1
Q
What does “phonetics” mean?
A
Study of language by examining the inventory and structure of the sounds of speech.
2
Q
What are the two types of phonetics?
A
- Articulatory phonetics: involves analyzing the physiological mechanisms of speech production.
- Acoustic phonetics: is concerned with measuring and analyzing the physical properties of the sound waves
3
Q
What is the IPA?
A
International Phonetic Alphabet is a ystem of transcription attempts to represent each sound of human speech with a single symbol are enclosed in brackets [ ] to indicate that the transcription is phonetic and does not represent the spelling system of a particular language.
4
Q
How do we use the IPA? What are the reasons to use the IPA?
A
- Letters represent different sounds in each word—and sometimes even a different number of sounds.
- The use of a standardized phonetic alphabet with a one-to-one correspondence between sound and symbol enables linguists to transcribe languages consistently and accurately.
- One symbol for every sound is used distinctively in at least one human language.
- Could represent pronunciation of word/phrase/utterance in any language
5
Q
Why does the IPA represent speech in the form of segments?
A
Errors in speech production provide one kind of evidence for the existence of segments
o This suggests that segments are individual units of linguistic structure that should be represented individually in a system of transcription
o Relative invariance of speech sounds in human language also suggests that segmental phonetic transcription is a well-motivated way of transcribing speech
6
Q
How is sound produced?
A
Sound is produced when air is set in motion. The air supply is provided by the lungs.
7
Q
Where is the sound source?
A
The sound source is in the larynx, where a set of muscles called the vocal folds(vocal chords) is located.
8
Q
What are the passages above the larynx? And what do they serve?
A
Vocal tracts or filters are the passages above the larynx; served to modify the sound
9
Q
Where is the pharynx?
A
Pharynx is between the larynx and the oral cavity;
10
Q
How are speech mechanisms kept functioning?
A
A certain level of air pressure is needed to keep the speech mechanism functioning steadily.
11
Q
What are the intercostals and the diaphragm? (Not important really)
A
- The intercostals raise the ribcage to allow air to flow into the lungs during inhalation. (the muscles between the ribs)
- The diaphragm helps to control the release of air during exhalation for speech so that we can speak for a reasonable period of time between breaths. (the large sheet of muscle separating the chest cavity from the abdomen)
12
Q
What is the “itinerary” of speech sounds?
A
Usually speech produced as air expelled from lungs, up the trachea (a.k.a. windpipe) while passing through the larynx
13
Q
What is the difference between an egressive and an ingression airflow?
A
• egressive airflow(exhale), ingressive airflow(inhale, rare)
14
Q
Explain what is the larynx and what are its specializations?
A
Complex structure of cartilage, muscles, and tissue where vocal folds are located; Vocal folds pulled apart or together; Air passes through glottis (space between vocal folds)
Larynx is specialized for speech in adult humans
• Descended larynx lower than in other primates
• Advantage: tongue can produce wider range of sounds
• Disadvantage: much easier to choke
15
Q
What are glottals states and how are they produced?
A
Air passes through the space between the vocal folds, which is called the glottis
Different glottal states are produced depending on the positioning of the vocal folds:
16
Q
How are voiceless sounds produced?
A
- Vocal folds pulled apart; no vibration of the vocal chords
* Sounds produced with this GS: voiceless; e.g. [s], [f], [h]
17
Q
How are voiced sounds produced?
A
- Vocal folds are brought together and air is passed through the glottis they vibrate; produce phonation, or voicing.
- This GS used for voiced sounds; e.g. [z], [v]
18
Q
What is a breathy voice?
A
Also known as murmur voice
• Vocal folds are partially open letting air pass through but still vibrating
• English: differentiates voices, not sounds
19
Q
What is a creaky voice?
A
- Vocal folds are compressed and slack; vibrate slowly and irregularly; has a lower pitch
- English: often used to signal end of utterance, socially evaluated, but doesn’t distinguish sounds; Other languages: distinguishes sounds
20
Q
What are the sound classes that humans can make?
A
Humans make two broad types of speech sounds/segments: vowels, consonants and glides (shows properties of both)
21
Q
What are the articulatory differences between sound classes?
A
- Consonantal sounds: The airflow is either blocked momentarily or restricted so much that noise is produced as air flows past the constriction; voiced and voiceless
- Vowels are produced with little obstruction in the vocal tract and are usually voiced.
22
Q
What are the aerodynamic differences between sound classes?
A
- Consonants: less acoustic energy (than vowels), may involve intervals of silence or noise
- Vowels are more sonorous (acoustically powerful) than consonants, and so we perceive them as louder and longer lasting; no noise
23
Q
How can syllables be defined?
A
• A syllable can be defined as a peak of sonority surrounded by less sonorous segments.
24
Q
Can vowels form the nucleus of a vowel?
A
yes
25
Can you explain what are syllabic and non-syllabic sounds?
* Consonants (non-syllabic elements) are produced with a complete closure or narrowing of the vocal tract and are less sonorous
* Vowels (and other syllabic elements) are produced with relatively little obstruction in the vocal tract and are more sonorous
* Glides are very rapidly articulated non-syllabic segments
26
How are glides produced?
are produced with an articulation like that of a vowel; they move quickly to another articulation or quickly terminate (e.g. yet or now)
27
What are the steps for describing consonants?
1. Voicing 2. Place of Articulation 3. Manner of articulation
28
How is airflow modified in the vocal tract?
by the placement of the tongue (organ) and the positioning of the lips.
29
How can we assess a sound's place of articulation?
* vocal tracts’ structures move into different configurations to create different speech sounds
* point of contact between active and passive articulator(e.g. tongue and lips)
30
Where are most places of articulation located at?
found at the lips, within the oral cavity, in the pharynx, and at the glottis
31
What is the definition of "manners of articulation"?
This means that the lips, tongue, velum, and glottis can be positioned in different ways to produce different sound types.
32
Ca you name some manners of articulation? (4)
```
• Stops/plosives are made with a complete closure either in the oral cavity or at the glottis/ complete constriction, blocked oral airflow, short turbulent release; are found at bilabial, dental, alveolar, alveopalatal, palatal, velar, uvular, and glottal places of articulation
Steps:
i. Approach(=onset)
ii. Hold(=closure)
iii. Release
```
• Aspirations: voiceless stops in English are often aspirated; which is a release of stop closure by burst of air; transcribed with superscript “h”
• Fricatives: continuous and turbulent airflow through the mouth(narrow opening)
i. belong to a large class of sounds called continuants
ii. continuous audible sound
English fricatives: voiceless on the left and voiced on the right + voiceless glottal
• Affricates: a stop + fricative in fast succession. = stop with slow release
i. Always transcribed as stop + fricative
33
What are the acoustic criteria based on loudness that can describe fricatives and affricates?
sibilant (e.g. [s]), a.k.a. stridents: particularly noisy + airstream goes through a narrow channel and hits the teeth
Non-sibilant (e.g. [θ]) / non-strident: quieter
34
What are obstruents?
stops, fricatives, affricates obstructed airflow, because blocked or highly constricted; involve turbulent airflow that produce noise
35
What are sonorants?
• all non-obstruent sounds; produced with continuous, non-turbulent airflow; louder, ‘more sonorous’, resonance;
i. includes: liquids, approximants, glides, nasals, vowels
36
How can approximants and lateral-approximants be recognized?
they dramatically change the oral cavity resonator [ɹ/r l] without constriction
37
How/when do nasals happen?
Oral stop + diverted airflow to another resonator (which is the nasal cavity) [m n ŋ]
38
Are liquids obstruents consonants?
They are all oral sonorous sounds
39
What is a retroflex r?
can be heard in 'ride' and 'heard'; curling of the tongue
40
What is a flap?
• The flap is produced when the tongue tip strikes the alveolar ridge as it passes across it; commonly transcribed as [ɾ] and is generally voiced.
41
Are liquids and nasals consonants or vowels?
Liquids and nasals are more sonorous than other consonants and in this respect are more like vowels than are the other consonants.
• they are usually marked with a short diacritic line underneath
42
What are some characteristics of vowels?
Vowels are sonorous, syllabic sounds made with the vocal tract more open than it is for consonant and glide articulations.
43
How are vowel sounds/quality produced?
by varying the placement of the body of the tongue and shaping the lips.
44
What is the difference between monophtongs and diphtongs?
Monophthongs(simple vowels) vowels do not show a noticeable change in quality during their articulation
Diphthongs are vowels that exhibit a change in quality within a single syllable
45
How are diphthongs transcribed in the IPA chart?
The diphthongs are transcribed as vowel-glide sequences
46
(For vowels in the IPA) What does the trapezoid correspond to?
The trapezoid corresponds roughly to the space within which the tongue moves, which is wider at the top of the oral cavity and more restricted at the bottom.
47
What are tense vowels?
Tense vowels are produced with greater vocal tract constriction than non-tense vowels and are longer in duration than non-tense vowels. (All except [æ] and [ʌ]).
48
What are lax vowels?
Lax vowels are made with roughly the same tongue position as the tense vowels but with a less constricted articulation
49
What are schwas?
Schwa/Reduced vowels: are lax and briefer that any other vowels; frequently appears in unstressed syllables in polysyllabic words (e.g. Can[ə] d[ə])
50
In English, do monosyllabic words spoken in isolation end with lax vowels?
No
51
What is "coarticulation"?
Physically each utterance is a continuum of sound
o articulatory: continuous flow of overlapping gestures
o acoustic: No clear breaks between sounds (no silences)
Over time, these patterns can become phonologized and can lead to language change vowels (e.g. French nasal)
52
How would you define vowel reduction?
Often happens when the articulatory targets of speech sounds are not reached (e.g. at fast speech rates)
“More than half of the words in conversational speech are affected by some sort of reduction”(from Johnson 2002).
53
What are suprasegmentals?
Phonetic and phonological phenomena that are ‘overlaid’ on segments:
• Stress; Tone and intonation; Length
54
When do stressed syllables occur? What is are the properties of stressed syllables?
Syllables in an utterance that are more prominent than others. They are:
• Louder and Longer
• may carry an intonational accent involving a pitch target or movement
55
What is a tone? How are they represented in phonetics?
* Tone languages use pitch to signal differences in word meaning
* Contour tones can be represented using multiple tones and association lines
56
Explain what intonation is
Intonation is the linguistic use of pitch contrasts to convey post-lexical meanings (i.e. meanings at the utterance level)
• Intonation contours can be analyzed as sequences of tones associated to specific points in an utterance; primarily defined by sequence of pitch accent(s) and boundary tones
• Tones associated to stressed syllables are called pitch accents, and are often transcribed with a star
• Tones associated with the edges of utterances are called boundary tones, and are often transcribed with a percent symbol
57
What is the concept of "length" in phonetics?
Many languages have vowels and consonants contrasts involving duration
• Length is indicated in phonetic transcription by the use of a colon
58
What are phonemes?
Phonemes are mental categories—they exist in your mind for the purpose of creating contrasts among words.
• requires special attention to minimal pairs and complementary distribution.
59
What are allophones?
Allophones are physical sounds that occur in particular positions when words are spoken—they are produced in your vocal tract as you speak.
60
What are minimal pairs?
A minimal pair consists of two words that differ by only one segment in the same position.
• When two sounds can create a minimal pair, we know that they belong to separate phonemes. So /s/ and /z/ are separate phonemes,
• are established on the basis of sound and not spelling,
61
What are allophones of the same phoneme?
When two sounds occur in non-overlapping, mutually exclusive environments, they are said to be in complementary distribution. (i.e. allophones of the same phoneme)
62
What if we can't find minimal pairs? What happens?
It is sometimes possible to rely on near-minimal pairs that contain differences other than the one involving the key contrast, as long as the extra differences don’t involve sounds right next to the contrast.
63
Are phonemic contrasts the same in every language in the world?
Phonemic contrasts found in each language are specific to that language: the phenomenon of vowel nasalization illustrates this.
64
What is the phenomenon of vowel nasalization?
Whereas a word’s phonemic representation consists just of its component phonemes, its phonetic representation carries additional information about phonetic details—including aspiration, devoicing of liquids, vowel lengthening, nasalization, and so on.
65
What is important to remember about phonemic representation and phonetic representation?
* Remember that the phonemic representation corresponds to what is in your head, while the phonetic representation corresponds to what comes out of your mouth.
* the phonemic representation contains only information that is not predictable.
66
What are syllables? And why do they matter?
Syllables also matter for how words are organized in our mental dictionary. We can see this in malapropisms—mischosen words such as equivocal for equivalent. Malapropisms tend to be phonologically similar to the intended word, and in the vast majority of cases, they have the same number of syllables, too.
67
What does the term "phonotactics" mean?
The term phonotactics is used for the branch of phonology that is concerned with permissible combinations of phonemes.
e.g. more complex is the syllable template for English, which allows up to three consonants at the beginning of a syllable, as in stream /strim/
68
In English, is it possible for a nuclei to be consonants?
• English allows sonorant consonants to function as syllabic nuclei in words such as rhythm /rɪ.ð̩/
69
What is the building process of a syllable structure?
1. Nucleus formation (syllable (R)hyme (N)ucluei)
2. Onset formation (O)
3. Coda formation (C)
70
What are the two general principles that apply when building syllable structures?
1. The Sonority Requirement
In basic syllables, sonority rises before the nucleus and declines after the nucleus.
Scale: obstruent (0) – nasal (1) – liquid (2) – glide (3) – vowel (4)
2. The Binary Requirement
Within basic syllables, each constituent can be at most binary (i.e., branching into two).
• This means that an onset or coda can’t contain more than two consonants.
71
What happens to consonants who violate the Binarity requirement?
Consonants that violate the requirements may be put outside the onset or the coda of the syllable with which they are associated.
72
What are the rules for stressed syllables?
English verbs with more than one syllable have a stressed final syllable (if heavy) or have a stressed second-to-last/penultimate syllable (if light).
English nouns with more than one syllable have a stressed penultimate syllable
73
What is the importance of natural classes in phonology?
The importance of natural classes in phonology stems from the fact that the members of a natural class tend to behave alike with respect to patterns and processes.
74
What is an epenthesis?
conversely to a schwa, it adds a vowel where previously there was none (e.g. Dmitri, milk)
ling 201
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