Phonology Flashcards
(102 cards)
1
Q
What is “Phonetics” ?
A
- what can be observed, measured and described
- e.g. distinguish & describe sounds
- deals with phones
- it’s concrete
e.g. [p, b, k, ..] in your vocal cords
2
Q
What is “Phonology” ?
A
- representations in the mind
- e.g. sound inventory of a language
- suprasegmental phenomena (stress & intonation)
- deals with phonemes and how they can be combined
- it’s abstract
e.g. /p/ in pat but /b/ in bat in your mind
3
Q
What are the subfields of phonetics?
A
- Articulatory (how sounds are produced & which articulators are used)
- Acoustic (what are the physical properties of speech sounds e.g. frequency?)
- Auditory (how are sounds perceived?)
4
Q
What are the articulatory phonetics?
A
- Lungs: egressive pulmonic & airstream mechanism
- Larynx: vocal folds vibrate when voiced sounds are produced
- Vocal tract: articulators modify air stream
5
Q
What are the two important parts in the vocal tract and their characteristics?
A
- Active articulators -> movable
- Passive articulators -> non-movable
6
Q
What are the movable parts in the vocal tract?
A
active articulators
- lips
- tongue
- velum
- vocal folds
7
Q
What are the non-movable parts in the vocal tract?
A
passive articulators
- alveolar ridge
- teeth
- hard palate
- …
8
Q
What are the classification of sounds?
A
- Vowels
- Consonants
9
Q
What happens to Vowels regarding the classification of sounds?
A
airflow is not obstructed, only modified
10
Q
What happens to Consonants regarding the classification of sounds?
A
airflow is obstructed
11
Q
What is the classification of consonants?
A
- Voicing
- Place of articulation
- Manner of articulation
12
Q
What does “voiced” mean?
A
vocal chords vibrate
13
Q
What does “voiceless” mean?
A
vocal chords don’t vibrate
14
Q
What are the places of articulation?
A
- Bilabial
- Labiodental
- Dental
- Alveolar
- Palato-alveolar
- Palatal
- Velar
- Glottal
basically: which articulators are used & where is airflow obstructed
15
Q
What does “bilabial” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
lips together
[b, p, m, w]
place of articulation
16
Q
What does “labiodental” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
upper teeth touches lower lip
[f, v]
17
Q
What does “dental” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
tongue behind upper teeth or between teeth
[θ/ð]
18
Q
What does “alveolar” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
tongue touches alveolar ridge
[t, d, s, z, n, l, r]
place of articulation
19
Q
What does “palato-alveolar” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
tongue between alveolar ridge and palate
[ʃ/ʒ/tʃ/dʒ]
20
Q
What does “palatal” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
tongue touches hard palate [j]
place of articulation
21
Q
What does “velar” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
the back of the tongue on the velum
[k, g, ŋ]
place of articulation
22
Q
What does “glottal” mean and what sounds are meant by that?
A
using the glottis, open space between vocal folds
[h, ?]
23
Q
What are the different kinds of manner of articulation?
A
- Plosives/Stops
- Fricatives
- Affricates
- Nasals
- Approximants (central & lateral)
24
Q
What are “Plosives/Stops” + what are their sounds?
A
in producing a stop consonant we block the airflow briefly, then let it go abruptly
[p, b, t, d, k, g]
manner of articulation
25
What are "Fricatives" + what are their sounds?
we almost block the airflow & force it through a narrow gap
[f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h ]
| manner of articulation
26
What are "Affricates" + what are their sounds?
we combine a stop with a fricative
[tʃ, dʒ]
| manner of articulation
27
What are "Nasals" + what are their sounds?
air flows out through the nose
[m, n, ŋ]
| manner of articulation
28
What are "Central approximants/glides/semi-vowels" + what are their sounds?
tongue is in motion, gliding to a position of a vowel
[r, j, w]
| approximants -> manner of articulation
29
What are "lateral approximants" + what are their sounds?
we let air flow around the sides of the tongue as the tip touches near the alveolar ridge
[l]
| approximants; manner of articulation
30
Why do we need the IPA?
- one sound - many spellings e.g. moon, you, true
- one spelling - many sounds e.g. beat, heart, great
31
What is a "grapheme"?
spelling
< pill >
32
What is "broad transcription" ?
phonemic
/pɪl/
| example is pill (=grapheme)
33
What is "narrow transcription" ?
phonetic
[pʰɪɫ]
| example was pill (=grapheme)
34
What is the classification of vowels?
- Monophthongs
- Diphthongs
35
What are "monophthongs" ?
sound quality remains the same
- short: < bit > -> [bɪt]
- long: < beat > -> [bi:t]
36
What are "diphthongs" ?
change in sound quality is always long
< bait >
[beɪt]
37
What is the classification of monophthongs?
- vowel length: long - short
- vowel height: high (close) - mid - low (=open)
- vowel frontness: front - central - back
- lip rounding: rounded - unrounded
38
What are the long vowels in IPA?
- [i:] -> sh**ee**p
- [3:] -> b**ir**d
- [u:] -> c**oo**l
- [ɔ:] -> h**or**se
- [ɑ:] -> f**ar**m
| vowel length important for monophthongs
39
What are the short vowels in IPA?
- [ɪ] -> sh**i**p
- [e] -> h**ea**d
- [æ] -> h**a**t
- [ə] -> **a**bove
- [ʌ] -> c**u**t
- [ʊ] -> f**oo**t
- [ɑ] -> s**o**ck
40
What are the features of long vowels in IPA?
- [i:] -> high front unrounded
- [3:] -> mid-high central unrounded
- [u:] -> high back rounded
- [ɔ:] -> mid-low back rounded
- [ɑ:] -> low back unrounded
| vowel height; frontness; lip rounding
41
What are the features of short vowels in IPA?
- [ɪ] -> mid-high front unrounded
- [e] -> mid front unrounded
- [æ] -> mid-low front unrounded
- [ə] -> mid central unrounded
- [ʌ] -> mid-low central unrounded
- [ʊ] -> mid-high back rounded
- [ɑ] -> mid-low back rounded
| vowel height/closeness; frontness, lip rounding
42
What is the classification of diphthongs?
- Closing diphthongs
- Centring diphthongs (RP only!)
43
What are "closing diphthongs" ?
move towards a high (=close) position towards the end of the articulation
/eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /əʊ/
## Footnote
/eɪ/ (as in "face"), /aɪ/ (as in "fine"), /ɔɪ/ (as in "boy"), /əʊ/ (as in "go"), and /aʊ/ (as in "house")
44
What are "centring diphthongs" ?
move towards a schwa (i.e. central vowel) towards the end of the articulation
/ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/
## Footnote
/ɪə/ as in near, /eə/ (square), and /ʊə/ (cure).
45
What are the two branches of phonology?
- Segmental phonology
- Suprasegmental phonology
46
What is segmental phonology concerned with?
concerned with segments i.e. individual sounds & their ability to distinguish
meaning = phonemes
47
What is suprasegmental phonology concerned with?
concerned with features that stretch over more than one segment e.g. stress, intonation, …
48
What is a phoneme?
- basic unit in phonology
- smallest meaning-distinguishing unit in language
- together, phonemes form the phoneme inventory of a language
49
What are "minimal pairs" ?
they help us to distinguish phonemes
/bɪn/ vs. /sɪn/
/mæn/ vs. /mæd/ vs. /mæp/
50
What are allophones?
- different realisations (=phones) of the same phoneme
- not meaning-distinguishing
- typically phonetically different but similar
- can be either in complementary distribution or free variation
| characterized bc occur in different phonetic environments (contexts)
51
What are the types of allophones of /l/?
- Clear [l] -> in word-initial position, between two vowels
- Dark [ɫ] -> in word-final position, before consonants
- Devoiced [lo] -> after word-initial voiceless consonants
| characterized bc occur in different phonetic environments (contexts)
## Footnote
clear: lip, lay, miller, kneeler
dark: pill, ale, silk
devoiced: clip, slay
52
What are the characteristics of the allophones of /l/?
- not meaning-distinguishing
- in complementary distribution
- phonetically different, but similar
-> different realisations of the same phoneme
| characterized bc occur in different phonetic environments (contexts)
53
What are the types of allophones of /r/?
- Voiced [r] -> in word-initial position, between two vowels, after voiced consonants
- Voiceless [r] -> after word-initial voiceless consonants
| characterized bc occur in different phonetic environments (contexts)
## Footnote
voiced r: rip, mirror, bribe
voiceless: trip, crown, freak
54
What are the two distributions of allophones?
- Complementary distribution
- Free variation
55
What is the complementary distribution?
depending on phonetic context, a specific allophone is used
56
What is free variation?
speakers can choose which allophone to use e.g. depending on prestige, speech rate, for emphasis
| distribution of allophones
57
What are the six allophones of plosive consonants (=stops)?
/p, t, k, b, d, g/
58
What is the most important difference between the voiceless and voiced stops?
Aspiration
| not voicing
## Footnote
Thus, when occurring at the beginning of a word/syllable and followed by a vowel, voiceless stops /p, t, k/ are aspirated
59
Which plosives are voiceless/aspirated?
/p, t, k/ -> audible plosion
60
Which plosives are voiced/no aspiration?
/b, d, g/ -> weak plosion
61
How are the voiceless stops /p, t, k/ indicated in the IPA?
by the diacritic "h"
< pot > -> [pʰɑt]
| if these stops occur between /s/ and a vowel, they are not aspirated!!
62
Word/syllable initial voiceless plosives have allophones, what are they?
- aspirated e.g. [pʰ]
- unaspirated (released) e.g. [p]
- unreleased e.g [p ̚]
63
If allophones of voiceless plosives are at a word-final position, they are of .. ?
free variation
64
If allophones of voiceless plosives are at a word/syllable-initial position, they are of .. ?
complementary distribution
65
If allophones /r/ in RP are intervocalic, they are of .. ?
free variation
66
If allophones of /r/ in RP are anywhere except intervocalic, they are of .. ?
complementary distribution
| = cannot replace each other and as such cannot be meaning-distinguishing
67
What does "Assimilation" mean?
Sound become more similar to a neighbouring sound
| e.g. POA
68
What does "Elision" mean?
Sounds are omitted
69
What is "Glottaling" ?
/t, d, n/ are replaced by glottal stop /?/
| = glottal replacement
70
What is "Linking /r/" ?
| Sandhi /r/
post-vocalic /r/ is pronounced (in non-rhotic varieties)
71
What is "intrusive linking /r/?
/r/ is added although it's not there in writing
72
What types of assimilation are there?
- regressive assimilation
- progressive assimilation
- coalescent assimilation
73
What is regressive assimilation?
following sound changes preceding sound
74
What is progressive assimilation?
preceding sound changes following sound
75
What is coalescent assimilation?
both sounds influence each other
76
What are some examples for Assimilation?
- Alevolars /t, d, n/ before a bilabial or velar consonant: [tem pens]
- Alveolar syllabic nasal: [ˈbeɪkən] [ˈbeɪkŋ̩]
- /s/ and /z/ when followed by /ʃ/, /ʒ/ or /j/: [ðɪʃ]
- /t/ + /j/ → [tʃ] & /d/ + /j/ → [dʒ]: [ˈɡɒtʃə]
77
What are some examples for Elision?
- Loss of schwa after /p, t, k/: [ˈhɪstri], [pʰˈteɪtəʊ]
- Loss of schwa before (syllabic) /n, l, r/: [ˈtrævlɪŋ]
- Loss of final /v/ in *of* before consonants: [ˈweɪst ə ˈmʌni]
- Alveolar plosive elision: [lɑ:s nɑɪt]
- Simplification of complex consonants clusters: 3 plosives or 2 plosives + fricative → middle plosive is left out
[ɑ:st]
78
When is Glottaling allowed in RP?
- replaces word-final /t/
- followed by consonant other than /h/
- preceded by sonorant (= vowel or /j, w, l, r, m, n, ŋ/
## Footnote
[nɒɁ naʊ]
[əɁ lɑːst]
[mi:ʔ paɪ]
79
What are the hierarchical relationships within utterances?
| we starting from above btw
1. Utterances
2. Tone units
3. Feet
4. Syllables
5. Phonemes
80
What is a vague definition of syllable?
the smallest rhythmic unit of speech
81
What do all syllables contain?
a nucleus! -> mostly a vowel
/l/, /r/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/
| sometimes syllabic consonants
## Footnote
-> The syllabic status of consonants is indicated by means of a small vertical mark (,) underneath the consonant
e.g. [lɪtɫ̩], [bʌtn̩]
82
What can be part of the inner structure of syllables, that are not obligatory?
- Onset (nucleus preceded by)
- Coda
## Footnote
- Consonants typically occur in the onset and coda, where they may form clusters (/kl/, /pr/, /str/; /lk/, /st/, /kts/ etc)
83
What does the syllable consist of?
Onset + Rhyme (-> nucleus + coda)
84
What are Phonotactics in English?
restrictions on possible phoneme combinations
85
What are the exact Phonotactics in English?
* /ps/, /kn/ not allowed in onset (cf. German)
* not more than 3 consonants at the beginning of words (e.g. /str/, /spl/)
* not more than 4 consonants in coda (e.g. texts)
86
What are the principles of Syllabification?
- Maximum onset principle
- Sonority sequencing principle
87
What is the maximum onset principle?
CV structure preferred over VC
→ put consonant in onset
rather than coda
/piː.tə/, not /piːt.ə/
88
What is the sonority sequencing principle?
syllable should rise in sonority, reach peak at nucleus, then fall again
89
What is the sonority scale?
sonority = 'clear audibility'
1. Vowels
2. [w] [j]
3. [upside down r]
4. [l]
5. nasals
6. fricatives, affricates
7. plosives
90
In what position of the syllable are the allophones of /l/?
- clear [l] -> in onset
- dark [ɫ] -> in coda
| e.g. hot.ly, craw.ling
e.g. Hil.ton, poul.try
91
What is a foot?
- rhythmic unit
- consists of at least one stressed syllable
- may contain one or more unstressed syllables
92
What do you know about English as a stress-timed language?
- Feet are more or less equally long
- More syllables in a foot -> syllables become shorter
93
What are content words?
- have lexical content
- don't have weak forms
e.g. nouns, adjectives, verb
94
What are function words?
- lack lexical content, only grammatical function
- have weak forms
e.g. auxilaries, conjunctions, prepositions
95
When are strong forms used?
when function word is stressed
-> to emphasise, to contrast, at end of sentence, when cited
96
When are weak forms used?
when function word is unstressed
/ bʌt - bət /
/ hæv - v /
97
What is intonation?
falls and rises in pitch over a stretch of speech
| plays a role in conveying meaning
98
What are tone units and their characteristics?
- basic unit of analysis for intonation
- contains exactly one nucleus = tonic syllable -> most prominent, carries a tone
- usually contains more than one syllable/foot
99
What is the structure of tone units?
- Pre-head: unstresses syllable(s) preceding the first stressed syllable
- Head: from the first stressed syllable to the nucleus
- Nucleus: obligatory, most prominent, carries tone
- Tail: syllables after nucleus
## Footnote
Each simple tone unit has one and only one tonic syllable; the tonic syllable is therefore an obligatory component of the tone unit
100
What is the difference between intonation languages and tone languages?
- Intonation language: pitch contour is meaning-distinctive at phrase or sentence level e.g. English
- Tone language: pitch contour is meaning-distinctive at word level e.g. Mandarin
101
What are the five basic tones of English?
- Level tone
- Fall
- Rise
- Fall-rise
- Rise-fall
| we can distinguish between 2 (or 3) levels: high, low, mid
102
What are the typical meanings of tones?
- Fall: new info, finality, declaratives (+ wh-questions)
- Rise: 'more is to follow', yes/no questions, lists
- Fall-rise: 'limited agreement', polite & friendly requests
- Rise-fall: strong feelings of approval, disapproval, surprise, indignation
- Level: boredom, routine
