Terms
Classification of Vowels
Phonology- study of linguistic rules governing
sound system of language; speech sound; sound
production; combination of sounds
Language
semantics
content
syntax
form/
grammar
pragmatics
use
phonology
A. Tongue movement
a. Front
b. Central
c. Back
d. High
e. Mid
f. Low
linguistic
tools
PHONETICS
Phonetics- deals with individual speech sounds,
their production and their representation by
written symbols
Articulation- actions of the organs of speech in
producing the sounds of speech (movement)
Articulatory system- system composed of
different subsystems (breathing apparatus,
larynx, velum, oral and nasal cavities, pharynx,
tongue, teeth, lips, mandible, hard palate)
Vowel Articulation – produced with an open
tract; voiced sounds; sounds are affected by the
movement of the lips, tongue and pharynx; 14
vowels in American English
B. Labial movement
a. Round
b. Unround
C. Articulatory muscle quality
a. Tense (long vowels)
b. Lax (short vowels)
Dipthongs- DIPTHONGIZATION: shift in
resonance and change in vowel quality /e/ - /ei/
Consonant articulation- characterized by the
constriction of the vocal tract; vocal tract can be
completely or partially closed; can initiate or
terminate syllables or both; classified as voiced
and voiceless
CONSONANT + VOWEL = SYLLABLE SHAPE
Eg. /ba/ cv; /cat/ cvc; chat ccvc
Classification of consonants
A. Place of articulation
a. Bilabial /p/
b. Labio-dental /f/
c. Lingua-dental /th/
d. Lingua-alveolar /t/
e. Palatal sh
f. Velar /k/
g. Glottal /h/
B. Manner of articulation
a. Stops/plosive- oral cavity is
completely closed off for a moment
and air pressure builds up. Pressure
is suddenly released by the opening
of the closure /d/
b. Fricatives- flow of air should be
strong and constriction of the vocal
tract is narrow enough to create a
friction sound /f/
c. Affricates- has a combined
characteristic of a plosive and a
fricative
d. Nasals- aside from the oral and
pharyngeal tract, the nasal cavity is
also included in sound production.
Air passes through the nasal cavity
e. Semivowels, glides, liquids- vocal
tract is relatively open like in vowels
and the sound is much like
dipthongs