Exam 2 Phonetics Study Guide

Dipthongs

A complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel sound and glides into another within the same syllable ( /aI as in "ice")

Stops

A consonant sound produced by completely blocking the Airflow in the vocal tract and then releasing it (/p/,/t/,/k/)

Affricates

A consonant sound produced by first completely stopping the airflow and then releasing it with friction (/tS/ as in church)

Syllabic Consonants

A consonant that acts as the mucleus of the syllable (/n/ as in "button")

Nasal Resonant Consonant

A consonant where sound resonated int he nasal cavity (/m/,/n/,/ing/)

Glottal Stop

A phoneme produced by closing and releasing the vocal cords (seen in the middle of the phrase "uh-oh")

Bilabial

A sound made with both lips coming together (/p/,/b/,/m/)

Lingua-Palatal

A sound made with tongue against the palate

Velar

A sound produced by contact between the back of the tounge and the soft palate

Lingua-Alveolar

A sound produced with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge, (/t/,/d/)

Voiceless Consonant

A sound produced without vocal cord vibration, (/p/, /s/)

Allophone

A variant form of a phoneme that occurs in specific contexts but does not change the meaning of the word ( the aspirated vs unaspirated /p/ in "pat and "spot")

Rhotic Dipthong

A vowel followed by a rhotic sound /er/, creating a combined vowel sound ( /Ier/ as in "beer" )

Tense Vowel

A vowel produced with greater tension in the tongue muscles, longer duration, and often occurring in stressed syllables

Lax Vowel

A vowel sound produced with less tension in the tongue and with shorter duration, often found in unstressed syllables

Secondary Stress

A weaker form of stress in multisyllabic words that does not have as much emphasis as the primary stress but is still more prominent that unstressed syllables

Schwa

An unstressed, central vowel sound often represented as and upside down e, commonly found in the unstressed syllables of words

Nonnative Challenges

Certain sounds, like "z" and "f" are often mispronounced or substituted depending on the speakers native language

Fricative Consonants

Consonants produced with continuous airflow through a narrow constriction, resulting in friction (/s/,/f/)

Homorganic Sounds

Consonants that share the same place of articulation (/d/ and /n/)

Tension

Degree of muscle engagement; tense or lax

Lateral

Describes the production of phonemes by directing the airflow along the sides of the tongue (/L/)

Labiodental

Describes the production of phonemes involves contact betweent he lower lip and upper teeth (/f/,/v/)

Rounding

Lip shape (rounded or unrounded)

Fricatives

Narrowing of the airflow channel (s, f)

Nonnative Pronunciation

Nonnative speakers often substitute sounds due to differences in their native language phonetic systems

Depth

Placement in the mouth (front, central, back)

Place of Articulation

Point of airflow restriction (bilabial, alveolar)

Common Dialectal Variations

Some vowels change in different regions

Nasals

Sound resonates in the nasal cavity (m,n)

Voicing

THe presence or absence of vocal fold vibration during the production of a sound, distinguishing voiced from voiceless phonemes (/b/ vs /p/) sound produced by bringing both lips together as in /b/ and /p/

Resonance

The amplification and modification of sound as ti passes through the vocal tract, contribution to vowel quality

Velopharyngeal Port

The passageway between the nasal and oral cavities; it must be closed for non nasal sounds

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish words (/p/ vs /b/ in "pat and "bat")

Primary Stress

The syllable in a word that is pronounced with the greatest emphasis, characterized by increased loudness, pitch, and duration

Height (of vowel)

The vertical position of the tongue in the mouth when producing a vowel, categorized as high, mid, or low

Manner of Articulation

Type of airflow restriction (stops, fricatives)

Short Vowels

Typically shorter and found in medial positions

Alveolar Ridge

behind the upper front teeth at the start of the palate, a key location for producing sounds (like in /t/ and /d/)