Questions and Answers
What are the two primary categories of English speech sounds?
What are consonants?
Produced with vocal tract constricted (except for /h/)
What is the classification of consonants based on?
Place of articulation, manner of articulation, & voicing
What does place of articulation refer to?
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Provide examples of places of articulation.
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What is manner of articulation?
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Give examples of manners of articulation.
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What does voicing indicate?
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What are vowels?
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What factors classify vowels?
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What is tongue height?
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What does tongue advancement refer to?
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What does tenseness or laxness indicate?
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If a sound is longer, what is it usually?
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What does lip rounding refer to?
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Name the frontal vowels.
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Describe the vowel sound /i/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɪ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /e/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɛ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /æ/.
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What should you use anytime you have a stressed vowel?
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Name the back vowels.
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Describe the vowel sound /u/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ʊ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /o/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɔ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɑ/.
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Name the central vowels.
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Describe the vowel sound /a/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɜ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ɝ/.
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What is the schwa vowel?
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Describe the vowel sound /ɚ/.
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Describe the vowel sound /ʌ/.
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What is the only rule in phonetics?
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What does GROT stand for?
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When should you use Schwar?
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Study Notes
Classification of Speech Sounds
- English speech sounds fall into two primary categories: consonants and vowels.
Consonants
- Produced with constriction in the vocal tract, except for the sound /h/.
Classification of Consonants
- Three key factors for classification: place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing.
Place of Articulation
- Refers to the specific location in the vocal tract where the airflow is restricted during sound production.
- Examples include:
- Labio-dental: between lips and teeth
- Lingua-dental: tongue against teeth
- Lingua-alveolar: tongue against alveolar ridge
- Lingua-palatal: tongue against hard palate
- Velar: back of the tongue against soft palate
- Glottal: use of the vocal cords
Manner of Articulation
- Describes how the consonant sound is produced, including:
- Stops: complete blockage of airflow
- Fricatives: narrowing to create turbulent airflow
- Nasals: airflow through the nose
- Liquids: partial closure allowing airflow around the tongue
- Affricates: combination of stops and fricatives
Voicing
- Indicates whether the vocal cords are vibrating during sound production.
Vowels
- Created with an open vocal tract and produced solely by the voice sound source.
Classification of Vowels
- Four main features guide vowel classification: tongue height, tongue advancement, tenseness or laxness, and lip rounding.
Tongue Height
- Defines how high the tongue rises in the mouth during sound production.
Tongue Advancement
- Refers to the positioning of the tongue from front to back within the vocal tract.
Tenseness or Laxness
- Describes the degree of tension in the oral cavity during vowel production; more tense vowels are often longer in duration.
Lip Rounding
- The extent to which lips are rounded during vowel production.
Frontal Vowels
- Front vowels include the sounds /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /æ/ with their respective properties:
- /i/: high, front, tense, unrounded (as in "he")
- /ɪ/: high-mid, front, lax, unrounded (as in "him")
- /e/: mid-front, tense, unrounded (as in "eighteen")
- /ɛ/: low-mid, front, lax, unrounded (as in "bet")
- /æ/: low, front, lax, unrounded (as in "cat")
Stressed Vowels
- Use of diphthongs occurs whenever a stressed vowel is present.
Back Vowels
- Back vowels consist of /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ/, /ɑ/ with their characteristics:
- /u/: high, back, tense, rounded (as in "canoe")
- /ʊ/: high-mid, back, lax, rounded (as in "book")
- /o/: mid-back, tense, rounded (as in "notate")
- /ɔ/: low-mid, back, tense, rounded (as in "caught")
- /ɑ/: low, back, tense, unrounded.
Central Vowels
- Central vowels include /a/, /ɜ/, /ɝ/, /ə/, /ɚ/, /ʌ/:
- /a/: dialect-specific "path vowel" (as in "nice")
- /ɜ/: mid, central, tense, rounded (not often r-colored)
- /ɝ/: mid-central, tense, rounded (stressed r vowel, as in "worker")
- /ə/: the schwa, mid-central, lax, unrounded, and the most common vowel in English
- /ɚ/: schwar, mid-central, lax, rounded, usually unstressed
- /ʌ/: low, mid, back-central, lax, unrounded (as in "dumb").
Phonetic Transcription
- The fundamental rule in phonetics is to accurately transcribe what was said.
General Rule of Thumb (GROT)
- A guiding principle for phonetic transcription.
Use of Schwar
- Employ the schwar sound on the endings of words containing the letter "r" (e.g., mother, father).
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Description
Explore the fascinating world of English speech sounds in this quiz. Learn about the classification of consonants based on articulation, manner, and voicing. Test your knowledge on places of articulation and different types of consonant sounds.