Phonology Vocab

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

the study of the abstract categories that organise the sound system of a language

Question 2

spectrogram

Answer 2

a graphic representation of the frequency distribution of the complex jumble of sound waves that give the hearing impression of speech sounds.

Question 3

phone

Answer 3

A physical realisation of a speech sound like the voiceless or the voiced alveolar approximant

Question 4

allophones of the phoneme

Answer 4

Phones which function as alternant realisations of the same phoneme (cannot distinguish words)

Question 5

distribution

Answer 5

the different positions in which a speech sound can occur or cannot occur in the words of a language

Question 6

narrow transcription

Answer 6

when it sometimes necessary to include additional articulatory details in the transcription

Question 7

Orthography

Answer 7

A conventional spelling system

Question 8

complementary distribution.

Answer 8

two sounds which are distributed in such a way that one can only occur where the other cannot occur

Question 9

minimal pairs

Answer 9

A pair of words that only differ in one sound; but differ in meaning

Question 10

released consonant vs unreleased consonants

Answer 10

When air pressure builds up vs when it is released

Question 11

free variation

Answer 11

speaker chooses which allophone they used

Question 12

Neutralisation

Answer 12

refers to the fact that in a particular context, a contrast between phonemes becomes invisible.

Question 13

final devoicing

Answer 13

voiced phoneme has a voiceless allophone in word-final position is known in the literature

Question 14

velarised realisation

Answer 14

(also termed DARK [l]) is sound produced in the velum when the sound normally (clear) is from somewhere else.

Question 15

alveolar ridge

Answer 15

is a small protuberance just behind the upper front teeth

Question 16

velum

Answer 16

(soft palate) The articulator that you move to allow air into the nasal cavity

Question 17

aspirated stop

Answer 17

(aspiration) enhanced release burst of the plosive

Question 18

t/d- flapping

Answer 18

processes in which the contrast between two phonemes is neutralised in a particular phonetic context

Question 19

rhotic

Answer 19

varieties of English are those in which r-sounds can occur in word-final position

Question 20

constituents

Answer 20

elements that make up a syllable

Question 21

syllabic consonants

Answer 21

Consonants which occupy the central part of the syllable

Question 22

nucleus

Answer 22

slot for a vowel

Question 23

onset

Answer 23

‘slots for consonants’, the prevocalic slot

Question 24

coda

Answer 24

postvocalic slot

Question 25

vowel epenthesis

Answer 25

insertion of vowels into syllables

Question 26

syllabification

Answer 26

Assigning syllable structure to word