Phonetics Term Bank - Midterm

Stop

a manner of articulation involving a complete closure so that no air exits through the mouth. Ex. P, T, B,

Fricative

a manner of articulation in which the opening is narrow to cause a turbulent air stream ex. /s/

Nasal

air is flowing through the nasal passage ex. /m/

Approximant

Manner of articulation made without the air stream ex. /r/

glide

consonant sound produced when the tongue moves smoothly toward a vowel without blocking airflow. ex. /w/

sibilant

a consonant sound produced by directing air through a narrow passage in the mouth, creating a sharp hissing or hushing sound. ex. /s/ /z/

Lateral Approximant

a consonant sound produced when the tongue touches the roof of the mouth and air flows around the sides of the tongue. ex. /l/

Alveolar Tapping

consonant sound produced when the tongue briefly touches the alveolar ridge ex. /butter/

Dark L

a type of /l/ with the quality of a high back vowel. Ex. /ball/

Schwa

a unstressed mid central vowel, [upside down e]. Contrast /carrot/ (stressed vowel)

Canadian Raising

phonological process in which the beginning of a diphthong (/aɪ/ or /aʊ/) is pronounced with a higher tongue position before a voiceless consonant. ex. write [ɹʌɪt] vs. ride [ɹaɪd]

Nasalization

Phonological process where a sound becomes nasalized. ex. man [mæ̃n]

tense vowels

generally longer and produced with a more extreme tongue position. Ex. /i/ vs. /ɪ/ – beat vs. bit

Lax vowels

lax vowels are generally shorter and more centralized. Ex. /u/ vs. /ʊ/ – pool vs. pull

High Vowels

produced when the tongue is raised close to the roof of the mouth without blocking airflow. Ex. /i/ vs. /æ/ – beet vs. bat

round vowels

a vowel produced when the lips are rounded or protruded during pronunciation. Ex. /u/ vs. /i/ – boot vs. beet

Phonotactics

the arrangement of sounds in a language with respect to each other. Ex. /str/ – street, strong, string (allowed in English)

Suprasegmentals

features of speech that extend over more than one sound. Ex. Stress, Intonation, Tone, Rhythm, Length

Coarticulation

occurs when the pronunciation of one speech sound is influenced by the sounds before or after it because the articulators overlap their movements. Ex. Key vs. cool – The /k/ is produced farther forward in the mouth

Homorganic Nasals

nasal consonants that share the same place of articulation as a neighbouring consonant. Ex. /mp/ – input [ˈɪmpʊt] (both bilabial)