Untitled Flashcards Set

Vowels

Three Ways Vowels are Described:

1. Height - How high or low the tongue is in the mouth (e.g., high, mid, low)

2. Backness - How far front or back the tongue is (e.g., front, central, back)

3. Rounding - Whether the lips are rounded or unrounded

Source-Filter Theory

• The theory explaining how speech sounds are produced.

• Source: The vocal folds vibrating, creating a fundamental frequency (F0).

• Filter: The shape of the vocal tract, which modifies the sound, creating different vowels and consonants.

Formants

• Resonant frequencies of the vocal tract.

• F1: Related to vowel height (lower tongue position = higher F1, higher tongue position = lower F1).

• F2: Related to vowel backness (front vowels have higher F2, back vowels have lower F2).

• F3: Important for distinguishing certain vowel qualities (e.g., rounding, rhoticity).

Vocal Tract Changes & Formant Frequencies

• Raising the tongue lowers F1.

• Advancing the tongue (moving it forward) raises F2.

• Rounding the lips lowers F2.

Narrow vs. Wide Band Spectrograms

• Narrow-band spectrograms:

  • Higher frequency resolution.

  • Shows harmonics more clearly.

• Wide-band spectrograms:

  • Higher time resolution.

  • Shows formants more clearly.

  • Provides more detail about the frequencies present in a sound sample.

Identifying Vowels in Spectrograms

• Given two spectrograms and two vowel options, use F1 (which will be labeled) to determine the vowel.

• Consider both F1 and F2 to distinguish between vowels.

Consonants

Differences Between Consonant and Vowel Production

• Vowels: Produced with an open vocal tract; always voiced.

• Consonants: Produced with varying degrees of constriction; can be voiced or voiceless.

Spectrogram Features of Stops, Fricatives, and Liquids

• Stops (plosives) (e.g., /p, t, k, b, d, g/):

  • Closure (silent gap)

  • Burst release

  • Formant transitions into neighboring vowels

• Fricatives (e.g., /s, f, v, z, ʃ, ʒ/):

  • High-frequency noise (frication)

  • No silent gap

• Liquids (e.g., /l, r/):

  • More vowel-like

  • Lower amplitude than vowels

  • Formant transitions distinguish different liquids

Differentiating Stops, Fricatives, and Liquids in Spectrograms

• Stops have silent gaps and bursts.

• Fricatives have continuous noise.

• Liquids have formant structures similar to vowels but with unique transitions.