ELS 112: Introduction to the English Language System - Unit 2: Sounds and Sound Patterns (Vocabulary)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts and terms from UNIT 2 on sounds and sound patterns in English.

phonetics

The general study of speech sounds, including articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual aspects; focuses on how sounds are produced and heard.

phonology

The description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language; abstract, mental representation of sound contrasts.

phoneme

The smallest contrastive unit in a language; an abstract sound type represented with slashes / / that can distinguish meaning.

allophone

A variant of a single phoneme that does not change meaning; different realizations of the same phoneme.

phone

A concrete speech sound as it is produced, usually written in square brackets [ ].

minimal pair

Two words that differ in only one phoneme in the same position and have different meanings (e.g., pat vs bat).

phonotactics

The rules governing permissible sequences and combinations of sounds in a language.

syllable

A unit containing a vowel or vowel-like sound; has onset (consonants) and rhyme (nucleus plus coda).

onset

The initial consonant or consonant cluster of a syllable.

nucleus

The vowel or vowel-like sound at the center of a syllable.

coda

The consonant or consonant cluster that comes after the nucleus in a syllable.

open syllable

A syllable with no coda (typically CV).

closed syllable

A syllable that contains a coda (e.g., CV or CVC with a final consonant).

consonant cluster

Two or more consonants in the onset or coda of a syllable.

place of articulation

Where in the vocal tract a consonant is formed (e.g., bilabial, alveolar, velar, glottal).

manner of articulation

How air is constricted to produce sounds (e.g., stop, fricative, nasal, liquid, glide, affricate).

bilabial

Consonants formed with both lips (e.g., p, b, m, w).

labiodental

Consonants formed with the upper teeth and lower lip (e.g., f, v).

dental

Consonants formed with the tongue tip near the upper teeth (e.g., θ, ð).

alveolar

Consonants formed with the tongue tip at the alveolar ridge (e.g., t, d, s, z, n, l, r).

palatal

Consonants produced with the tongue near the hard palate (e.g., ʃ, ʧ, ʒ, ʤ, j).

velar

Consonants produced with the back of the tongue against the soft palate (e.g., k, g, ŋ).

glottal

Consonants produced with the glottis (e.g., h, glottal stop ʔ).

voiceless

Sounds produced without vocal fold vibration.

voiced

Sounds produced with vocal fold vibration.

nasal

Consonants produced with the velum lowered and air through the nasal cavity (m, n, ŋ); all are voiced.

dipthong

A vowel sound that involves a glide from one vowel to another (e.g., aɪ, aʊ, eɪ, oʊ).

schwa

The mid-central, unstressed vowel [ə]; very common in casual speech.

nasalization

A vowel becoming nasal when it occurs before a nasal, often marked with a tilde (~).

assimilation

A phonological process where a sound takes features from an adjacent sound (e.g., voicing change in have to have-ta).

elision

Omission of a sound segment in casual speech (e.g., dropping /d/ in you and me).

glottal stop

A sound [ʔ] produced by briefly closing the glottis; common in Cockney and some dialects.

flap

A quick tongue-tap of the alveolar ridge, represented as [ɾ] or [D], often between vowels.

phonetic alphabet (IPA)

A set of symbols used to represent distinct speech sounds, separate from ordinary spelling.

aspiration

A puff of air following a consonant (e.g., tʰ) versus non-aspirated t.

theta

The voiceless dental fricative [θ], as in thin.

eth

The voiced dental fricative [ð], as in this.

fricative

A manner of articulation where air passes through a narrow constriction, causing friction (e.g., f, s, ʃ).