Analysing Children's Speech

Question 1

A speech sound that serves to contrast meaning

between words is called a…

Answer 1

Phoneme

Question 2

Each speech sound, when considered seperately from the language in which it is used, is called a…

Answer 2

Phone

Question 3

When word pairs differ by a single phoneme, and the difference is enough to change the meaning, these two words are called…

Answer 3

Minimal pairs

Question 4

When the distinguishing phonemes in a minimal pair, differ minimally (ie, just in place of articulation), they are referred to as…

Answer 4

Minimally opposing minimal pairs [–> differing in voice, place and manner of articulation = maximally opposing]

Question 5

Phonemes can be described according to their distinctive features, and can be in minimal or maximal opposition with respect to the number of …. what?

Answer 5

Shared features

Question 6

If word pairs differ simply by the presence or absence of a phoneme (ie scar - car) they are considered….?

Answer 6

Near minimal pairs

Question 7

What is an allophone?

Answer 7

each subtle realisation of a phoneme that differs, but not in a way that impacts meaning

Question 8

/ / surround what?

Answer 8

phonemes

Question 9

[ ] surround what?

Answer 9

allophones (narrow transcription).

Question 10

If the substitution of one phone for another does not alter the meaning of the word, the phones are considered ________ of a phoneme.

Answer 10

allophones

Question 11

If the substitution of one phone for another does alter the meaning of a word, the phones are, what?

Answer 11

phonemes

Question 12

[kʰʊk ̚] and [kʰʊkʰ] the final phone in each words are allophones in English. True or false?

Answer 12

True –> although the final phones are different, this doesn’t change the meaning of the word.

Question 13

What is a phoneme in one language, could be an allophone in another. True or false?

Answer 13

True.

Jap. l r

Question 14

The presence of a distinctive feature across a group of phonemes also
creates a…what?

Answer 14

Natural Class (a group of phonemes with a particular distinctive feature)

Question 15

What are distinctive features?

Answer 15

A feature of a phoneme that is either present + or absent - These distinctive features capture articulatory and acoustic characteristics of speech sounds.

Question 16

What are the 3 major class features (in distinctive features)

Answer 16

+/- Consonantal
+/- Sonorant
+/- Approximant

Question 17

Describe a phoneme with [+ Cons]

Answer 17

Consonantal: Distinguishes true Cs from Vs and glides. True consonants block, redirect or narrow the airflow through the voical tract. Glottal sounds [h, ʔ] are -Cons because constriction occurs at the larynx. [ɹ] is disputed, but is +Cons in Barker & McLeod (2017)

Question 18

Describe a phoneme with [+ Son]

Answer 18

Sonorants are sounds that allow airflow to be relatively unimpeded through the oral or nasal cavity. ([-son] block or restrict airflow). Sonorants are usually voiced.

Question 19

Why are Liquids both [+ son] and [+ cons]?

Answer 19

because they

redirect (rather than impede) the airflow.

Question 20

What are obstruents?

Answer 20

Sounds that impede

the airflow through the vocal tract - Plosives, fricatives, and affricates. Obstruents can be +/- Voiced

Question 21

What are approximants [± approx]?

Answer 21

Sounds that have a constriction in the
vocal tract while still allowing frictionless escape of air. Vowels and non-nasal sonorants are considered [+ approx], and include
[w, j, ɹ, l].

Question 22

What are the 3 laryngeal features?

Answer 22

Voice [± voice]
Spread glottis [± s.g.]
Constricted glottis [± c.g.]

Question 23

What are the four manner features?

Answer 23

Continuant [± cont]
Nasal [± nasal]
Lateral [± lat]
Strident [± strid]

Question 24

What is the difference between Strident and Sibilant?

Answer 24

Strident is a distinctive feature
in Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) system that reflects an acoustic feature of speech sounds
with noisy airflow. Stridents include [f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ].
Sibilant is a feature of
Ladefoged’s (1971) distinctive feature system, and refers to coronal (tongue tip or blade)
fricatives. Sibilants include [s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ].

Question 25

Which fricatives are neither strident, nor sibilant?

Answer 25

The fricatives [θ] and [ð] are neither strident nor sibilant.

Question 26

Which fricatives are strident, but not sibilant?

Answer 26

The key difference is that [f] and [v] are strident | but not sibilant.

Question 27

What are natural (as opposed to marked) features?

Answer 27

Natural features are considered easier to articulate, more common within and/or across languages, and are likely to be acquired earlier by children (Johnson & Reimers, 2010).

Question 28

What are marked features?

Answer 28

Marked features are thought to be phonetically more complex, less common across languages, and later developing. The concept of naturalness and markedness applies not only to features and segments but other aspects of phonology such as syllable shapes, stress patterns, and phonological rules or processes.

Question 29

Phonotactics

Answer 29

honotactics refers to the language-specific constraints about how speech sounds combine to form words in a phonological system. There are three types of constraints: inventory, positional, and sequential constraints (Elbert & Gierut, 1986).

Question 30

Inventory constraint

Answer 30

Inventory constraints limit which phonemes are permitted in a language. For instance, the postalveolar click [!] is permitted in Xhosa but not English.

Question 31

Postional Constraints

Answer 31

Positional constraints (also referred to as distributional constraints) limit where phonemes are permitted in words. For instance, in English the phonemes /ŋ/ and /ʒ/ are not permitted in syllable-initial position, whereas /h/ is not permitted in syllable-final position.

Question 32

Sequential Constraints

Answer 32

Sequential constraints (also known as combinational constraints) limit how phonemes combine to form syllables and words with respect to both the number of phonemes permitted in a syllable and how they combine to form the syllable. For instance, a syllable can begin with up to three consonants, as long as the first consonant is /s/, the second is either /p, t, k/ and the third consonant is either /l, w, ɹ, j

Question 33

Sonority

Answer 33

Sonority refers to the amount of sound present in a speech segment (Roca & Johnson, 1999).