Sound Structure of Language

Question 1

Design feature of Human Spoken Language

Answer 1

Large vocabulary, open vocabulary, Variation (accents, different languages), Messages are sequence of vocabulary

Question 2

Design feature of other primates

Answer 2

Small vocabulary, closed vocabulary, System is fixed (no variation across different regions), Messages are single items

Question 3

Similarities

Answer 3

Communicate individual identity and emotions through vocalizations

Question 4

Advantages

Answer 4

Easy naming of new things, learning language is a big social investment, signs to symbolize different abstract concepts

Question 5

Pronunciation learning problem

Answer 5

If every word were an arbitrary pattern of sound this would be a huge problem, recognizing how to pronounce each word correctly

Question 6

Phonological principle

Answer 6

Solves problem

Pronunciation relies on structure of smaller elements of a word put together, these elements are the same for all words

Phonological system is defined by patterns of mouth and noises; phonetic interpretation is same for all words

Question 7

How does phonological principle work?

Answer 7

Phonological representations are made up of discrete elements that can be taught to others exactly and that has a uniform definition depending on context

Phonetic interpretation is general and does not depend of words; everyone contributes to phonetic interpretation by saying words with certain meanings

Question 8

Phonemes

Answer 8

Any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another

Question 9

Basic sound production in vocal tract

Answer 9

Buzz (vibrating vocal chords), Hiss (air passing through), Pop (closure released)

Question 10

Laryngeal buzz

Answer 10

Air pressure forces opening and if the flow is continuous enough the vibrations oscillate and emit a periodic sound

Question 11

Hiss of turbulent flow

Answer 11

hiss generated when a volume of air is forced through a passage that is too small to permit it to flow smoothly; frication

Question 12

The pop of closure and release

Answer 12

pressure is built up behind the constriction. If the constriction is abruptly released, the sudden release of pressure creates a sort of a pop; stop or plosive (release)

Question 13

Mouth in language

Answer 13

Different positions of the tongue and lips make the difference between one vowel sound and another

Question 14

Syllables

Answer 14

repetitive cycles of opening and closing the vocal tract

Question 15

Syllable onset

Answer 15

vocal tract in a relatively closed position

Question 16

Syllable nucelus

Answer 16

open portion of syllable; degree of vocal tract openness correlates with the loudness of the sound that can be made

Question 17

Sonority

Answer 17

vowels at one end and stop consonants on the other; least sonorous sounds are restricted to the margins of the syllable – the onset in the simplest case – and the most sonorous sounds occur in the center of the syllable

Question 18

Glides

Answer 18

almost exactly like vowels, except for their syllabic position making them consonants (j for y) and (w for w)

Question 19

Bell’s Visible Speech

Answer 19

writing system to be a teaching and learning tool for helping deaf students learn spoken language; first system for notating the sounds of speech independent of the choice of particular language; widely used in teaching students how to speak with a standard accent

Question 20

International Phonetic Association (IPA)

Answer 20

Founded in Paris, now used more descriptive but sometimes to teach how to pronounce

Question 21

IPA table

Answer 21

columns are labelled by positions of constriction (bilabial, dental - lips & teeth); rows are labelled by the type of manner of constriction (plosive, fricative)

Question 22

Mawukakan

Answer 22

Mawu has a simple syllable structure (ko, koo, or kwo); Mawu is also a tone language, in the sense that words are distinguished according to their pitch patterns