Introduction to Phonetics and English Phonology: English Consonants Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering English consonant classification, plosive stages, allophonic variation, nasals, and phonological differences between RP and General American.

Consonants (Phonetic definition)

Sounds produced by the obstruction of the airstream in the vocal tract.

Vowels (Phonetic definition)

Sounds produced with no obstruction of the airstream in the vocal tract.

Consonants (Phonological definition)

Sounds that typically occur at the margins (onsets and codas) of syllables.

Vowels (Phonological definition)

Sounds that are typically central in a syllable, occurring as the nucleus.

Syllable Structure

Consists of an onset and a rhyme, where the rhyme contains the nucleus and the coda.

Fortis sounds

Sounds produced with more muscular effort and greater breath force; they are voiceless in all positions and shorten preceding vowels.

Lenis sounds

Sounds produced with less muscular effort and less breath force; they may be voiced and the preceding vowel has full length.

Plosives

Sounds produced by closing the airstream off completely and then releasing built-up air quickly.

Approach stage

The first stage of plosive articulation where the articulators come together and form a closure.

Hold stage

The second stage of plosive articulation where air is compressed behind the closure.

Release stage

The final stage of plosive articulation where the articulators part and compressed air is released rapidly.

Auslautverhärtung

German term for "final devoicing," where lenis obstruents regularly become fortis in syllable-final positions (e.g., Rad [rat]).

Aspiration

A delay between the release of a plosive and the beginning of the vibration of the vocal folds for the following vowel.

T-flapping

In General American, the realization of /t/ as a flap $[ɾ]$ in contexts like between vowels or between /r/ and a vowel.

Glottal stop

A sound $[ʔ]$ that is not a phoneme in RP or GA but serves to reinforce fortis plosives or replace /t/ in some British accents.

Fricatives

Sounds produced by bringing articulators close together and pressing air through the narrowing to create hiss-like friction.

Consonant Frequency (RP)

In conversational RP, consonants make up $60.8\%$ of total phonemes, with /n/ at $7.6\%$, and /ʒ/ among the least frequent at $0.1\%$.

H-dropping

The absence of the phoneme /h/, occurring in some British and Australian accents.

Affricates

Sounds produced by a plosive approach and hold followed by a fricative release; English examples are /tʃ/ and /dʒ/.

Approximants

Sounds produced with only an approximated narrowing of the vocal tract and no audible friction; includes lateral /l/ and central /w, r, j/.

Clear [l]

The allophone of /l/ used in RP when occurring before a vowel or /j/.

Dark [ɫ]

A velarized allophone of /l/ used in RP before consonants or word boundaries, GA only uses this version.

Non-rhotic accent

An accent like RP where /r/ is only pronounced before a vowel and is silent before consonants or word boundaries.

Linking /r/

The pronunciation of an /r/ present in spelling in non-rhotic accents when the following word begins with a vowel.

Intrusive /r/

The insertion of /r/ before a word-initial vowel even when no is present in spelling, often after schwa or /a:/.

Yod-Dropping

The loss of the /j/ sound before /u:/, occurring in more contexts in General American (GA) than in Received Pronunciation (RP).

Nasals

Sounds produced by closing the vocal tract and releasing air through the nose by lowering the velum.

Velic closure

The raising of the velum to block off the nasal cavity; this closure is absent in the production of nasal sounds.

Pronunciation of [ng]

Pronounced as /ŋg/ in non-derived words (finger) or comparative/superlative forms (longer), but as /ŋ/ in derived/inflected variants (singer).