Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
122 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Phonetics |
"The study of the physical properties of sounds." 3 branches: - Articulatory - Acoustic - Auditory |
|
|
Articulatory Phonetics |
How are sounds produced? |
|
|
Acoustic Phonetics |
How are sounds transmitted? |
|
|
Auditory Phonetics |
How are sounds perceived? |
|
|
The Vocal Tract |
Consists of three parts: - Sublaryngeal (lungs) - Laryngeal (Larynx) - Supralaryngeal/supraglottal (oral + nasal cavity) |
|
|
Functional Components of Speech |
1. Initiation 2. Phonation 3. Articulation |
|
|
Initiation |
Creates an airstream. Most sounds have airstreams created by the lungs. |
|
|
Phonation |
Adds voicing. Involves converting aerodynamic energy into acoustic energy. Air is phonated as it passes through the glottis - phonation type depends on pattern of muscular tension exerted around the glottis. |
|
|
Articulation |
Shapes the acoustic energy to produce a variety of sounds. |
|
|
Ingressive Airstream Mechanism |
Air flows into the vocal tract. |
|
|
Egressive Airstream Mechanism |
Air flows out of the vocal tract. Most sounds are egressive. |
|
|
Pulmonic Initiator |
From lungs. Most sounds are pulmonic. |
|
|
Glottalic Initiator |
From Larynx. |
|
|
Velaric Initiator |
From Velum. |
|
|
Respiratory Breathing |
Reflexive Control (medulla oblongata). Normal breathing involves: - Exhalation 60% of the time - Inhalation 40% of the time |
|
|
Speech Breathing |
Voluntary Control (neocortex). Speech breathing involves: - Exhalation 85-90% of the time - Inhalation 10-15% of the time |
|
|
Glottalic Airstream Mechanism |
1. Glottis is closed - vocal folds are together. 2. Larynx moves up/down, altering air pressure. 3. Ejectives/ingressive sounds are produced. |
|
|
Velaric Airstream Mechanism |
1. Closure at the Velum. 2. Movement alters the air pressure. 3. Clicks (ingressive sound) are produced. |
|
|
Cartilage in the Larynx |
- Thyroid Cartilage (protects vocal folds). - Cricoid Cartilage (at lowest part of the larynx). - Arytenoid Cartilage (affects position of vocal folds). |
|
|
Manner of Articulation Degree of Stricture Distance between Articulators |
- Complete Closure (air is completely blocked). - Close Approximation (air is partially obstructed). - Open Approximation (air is modified). |
|
|
Obstruent |
Sound at place of articulation. |
|
|
Sonorant |
Sound by phonation component. |
|
|
Active Articulator |
Part of the tract that moves. |
|
|
Passive Articulator |
Target of movement: - Bilabial - Labiodental - Dental - Alveolar - Postalveolar - Palatal (hard palette) - Velar (soft palette) |
|
|
Sound |
1. Something moves. 2. Moving object changes the surrounding air pressure. 3. Changes in air pressure are perceived as sound. Variation in the air pressure that is detected by the human ear. |
|
|
Transmission of Energy |
Changes in air pressure propagate in the form of a wave. (Compression + Rarefaction). Sound waves reverberate in a 3D space. |
|
|
Compression |
Increased Pressure |
|
|
Rarefaction |
Decreased Pressure |
|
|
When is sound perceived? |
- Air pressure close to the eardrum fluctuates. - This causes the eardrum to vibrate. Sound can only be detected by traveling through mediums through which sound can travel. E.g. air. |
|
|
Wave Forms |
Graphical representations of air pressure variation in one place over time. Different speech sounds have their own characteristic waveform that can be used to tell the difference between broad classes of sounds. Horizontal axis = time. Vertical axis = amplitude. |
|
|
Frequency |
The number of cycles completed in one second; how often the waveform cycles recur. Perceived as pitch. Frequency information is needed to distinguish individual speech sounds. |
|
|
Amplitude |
Displacement/divergence from the normal atmospheric pressure. |
|
|
Speech production |
Makes air pressure fluctuate by: - Making vocal folds vibrate (voiced sounds). - Creating turbulence (fricatives). - Trapping air when releasing it (plosives). |
|
|
Periodic Waveform |
Repeated pattern. Represent voiced sounds. |
|
|
Aperiodic Waveform |
No clear repeated pattern. - Difficulty distinguishing patterns - Often long non-repeating sections. "Hairy"/"Shaggy". Represent fricatives. |
|
|
Transient Waveform |
Brief period of noise: - Short - Begins with a spike. Represent plosives. |
|
|
Spectra |
Represents frequency over amplitude. - Filters source waves by different articulatory movements. - Shows frequency of component waves in complex waves. Cannot see change of sounds. |
|
|
Spectrograms |
Show how spectra change over time by plotting them together. Sounds with a high amplitude will be displayed as dark. Sounds with a low amplitude will be displayed as light. |
|
|
Resonance |
When an energy source meets another object it will cause vibration in the latter. This happens when the frequency of the energy source is close to an object's natural frequency. When amplitudes are increased, the object is a resonator. When amplitudes are absorbed, the object is a filter. |
|
|
Production of Plosives |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. 2. Phonation - voiceless, voiced + aspirated. 3. Articulation - maintained complete closure (100ms). Various places of articulation. |
|
|
Phases of a Plosive |
1. Approach - Articulators move towards each other. 2. Hold - Complete closure at place of articulation and velum. - Air pumped from lungs, increasing pressure in oral cavity. 3. Release (deliberate action) - Velum remains closed while other closure is opened. - Air rushes out to balance air pressure. |
|
|
Phonation of Plosives |
1. Vocal folds closed and vibrating --> Voiced plosive 2. Vocal folds narrowly open --> Voiceless unaspirated plosive. 3. Vocal folds widely open --> Voiceless aspirated plosive. |
|
|
Vocal folds are together - closed and vibrating. |
Held together by intrinsic laryngeal adductor muscles (moderate tension). = Voiced sounds. |
|
|
Vocal folds are narrowly open |
Vocal folds held together by intrinsic laryngeal adductor muscles (weak tension). |
|
|
Vocal folds widely open |
Vocal folds held open by abductor muscles (full tension). |
|
|
Voicing in Plosives |
1. Air from lungs. 2. Intra-oral pressure (behind closure) increases. 3. Subglottal + supra laryngeal air pressure balance. 4. Airflow through glottis slows and then stops. |
|
|
Spirantisation |
Turning plosives into fricatives - there is no intra-oral air pressure building behind the closure. |
|
|
Devoicing plosives |
E.g. English word-final plosives (robe, road, rogue). |
|
|
Prenasalise plosives |
E.g. Ndebele word-initial plosives. [nd] or [n^d]. Lets some air out through the nose. |
|
|
Acoustics of Plosive Approach |
Dying amplitude. |
|
|
Acoustics of plosive hold |
Low amplitude/no signal. |
|
|
Acoustics of plosive release |
Transient burst (+ frication for aspiration). |
|
|
Voice Onset Time (VOT) |
Time in milliseconds between a plosive burst and the onset of voicing (before or after burst). |
|
|
VOT of voiced plosive |
Vocal fold vibration begins before the release burst. Voiced lead - negative VOT. |
|
|
VOT of voiceless unaspirated plosive |
Vocal fold vibration begins with the release burst. Short lag - zero VOT. |
|
|
VOT of voiceless aspirated plosive |
Vocal fold vibration begins some time after the release burst. Voice lag/long lag - positive VOT. |
|
|
Production of Fricatives + Affricates |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM. 2. Phonation - voiceless + voiced. 3. Maintained close approximation in all places of articulation. |
|
|
Phases of a Fricative |
1. Approach - Move towards the target of articulation. 2. Hold - Maintain a close approximation. - Continuous airflow. - Air molecules hit each other causing turbulence/frication. |
|
|
Phonation of Fricatives |
1. Vocal folds are closed + vibrating. --> Voiced fricatives. 2. Vocal folds are widely open. --> Voiceless fricatives. |
|
|
Articulation of Fricatives |
1. Median airflow - air flows along mid-line of the tongue. 2. Lateral airflow - air flows around sides of tongue. |
|
|
Channel Shape Differences |
(Median Fricatives) - Slit - tongue remains same distance from mouth roof all along. - Groove - tongue touches mouth roof except for an opening in the middle. --> produces sibilants which are louder. |
|
|
Acoustics of voiceless fricatives |
- Maintained close approximation results in turbulent airflow. --> aperiodic waveform. --> high frequency frication on spectrogram. |
|
|
Acoustics of voiced fricatives |
- Vocal fold vibration + simultaneous turbulence. --> vocal fold vibration = periodic waveform. --> turbulent airflow = aperiodic waveform. Voicing uses up aerodynamic energy - less left for making the fricative sound so frication is 'less intense'/quieter. |
|
|
Sibilants |
Louder (higher amplitude) than non-sibilants. Two sources of sound: 1. Close approximation closure. 2. Hitting an obstruction e.g. teeth. |
|
|
Phases of affricates |
1. Approach - Move towards target of articulation. 2. Hold - Make a complete closure. 3. Release - Release slowly into a close approximation. 4. Hold - Maintain close approximation for a short time. |
|
|
Affricates |
Homo-organic. The complete closure and close approximation are at the same place of articulation. |
|
|
Production of Trills |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM. 2. Phonation - voiced (can be devoiced) 3.. Articulation - intermittent articulation (alternates between complete closure and close approximation). |
|
|
Articulation of Trills |
1. Complete closure under constant muscular tension. 2. Articulators prised apart. 3. Close approximation. 4. Pressure drops. 5. Articulators come together again and the process repeats. |
|
|
Trills |
Balance between muscular tension and aerodynamic force - not intentional or directly controlled; if aerodynamic conditions are met, trilling starts spontaneously. Only lips, tongue tip and uvula can trill. Typically 2 or 3 beats in length (2 or 3 complete closures). |
|
|
Bilabial trills |
Both lips are the active articulator. Both lips trill. |
|
|
Alveolar trills |
Tongue tip is the active articulator. Tongue tip trills. |
|
|
Uvular trills |
Tongue back is the active articulator. Uvula trills. |
|
|
Acoustics of trills |
Intermittent sound: - Complete closure = silence. - Release of closure = transient burst. - Close approximation = aperiodic waveform. - Vocal fold vibration = periodic waveform. |
|
|
Production of Taps |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM. 2. Phonation - voiced (can be devoiced). 3. Articulation - momentary complete closure (very short), neutral articulation. |
|
|
Taps |
There is only one tap on the IPA chart - voiced alveolar [ɾ] (present in American and Canadian English). |
|
|
Articulation of Taps |
Momentary; as soon as complete closure is formed, tongue is retracted. 1. Single flick of active articulator up to and back from passive articulator. 2. No pressure build-up behind closure. 3. No turbulent release. If articulation is slowed down and closure held - the result is a plosive. |
|
|
Production of Flaps |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM. 2. Voiced (can be voiceless). 3. Articulation - momentary complete closure, displaced articulation. |
|
|
Flaps |
There are two flaps on the IPA chart: [ʋ] (labiodental) and [ɽ] (retroflex). Labiodental flap = contact with outside of lip. Retroflex flap = contact with underside of tongue. |
|
|
Articulation of Flaps |
Momentary displaced articulation: - active articulator moves beyond place of articulation and hits the passive articulator on the way back. No pressure build-up behind closure. No turbulent release. |
|
|
Acoustics of Taps and Flaps |
- Closure = complete silence. - Release = transient burst. - Vocal fold vibration = periodic waveform. Look for a short plosive on the waveform. |
|
|
Production of Approximants |
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM. 2. Phonation - voiced (can be devoiced), glottis converts aerodynamic energy to acoustic energy. 3. Articulation - open approximation (maintained or momentary), shapes/modifies energy, easy to maintain voicing and articulators are not close enough for frication. |
|
|
Approximants |
Maintained approximates are held for 70 - 100ms. Momentary approximates are not held in place - they move towards and away. Rhotics can be both momentary and maintained. |
|
|
Trajectory of airflow in Approximants |
Air can flow into oral or nasal cavity. - Air flow only in nasal cavity = nasals. - Median air flow in oral cavity = glides/rhotics. - Lateral air flow in oral cavity = laterals. - Or-nasal combination = nasalised sounds. |
|
|
Production of Nasals |
Maintained complete closure in oral cavity. Velopharyngeal port is open (velum is lowered), so air flows out through nose. Nasals can be classified as approximates, stop consonants or 'hybrid' sounds. |
|
|
Production of Laterals |
Complete closure in the oral cavity - sides of tongue are down, so air flows out through the two non-median channels. Laterals are approximates only when sides of the tongue are in open approximation with mouth roof. If in close approximation - it is a lateral fricative. |
|
|
Production of Rhotics |
Median oral open approximant: - Airflow pushed down middle of mouth. - Can have steady state but not always. - No contact is made between articulators. |
|
|
Production of Glides |
Median momentary oral open approximant: - Airflow pushed down middle of mouth. - Articulators have a target configuration, but are not held there - as soon as target configuration is reached, active articulator moves away again. - No contact between articulators - active articulator moving throughout. |
|
|
Differences between glides, nasals and laterals |
Nasals and laterals can be maintained while glides (and rhotics) cannot. If you hold a glide, it will become a vowel. Nasals and laterals involve non-oral and non-median airflow respectively. |
|
|
Obstruents |
Plosives and fricatives. Supralaryngeal sound source (at place of articulation). Air pressure difference in supra laryngeal vocal tract. Turbulent airflow. Occur at outer edges of syllables. |
|
|
Sonorants |
Approximants, vowels. Laryngeal sound source (phonation). Air pressure is constant in supra laryngeal vocal tract. Laminar airflow. Occur at or near centre of syllables. |
|
|
Production of Vowels
|
1. Initiation - pulmonic egressive ASM (can be ingressive for paralinguistic reasons) 2. Phonation - Voiced (can be devoiced) 3. Articulation - maintained open approximation, shapes/modifies aerodynamic airflow. |
|
|
Vowel qualities |
Depend on: 1. Position of the tongue - Height (close/open) - Fron/back 2. Shape of the lips - Rounded/unrounded |
|
|
Principles of the Cardinal Vowels |
1. Description of vowels based on highest point of tongue. 2. Symbols describe ,most extreme vowels (not representative of real-life vowels) 3. Real vowels can be described in relation to these. Cardinal Vowels act as a reference point. |
|
|
Cardinal Vowels |
Organised based on auditory quality, auditory equidistance, auditory 'space'. Two sets: 1. Primary Cardinal Vowels (1-8) - Front = unrounded, back = rounded (mostly) 2. Secondary Cardinal Vowels (9-16) - Front = rounded, back = unrounded (mostly) |
|
|
Diphthongs |
Cardinal vowels have a maintained steady state - they are monophthongs. Diphthongs have a momentary open approximation - they are represented on the IPA chart using arrows. |
|
|
Sonority |
Loudness - the amount of acoustic energy. Vowels are the most sonorous segment of a syllable. Sonority hierarchy - how open/shut vocal tract is. Tends to rise in onset and fall in coda. |
|
|
Sonority Hierarchy |
Open Vocal Tract: Low Vowels - Mid Vowels - High Vowels - Glides - Rhotics - Laterals - Nasals - Voiced Fricatives - Voiceless Fricatives - Voiced Plosives - Voiceless Plosives. Closed Vocal Tract. Little Mary Hooper Gave Robert Love Notes For Freddie Promised Pie. |
|
|
Acoustics of Vowels |
Maintained open approximation with voicing = high amplitude periodic waveform. Vowel qualities differ in frequency bands amplified by the vocal tract (formants). Formants are represented by the dark bands. |
|
|
Formants |
Represented by dark bands on the spectrogram. F1 (inverse relationship to height): - High vowel = low frequency F1 - Low vowel = high frequency F1 F2 (related to backness): - Front vowel = high frequency F2 - Back vowel = low frequency F2 |
|
|
Acoustics of Nasals and Laterals |
Look like vowels but are less sonorant. - Voiced = periodic waveform with a lower amplitude. Laterals have a higher amplitude than nasals. |
|
|
Acoustics of Glides and Rhotics |
Voiced = periodic waveform. Less sonorant than vowels = lower amplitude. Short sounds = short duration. Glides have formants but no steady state - same formant structure as similar vowel but shows movement. |
|
|
Glottis |
Space between vocal folds |
|
|
Forces of tension |
Scale: none - weak - moderate - strong Intrinsic laryngeal muscles contract to alter the shape of the glottis and its resistance to sub glottal pressure. MC, AT, LT. |
|
|
MC |
Medial Compression. Pushing vocal folds together along whole length. |
|
|
AT |
Adductive Tension. Pushing vocal folds together only from arytenoid cartilage end. |
|
|
LT |
Longitudinal Tension. Vocal folds are stretched or left loose making their length longer or shorter. |
|
|
Process of Phonation |
1. Vocal folds close. 2. Air is pushed from lungs. 3. Air pressure builds behind glottis. 4. Air pushes through. 5. Air increases velocity going through the glottis. 6. Drop in air pressure. 7. Vocal folds snap shut from bottom to top. 8. Process repeats. |
|
|
Bernoulli Effect |
Process of Phonation steps 5-8: 5. Air increases velocity going through the glottis. 6. Drop in air pressure. 7. Vocal folds snap shut from bottom to top. 8. Process repeats. |
|
|
Voice Qualities |
1. Modal Voice 2. Breathy Voice 3. Creaky Voice 4. Whispery Voice |
|
|
Modal Voice |
'Standard' voice quality. Vocal folds held close together, rapid regular pulses of acoustic energy released from glottis. Moderate MC, moderate AT and pitch-dependant LT. |
|
|
Breathy Voice |
A.K.A. Murmur. Vocal folds held further apart than modal voice so there is a higher airflow. Mixture of phoned and unphonated air: regular pulses mixed with friction. Weak MC, weak AT and pitch-dependant LT. |
|
|
Creaky Voice |
Anterior gap at back of larynx (slow, irregular flow). Slow irregular pulses of acoustic energy released from glottis. Strong MC, strong AT and weak LT. |
|
|
Whispery Voice |
A.K.A. Murmur. Posterior gap (between arytenoids). Air flows through turbulently (like a loud voiceless sound). Strong MC, no AT and moderate LT. |
|
|
Pitch |
Rate of vocal fold vibration (Hz). Fundamental frequency. Higher frequency = higher perceived pitch. |
|
|
Fundamental Frequency
|
Length of a 'long' cycle in a complex wave determines the fundamental frequency or F0. E.g. 5 waves in 0.5 seconds. 10 waves in 1.0 seconds. Frequency = 10Hz. |
|
|
High Pitch |
Faster vibration. Tense vocal folds = cricothyroid tilt. Short vocal folds = arytenoids pulled forwards. Thin vocal folds = vocal fold muscles are contracted. |
|
|
Low Pitch |
Slower vibration. Slack vocal folds = no cricothyroid tilt. Long vocal folds = arytenoids pulled back. Thick vocal folds = vocal fold muscles not contracted. |
|
|
Rhythm |
Human motor activities tend to be rhythmic/cyclic: - Stress in speech - Pitch conveying lexical information Pitch, duration, loudness. |
|
|
Stress in speech |
Portrays prominence. Rhythm group/foot: stressed syllable followed by a number of unstressed. Prominence tends to occur in words of high lexical content - making them more salient. Stresses the important information. |
|
|
Pitch conveying lexical information
|
Many East Asian languages (contour tones) and African languages (register tones) contain homophones with different pitch patterns. The pitch affects the meaning. E.g. Cantonese: 'si'. |
|
|
Contour tones |
Words containing a moving pitch (changes within the word). |
|
|
Register tones |
Words with a level pitch (stays the same throughout the word). |
