1. Phonetics Flashcards
(15 cards)
Where are sounds produced?
In the vocal tract.
What does the vocal tract consist of?
- Oral, nasal cavities;
- Hard and soft palates;
- Alveolar ridge;
- Lips;
- Tongue;
- Teeth;
- Pharynx;
- Larynx;
- Vocal cords;
What’s a phoneme?
The minimal speech unit differing words from one another.
How many sounds are there in English?
44: 24 consonants, 20 vowels.
How many letters are there in English?
26: 20 consonants and 6 vowels.
What do you know the /ə/ sound?
It’s the most important and frequent shwa sound which mostly arises from laziness.
When does the schwa sound mostly appear?
- In articles and prepositions;
- In more than one syllable words, but one syllable ones might also do. Examples: a - /ə/, of - /əv/, an - /ən/, about - /ə’baut/.
- In unstressed syllables: banana - /bə’na:nə/, etc.
What does happen with the transcription of the following: “a cup of tea”.
It’s transcription is /ə ‘kʌpə ti:/. We see the /ə/ sound attaching itself to the word /’kʌp/, which results both in /’kʌpə/ and formation of the word cuppa, which means the same as “a cup of tea”, but a short version. There are other similar situations with the schwa like in “a piece of cake” and other cases.
Consonants can be divided according to…
Manner of articulation;
Place of ar.;
The work of vocal cord;
Consonant, divided according to place, can be:
Bilabial;
Labio-dental;
Interdental;
Alveolar;
Post-alveolar;
Palatal;
Velar;
Glottal;
Consonants, according to manner, can be:
Nasal;
Plosive;
Fricative;
Affricative;
Lateral;
Continuant;
Semi-consonant;
Consonants, according to the work of vocal cords, can be:
Voiced (vibrating);
Voiceless (non-vibrating);
What are the voiceless plosives?
/p/, /t/, /k/, the aspirated sounds.
What’s aspiration?
A slight puff of breath: palm, tea, careful.
Aspiration can be of two types. These are…
Strong and lost ones:
Strong. Happens when followed by a stressed vowel;
Lost. When preceded by the sound /s/: spy, stay, sky;
