Phonetics

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