Vocal Tract
The parts of the vocal tract include: the lungs, larynx (glottis), pharynx, oral cavity, nasal cavity, and velum.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
A system where there is a symbol for each human sound (phone); each symbol is written between brackets [ ]. Each symbol represents- for consonants: glottal state, place of articulation, and manner- for vowels: tongue height, backness of the tongue, lip po
phones
The speech sounds found in a language. An individual speech sound is called a segment.
larynx
Part of the vocal tract where the glottis and the vocal cords are located
pharynx
Part of the vocal tract that is the tube between the larynx and the oral cavity
oral cavity
The mouth (part of vocal tract)
velum
The soft part in the upper back of your mouth, behind the palate (part of the vocal tract)- when the velum is lowered, air can flow through the nasal passages for nasal sounds
consonants
The class of sounds made with a narrowing (some obstruction) or complete closure of the vocal tract
vowels
The class of sonorant, syllabic sounds made with the vocal tract more open than it is for consonants and glides
glides
The class of sounds that have characteristics of both consonants and vowels. There are only 3: [w], [?] and [j]
Places of Articulation
(In English consonants) the lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, alveopalatal area, palate, velum, and glottis
Manner of Articulation
The way in which airflow is changed when consonant sounds are produced, e.g., nasal, stop, fricative, affricate, liquid, glide
Glottal State
This refers to whether the glottis is spread (in voiceless sounds), or whether the glottis is closed (in voiced sounds).
vocal cords
the folds inside the larynx that can be closed and opened to make voiced and voiceless sounds
uvula
the little thing that hangs down in the back of the oral cavity: you can see it if you open your mouth and say "ahhh.
bilabial
A sound made with two lips
dental
the adjective (name of sound) for teeth
labiodental
describes sounds made with the lips and teeth
interdental
describes sounds made with tongue between the teeth
alveolar
describes the sounds made with the tongue near the alveolar ridge
alvoepalatal
describes the sounds made with the tongue between the alveolar ridge and the palate (roof of your mouth)
palatal
describes the sounds made with the tongue on or near the hard part at the top of a person's mouth (roof of the mouth)
velar
describes the sounds made with the tongue raised towards the velum
glottal
describes the sounds made using the glottis: [h] and [?]
stops
sounds where the airflow is stopped completely
fricatives
consonants that make a noise as air goes through a narrow opening: [f], [v], [s], [?], etc.
affricates
consonant sounds that start like a stop and end as a fricative
nasals
sounds that are produced when the velum is lowered and the air flows through the nasal cavity
liquids
consonant sounds that are forms of [l] and [r]
sonorant
describes the louder sounds that vowels, nasals, and liquids make; sounds that can be syllabic by themselves