Study Guide Quiz 2

Vowels

Q: What are the three ways vowels are described?
A: Height (high, mid, low), backness (front, central, back), and rounding (rounded, unrounded).

Q: What is the source-filter theory?
A: It describes how the vocal tract shapes sound. The source (vocal fold vibration) produces sound, and the filter (vocal tract) modifies it to create different speech sounds.

Q: What are formants?
A: Resonant frequencies of the vocal tract that characterize vowels. They appear as dark bands on a spectrogram.

Q: How does raising your tongue affect formant frequencies?
A: Raising the tongue lowers F1, while fronting the tongue raises F2.

Q: What is the difference between a narrowband and a wideband spectrogram?
A: Narrowband spectrograms show better frequency resolution, making harmonics clearer, while wideband spectrograms show better time resolution and make formants and stop bursts more visible.

Q: How can you determine vowels from a spectrogram when F1 is labeled?
A: Use F1 and F2 values:

• Low vowels have a high F1.

• High vowels have a low F1.

• Front vowels have a high F2, and back vowels have a low F2.

Consonants

Q: How do consonants and vowels differ in speech production and their role in words?
A: Vowels are voiced and provide syllabic nuclei, while consonants can be voiced or voiceless and modify vowel sounds in syllables.

Q: How do stops, fricatives, and liquids appear on a spectrogram?
A:

• Stops: Silent gap followed by a burst.

• Fricatives: Continuous high-frequency noise.

• Liquids: Formant-like structure but more dynamic than vowels.

Q: How can you differentiate a stop, fricative, and liquid on a spectrogram?
A:

• Stops have a closure period and burst.

• Fricatives have high-frequency noise without a silent gap.

• Liquids have smoother transitions and formant-like structures.