Performance Diction

International Phonetic Alphabet

Also known as IPA. Developed by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century to represent the sounds of speech. The IPA is a series of symbols that each represent the same sound across all languages and the symbols, along with their corresponding sounds, represent the collection of all possible linguistic utterances. (English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, German, French)

Orthographic Letter/ Orthographic Spelling

The symbols we use to communicate language in written form. Each individual symbol is called an orthographic letter and when combined into larger groupings, they are called orthographic spellings.

IPA Symbol/ IPA Spelling or Transcription

The symbols we use to represent individual linguistic sounds are called IPA symbols. When IPA symbols are combined into larger groupings, they are called IPA spellings or transcriptions, and they are differentiated from orthographic letters and spellings by the use of the square bracket. All IPA transcriptions and symbols must be enclosed within square brackets.

IPA Transcribing

The act of chasing an orthographic spelling into International Phonetic Alphabet

IPA Transcription

The product which results from the act of IPA transcription.

Phoneme

An individual speech/ language sound.

Articulation

The process of forming or shaping the individual sounds of a language by the movements of the articulators.

Pronunciation

Is the selection of sounds and syllabic stress.

Syllable

A unit of spoken language that is next larger than an individual phoneme/ speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds with or without consonants.

Accent/ Stress

The syllable within a word that receives more emphasis, either being louder or longer, or both.

a. Primary Stress: The syllable within a word that receives the most emphasis.

b. Secondary Stress: The syllable within a multi-syllable word that receives the second most emphasis.

Penultimate

The second-to-last, in diction, especially when referencing the stressing of syllables.

Antepenultimate

The third-to-last

Vocal Tract

Generally, the passageways and spaces in the body which are critical to vocal action. (lungs, trachea, larynx, pharynx, nasopharynx, nasal cavity, oral cavity, articulators)

Articulators

Body parts within the vocal tract which ate used in the formation and articulation of speech sounds (tongue, lips, jaw, alveolar ridge, and velum)

Velum

The soft palate, which is the soft back part of the roof of the mouth.

Hard Palate

The rigid portion of the roof of the mouth.

Alveolar Ridge

The ridge on the top of the mouth behind the upper front teeth where the roofline of the mouth ascends upward.

Uvula

The tissue that descends from the back edge of the velum.

Vowel

A speech sound which is produced without any major interruption of the air flow through the vocal tract and can be sustained and is voiced

Cardinal Vowel

A series of eight vowels which comprise the “main” vowels of most languages. Term developed by the British phonetician, Daniel Jones, in the early 20th century. The primary cardinal vowels are: [i], [e], [ɛ], [a], [ɑ], [ɔ], [o], [u]

Pure Vowel

A vowel that consists of one single sound from beginning to end.

Diphthong

A vowel unit that consists of two pure vowel sounds that occur in the same syllable, flowing smoothly from one to the next (ex. mine, day, found)

Triphthong

A vowel unit that consists of three separate vowel sounds in the same syllable, flowing smoothly from one to the next (ex. miei, meow)

Forward Vowels

Those vowels produced with the arch of the tongue forward in the mouth, near the teeth ridge or hard palette.

Central Vowels

Those vowels which are produced with the high point of the tongue centrally located in the mouth.

Back Vowels

Those vowels which are produced with the high point of the tongue toward the back of the mouth.

Closed Vowels

The vowels which are produced with the least amount of space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Mid Vowel

The vowels which are produced with a moderate amount of space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Open Vowels

The vowels which are produced with the most space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Rounded Vowels

Vowels that require the lips to be more rounded

Unrounded Vowels

Vowels that require the lips to be less rounded.

Mixed Vowels

A back vowel and a front vowel that are pronounced simultaneously, by using the tongue positioning from the front vowel and using the lip positioning from back vowel.

Nasal Vowels

Vowels that include noticeable nasal resonance that are created by slightly lowering the soft palette.

Vowel Diagram

A graphic which represents the positioning of the tongue for various vowels used in speech. It was developed by Daniel jones in the early 20th century and has become a widely referenced item among linguists, singers, and vocal pedagogues.

Consonant

A speech sound that is produced with some type of interference or interruption of the air stream as it moves through the vocal tract.

Plane of Articulation

Refers to the location within the vocal tract where the interruption of the airflow occurs.

Manner of Articulation

Refers to the method of interruption of the air flow, whether by a complete interruption or partial interruption.

Plosive (Stop-Plosive)

The airflow is completely prevented from passing through the mouth or the nose and then is released suddenly. (in English, the plosives are p, b, t, d, k, g)

Fricative

The air flow is partially interrupted, thus producing a noisy sound and creating a quality of friction. (in English, the fricatives are f, v, s, z, h, ð, θ, ʃ, ʒ)

Nasal

The vocal tract is blocked with the oral cavity, the lowered velum allows air the travel through the nasal passageway. (in English the nasal consonants are m, n, ŋ)

Lateral

The tip of the tongue lifts to touch the teeth and alveolar ridge and the breath flows past one of both sides of the tongue. (in English the only lateral consonant is l)

Glides

The sound that is characterised by movement of the articulators from one position to another. (in English, the glides are ɹ, j, w)

Affricative or Combination Consonants

These are produced by a stop followed by a fricative consonant forming a single sound. (in English, the affricative or combination consonants are t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ)

Voiced Consonants

Are produced with vocal fold vibration

Unvoiced consonants

Are produced without vocal fold vibration

Cognates

Pairs of consonants that have the same manner of articulation, one being voiced and the other being unvoiced (ex. [p, b] or [t, d])

Aspirate vs. Non-Aspirate Consonant Sounds

(Italian and French vs. German and English)

Digraph

a combination of two or more orthographically spelled letters that represent a single sound. Examples in English are “th” and “ch”. Examples in Italian are “gn” and “gli”.

Diacritical Marks

Non-letter symbols that exist in orthographic spellings that influence the pronunciation, stressing, or meaning of a word.

Off-Glide

An unintended sound when moving from one phoneme to another. We have to be careful to avoid these in foreign language when we sing, especially because they are a natural part of our colloquial speech patterns.

Glottal Stop

A slight and lightly percussive interruption in the flow of the vocal sound. It is made by closing the vocal folds, briefly stopping all sound, and then releasing the vocal folds to create an instantaneous restart of the sound (ex. uh-oh)

Vowel Modification

A process used to aid singing efficiency which requires a slight intentional alteration of a vowel from its most speech-like state to one that allows for a more optimal sung sound.

Vowel Harmonization

A process used in singing to make slight intentional alterations in vowel sounds that are in proximity in a phrase to create a more pleasing vocal line.

Consonant Assimilation

Unintentional slight alterations in consonants which are caused by other consonants in proximity.

What is Diction?

Study of linguistic sounds and the rules for applying them to various languages for the purpose of clear, expressive, colorful, natural, and technically strong singing

Why Do We Study Diction?

1. Express (communicate to an audience)

2. Improves Technique (helps us sing better)

3. Uplift cultures that are not our own