Topic 9 Flashcards

Question

Explain VELARS (type of consonants according to the place of articulation)

Answer 1

Even further back in the roof of the mouth, beyond the hard palate, you will find a soft area which is called the soft palate, or the velum. Sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum are called velars. [k] (voiceless). [g] and [ɳ] (voiced).

Answer 2

There are two other sounds which are produced without the active use of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. [h] (voiceless). [ʔ] (glottal stop)

Answer 3

- Stops or prosives - Fricatives - Affricates - Nasals - Liquids - Glides

Answer 4

They are produced by some form of complete ‘stopping’ of the airstream (very briefly) and then letting it go abruptly. [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], [ʔ]

Answer 5

It involves blocking the airstream, and having the air push through the narrow opening. As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the resulting sounds are called fricatives. [f], [v], [s], [z], [θ], [ð], [ ʃ ] and [ tʃ ].

Answer 6

Combination of a brief stopping of the airstream with an obstructed release which causes some friction. [ tʃ ] and [dʒ]

Answer 7

They are produced when the velum is lowered and the airflow is allowed to flow out through the nose. [m], [n] and [ɳ]

Answer 8

The [l] sound is formed by letting the airstream flow around the sides of the tongue as it makes contact with the alveolar ridge. The [r] sound is formed with the tongue tip raised and curled back behind the alveolar ridge.

Answer 9

They are usually produced with the tongue moving or ‘gliding’ to or from a position associated with a neighbouring vowel sound. They are transition sounds. [w] and [j] (voiced)

Answer 10

Articulatory criteria can be used to classify vowels but they will be less relevant or, in any case, of a different type than in the case of consonants. Acoustic and even auditory features will play a much more important role in accurately describing vowels as vowels are sonorous sounds, displaying the highest levels of resonance of all speech sounds. Vowels, like consonants, will differ in terms of quality ᅳ depending on the position of the articulators 一 and in terms of quantity or duration.

Answer 11

The quality of a vowel is given by the way in which the tongue is positioned in the mouth and by the activity of the lips.

Answer 12

Vowel quantity combines with stability of articulation to make the distinction between simple or “pure” vowels or monophthongs on the one hand and diphthongs on the other. Monophthongs are comparatively shorter vowels that preserve the same quality throughout the entire duration of their articulation. However, some of them are longer than others. A diphthong combines two different vocalic elements joined together in a unique articulatory effort and consequently being part of the same syllabic unit. In any diphthong one of the vocalic elements will be stronger than the other, from which or towards which the pronunciation glides.

Answer 13

- Tongue height: high or close vowels and open or low vowels. - Tongue frontness/backness: front vowels, central vowels and back vowels. - The position of the lips: rounded vowels or spread vowels.

Answer 14

Stress/accent is a complex auditory impression which the listener perceives as making one syllable more prominent than its neighbors. A number of different things, either individually, or in combination ᅳ greater loudness, higher pitch, greater length ᅳ contribute to the perception of stress. There are also different levels of stress and even three levels of stress within the same words is possible.

Answer 15

First, the vowels of stressed syllables are produced with higher fundamental frequency; that is, the vocal folds vibrate more quickly, and this is heard as higher pitch. Secondly, the duration of stressed syllables is greater, and they are perceived as longer. Thirdly, stressed syllables are produced with greater intensity, and are thus heard as louder than adjacent unstressed syllables.

Answer 16

Many words in English are pronounced both with and without stress depending on the structure of the sentences. The presence or absence of stress changes the quality of the vowel. With stress, either primary or secondary, we get a full vowel; without stress, we get one of the unstressed or weak vowels.

Answer 17

Variations in tempo provide our second suprasegmental feature. It is possible to speed up or slow down the rate at which syllables, words, and sentences are produced, to convey several kinds of meaning from urgency to emphasis. Pitch, loudness, and tempo together enter into a language’s expression of rhythm. Languages vary greatly in the way in which rhythmical contrasts are made. English makes use of stressed syllables produced at roughly regular intervals of time and separated by unstressed syllables. This means that when two accented syllables are separated by unaccented ones, these tend to be compressed and quickened. Pause is something else to consider, as it is closely connected with rhythm.

Answer 18

1. Falling. It is used in statements, question tags which seek for confirmation, commands, Wh- questions and alternative or dual questions (they take rising intonation on the first element and falling on the second) 2. Rising. It is used in: yes/no questions, polite requests, utterances containing an element of protest or surprise and echo questions. 3. Falling-rising. It is used in sentences where something is left unspoken (warning, threat, contrast, etc.).

Answer 19

- Emotional: from excitement to boredom. Prosodic and paralinguistic features are seen to provide the basis for all kinds of vocal emotional expression. - Grammatical: intonation plays an important part in the identification of major units such as clauses and sentences - Information structure: intonation conveys a great deal about what is already known in an utterance - Textual: prosodic coherence is an important element in the construction of larger stretches of discourse - Psychological: it helps to organize a language unit into “chunks” which are more easily perceived and memorized - Indexical: intonation helps to identify people as belonging to different social groups and occupations

Answer 20

Received Pronunciation or General British and General American

Answer 21

- Its wide intelligibility in all English-speaking communities - It represents no regional characteristics - It enjoys social prestige (though some young people reject it) - It has been described thoroughly and there is much material to teach

Answer 22

- Real integration must be consistent and planned. The mere repetition of a correction does not lead to a perfect production - Students must integrate pronunciation in their learning. They must be encouraged to accept the role of self-monitor

Answer 23

- Record or ask for a repetition of a speaking activity. As students know what they have to say, they will develop self-monitoring and evaluation skills - Oral homework. They can be asked to record a description of a placer or a person - Track students’ progress. Students will be given activities that require their best pronunciation. They will be aware of their knowledge and progress while motivating them.

Answer 24

/b/ and /v/ are confused (very and berry) /ð/ and /d/ are confused (though and do) /g/ must always be plosive and not fricative /s/ and /z/ are confused /h/ is pronounced as /x/ / ʃ / is pronounced as /s/ (shoe and sing) /j/ is pronounced as /ʤ/ (yet and judge) /p, t, k/ are not aspirated in initial position /t/ is dental in Spanish Consonant clusters in general

Answer 25

/ʒ/ (measure) and /ʤ/ (judge) are replaced by [ ʃ ] (shoe) or[ tʃ ] (chicken). /r/ is not dropped in final position and it is pronounced with a trill /l/ is always clear /ŋ/ is pronounced as /ng/ (sing) /s/ instead of /z/ in plurals (the letter 's' is often pronounced as a /z/ sound after words ending in a voiced consonant (like b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v) or a vowel sound) (dogs)

Answer 26

/i:/ and /ɪ/ are confused. The former is used (sheep and ship) /æ/, /ʌ/ and /ɑ:/ are all confused. /ʌ/ is used. (cat, cut and calm) /ʊ/, /ɔ:/ and /ɒ/ are all confused. /o/ is used (put, fork and hot) /ɜ:/ is replaced by its spelling No quantity distinction

Answer 27

Pronunciation of Spanish vowel + /r/: /ar/ /or/ /a:/, /ae/ (calm and cat) /u:/, /u/ (boot and put)

Answer 28

- Spanish students are not used to accentuate three- and four-syllable words on their first syllables - English derivatives do not always follow the patterns of their roots, e.g., “person” but “per,sonifi’cation” - Not secondary stresses in Spanish

Answer 29

- Rhythm in Spanish is roughly syllable-timed, thus there is none of the variation in length which results in English from the grouping of syllables into rhythm units. - Use of weak forms - Use of gap fillers

Topic 9 Flashcards

(53 cards)