Phonology Flashcards
(25 cards)
Spectrogram
A spectrogram is a graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds.
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another
Allophones of the phoneme
A linguistically non-significant variant of a phoneme, or a possible spoken sound used to pronounce a phoneme in a language
Narrow transcription
A detailed phonetic transcription that captures the precise articulatory features of speech sounds
Complementary distribution
A linguistic term that describes the relationship between two speech sounds or linguistic forms that appear in different, non-overlapping environments
Free variation
A phenomenon where multiple sounds or forms can appear in the same environment without changing the meaning of the word or being considered incorrect.
Neutralisation
The process of removing distinctive features from phonemes in certain contexts
Aspiration
This is a process that involves adding a puff of air to a sound or noise
Rhotic
Relating to or denoting a dialect or variety of english
Constituents
A word or group of words that function as a unit within a sentence, phrase, or clause
Onset
The initial consonant sound, blend, or digraph that comes before a vowel sound in a word
Vowel epenthesis
A phonological process expected up to the age of 3 1/2 years
Sonority
The inherent loudness of sounds relative to one another
Final devoicing
A phonological process that happnes when a voiced consonant at thee end of a word is replaced by a voiceless consonant
Phonology
The study of the abstract categories that organise the sound system of a language.
Phone
A physical realisation of a speech sound like the voiceless or voiced alveolar approximant
Distribution
How speech sounds or linguistic forms are arranged
Minimal pairs
Pairs of words that differ by only one sound, and that difference changes the meanign of the word
Flapping
A process in which the tongue quickly touches the roof of the mouth to create a soft voiced sound
Syllabic Consonants
A consonant that forms a syllable on its own
Syllabification
The process of dividing a word into its syllables, whether it’s written, spoken, or signed
Maximal Onset Principle
A phonological priciple that determines how syllables are divided
Sonority Sequencing Principle
A linguistic constraint that explains the structure of syllables in terms of sonority
Released v.s Unreleased
Released as the undoing, or departure from any articulatory closure, including glottal closure and Unreleased as the keeping of oral closure
