

[w]

Bilbial Velar, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. WHICH

[ʍ]

Fricative, Interdental, Voiceless, Consonants
EX. THICK

[ɵ]

Fricative, Interdental, Voiceless, Consonant
EX. THY

[ð]

Front, High, Tense, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BEET

[i]

Front, High, Lax, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BIT

[ɪ]

Front, Mid, Tense, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BAIT

[e]

Front, Mid, Lax, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BET

[ɛ]

Front, Low, Lax, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BAT

[æ]

Central, Mid, Lax, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. ABOUT

[ә]

Central, Mid, Lax, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. BUT

[ʌ]

Central, Low, Tense, Unrounded, Vowel
EX. COT

[a]

Back, High, Tense, Rounded, Vowel
EX. BOOT

[u]

Back, High, Lax, Rounded, Vowel
EX. BOOK

[ʊ]

Back, Mid, Tense, Rounded, Vowel
EX. BOAT

[o]

Back, Mid, Lax, Rounded, Vowel
EX. CAUGHT

[ɔ]

1) Allophones of Different Phonemes
2) Contrastive Distribution

identifying minimal pairs

1) Allophones of Same Phoneme
2) Complementary Distribution

if no minimal pairs

-the sounds in a given language that are
considered to be "the same" by native speakers
-the sounds that actually get pronounced
- [ ]

allophones

the mental representations of a sound that
every speaker of a language creates
- / /

phonemes

[p, b, m]

bilabials

[t, d, n, s, z, l, r]

alveolars